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H ARDWICK E'S
SCI ENCE-GOSSI P:
1879.
WORKS BY THE EDITOR OF "SCIENCE-GOSSIP."
HALF-HOURS IN THE GREEN LANES: a Book for a Country Stroll.
Illustrated with 300 Woodcuts. Fifth Edition. Crown 8vo., cloth, 4?.
HALF-HOURS AT THE SEA-SIDE, or Recreations with Marine Objects.
Illustrated with 150 Woodcuts. Fourth Edition. Crown 8vo., cloth, 4.C
GEOLOGICAL STORIES: a Series of Autobiographies in Chronological
ORDER. Fourth Edition. Illustrated with 175 Woodcuts. Crown 8vo., cloth, 4-f.
THE AQUARIUM; its Inhabitants, Structure, and Management.
Illustrated with 239 Woodcuts. Second Edition. Crown 8vo., cloth extra, 6s.
FLOWERS; their Origin, Shapes, Perfumes, and Colours. Illustrated
with 32 Coloured Figures by Sowerby, and 161 Woodcuts. Second Edition. Crown 8vo.,
cloth, "js. 6d.
NOTES ON COLLECTING AND PRESERVING NATURAL HISTORY
OBJECTS. Edited by J. E. TAYLOR, F.L.S., F.G.S. Contents: Geological Specimens
by the Editor ; Bones, by E. F. Elwin ; Birds' Eggs, by T. Southwell, F.Z.S. ; Butterflies
and Moths, by Dr. Knaggs ; Beetles, by E. C. Rye, F.Z.S. ; Hymenoptera, by J. B.
Bridgman ; Fresh-water Shells, by Professor Ralph Tate, F.G.S. ; Flowering Plants, by
James Britten, F.L.S. ; Mosses, by Dr. Braithwaite, F.L.S. ; Grastes, by Professor Buckman ;
Fungi, by Worthington G. Smith, F.L.S. j Lichens, by Rev. James Crombie, F.L.S.;
Seaweeds, by W. H. Grattan. Illustrated with numerous Woodcuts. Crown Svo., cloth,
3^. 6d.
LONDON: DAVID BOGUE, 3, ST. MARTIN'S PLACE, W.C.
HARDWICKE'S
4W^<fcsi0:
AN ILLUSTRATED MEDIUM OF INTERCHANGE AND GOSSIP
FOR STUDENTS AND
LOVERS OF NATURE.
EDITED BY
J. E. TAYLOR, Ph.D., F.L.S., F.G.S., F.R.G.S.I., &c.
VOLUME XV.
Uontion:
DAVID BOGUE,
3, ST. MARTIN'S PLACE, TRAFALGAR SQUARE, W.C.
1879.
LONDON:
PR I.N TED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS,
STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.
lOS^ <f
PREFACE.
-oo^c
IFTEEN years is a long period in the life of a
man, and a relatively longer one in the existence
of a magazine. It is time enough to have given
a fair trial to any scheme, or to have proved
a raison d'etre for any institution. We are re-
minded of this in prefacing a few lines to the
Fifteenth Volume of SCIENCE-GOSSIP. And it
is with no small pleasure, as we take a mental
review of our situation, that we find ourselves
surrounded with more numerous friends, and even abler
contributors than ever.
The domain of Natural Science extends in widening
circles every year. New and more complex organic relation-
ships are discovered the more we look for them. We bear
the highest of unconscious testimony to the Supreme Intelli-
gence which governs the universe, when we require the facts
of Science to be subordinated to intelligible laws ; and
there is a higher mental pleasure in finding out the laws
which govern these facts, than in discovering the facts them-
selves. But as the circle of the Known increases in its
circumference, we perceive the larger periphery of the Un-
known which circumscribes it. Within this infinitely little
circle, there is light as in the land of Goshen, but outside, darkness
like that of Egypt ! The attitude of the scientific mind, therefore,
ought more than ever to be the reverse of dictatorial.
During the past year we have opened our columns to the dis-
cussion of one of the most interesting of the many biological side-paths
PREFACE.
which modern investigation has opened out, the question of " In-
telligence in Man and Animals." We have been pleased with the
ability with which the subject has been discussed from the evolutional,
as well as the anti-evolutional sides, and not less so with the good
temper and courtesy displayed by the partisans. Twenty years ago
this mutual forbearance would have been impossible, and a discussion
like this would have broken up into personal recriminations. We must
now, however, close the debate.
The crowded state of our " Exchange " columns shows how zealously
amateurs are working in their special departments of natural history ;
and the various and oftentimes queer questions put to us in the
columns devoted to that purpose, indicate the number of recruits who
are joining the ranks. We hope that the " List of Naturalists " which
appears in the present number will prove of great practical advantage
to young and ardent workers.
We look forward to a more active year than ever. Our editorial
box is well filled with articles — technical, descriptive, and popular,
on every branch of Natural Science. We shall do our best to make
the volume for 1880 more attractive in every way than any of
its predecessors. And, whilst thanking our numerous, zealous, and
hearty friends for the many kindnesses we have received at their
hands, we wish to all our contributors and subscribers, " A Happy
New Year ! "
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Amceba, a peculiar Dacty^.losplucrium
vitreum, 335
Ananchytes ovata, 181
Argynnis Adippe, Broken Scale from, 37
Bear, Bkown, 224, 225
Boletus flavus, 5
Boulder Clay, Section of, at Leith, 33
Brain of Mole-Cricket, 104
Brain of Formica rufa, 104
Brain of Cockroach, '104, 107
Butterflies in New Forest, 124, 125
Buzzard, the (Buteo vulgaris}, 57
Calceolaria, a Monstrous, 41
Calceolaria, Malformation in Flowers of,
90
Calyptostoma Hardy i, Nymph of, 249
Camera lucida, the Hofmann, 62
Cardamine hirsuta, 128
Cardamine sylvatica, 123
Cephalopoda of Chalk Marl, Isle of Wight,
204, 205
Cidaris coronata, Shell of, 180, 181
Comfrey (Symphytum officinale), 148
Compressorium, Sketch showing Details
of, 185
Cormorant ( Phalacrocorax carbo), 196
Cormorant, Crested, 196
D&dalca qucrcina and unicolor, 4, 5
Dissecting-table, Details of, 200
Echinus in Aquarium, 1S0
Echinus esculenta, 180
Echinus miliaris, 84, 85
Electrical Cloud Masses, 153
Electrical Stratus, 230
Euglena viridis, 184, 231
Fenestella filebeia, 52, 53, 248
Filago canescens, 129
Filago spathulata, 129
Fistulina hepatica, 5
Forget-me-not, the (Myosotis palustris),
148
Fossil Corals, Varieties of, 272, 273/274
Fossils, Cambro-Silurian and Silurian, 12
Fossils, Upper Carboniferous, in Ireland,
13
Foxglove, the Common Monstrosity in, 16
Free Crinoids, Extinct Species of, 156, 157
Fungi in Epping Forest, Varieties of, 76,
77
Galerites albogalcrus, 181
Guillemot, the Common (Uria troile),
176
Guillemot, the Black (Uria grylle), 176
Hemiptera, a rare, 9
Herb-Robert (Geranium R obcrtianum ) ,
128
Horsehair, Arrangement of Pigment in, 37
House-fly (Musca domestica), 8
House-fly, Chrysalis of, 8
House-fly, Egg of, 8
House-fly, Maggot of, 8
Hydrophilus piceus Depositing Eggs, 132
Hydrophilus piceus, Nest of, 133
Hydrophilus piceus, Larvae of Head of,
133
Hydrophilus piceus, Larva; of Tail of, 133
Improved Live-Box, 38
Kestrel, the (Falco tinnunculus), 57
Kite, the, 56
Lamella, various, 4
Lenzites betulina, 4
Lincolnshire Marshland, Map of, 244
Magnified Pollen Grains, 187
Merlin (Falco eesalonj, the, 268
Micraster, the Common, 181
Micro-fungi Slides, Mode of Labelling, 4
Microscopical Apparatus, 32
Mite of Gamasus on Humble Bee, 81
Mite, the Didactyle Tarsus of, 250
Pal^ocorvne, Diagram of, 52, 53
Pala?ocoryne radiata, 248
Palasocoryne, Specimens of, 228
Parasites on Fish, 79
Pigment Cells in Lepidoptera, 36
Polecat, the (Bustela putorius), 59
Po 'ypora tuberculata, 52, 53
Polyporus versicolor, 5
Puffin, the, (Fratercula arctica), *75
Ranatra linealis, 252, 253
Rhsetic Beds at Penarth, 100
Rotifer, a New, 200
Scolopendrium vulgare, 209
Section of Geological Strata of Sheffield,
172
Section of Strata from Cardiff to Caerphilly,
101
Simla synddctyla, 28, 29
Slides, Air Bubbles in, Pump for Removing,
61
Slides, Improved Centerer for, 160
Sparmaunia Africaiia, 60, 61
Sparrowhawk ( Accipitcrfringillarius), 56
Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus), 220
Tube for Preserving Larvae, 257
Water Crowfoot, Varieties o~, 108,
109, no
White Dead-Nettle, the (Lamium album),
149
THE CAPPED CUMULUS, OR ARCHED CROWN.
Bv the Rev. S. BARBER, F.M.S.
Rx.0} TlfcfcwT^^P" ^ I S phenomenon,
which is not very
unusual in thundery
weather, when the
storm is gathering
or passing away, is
interesting as being
indicative of the
extent to which the
electrical masses af-
fect the contiguous
atmosphere. When
highly charged piles
of cumulus are seen
drifting in the breeze,
at no great distance,
and exhibiting rifts
and chasms and
mountain crags
about their precipi-
tous sides and sunny peaks, — wreaths of mist and
vapoury bands may be seen floating athwart the dark
sides and rolling upwards toward their summits. This
foggy vapour holds off from the rock-like sides of the
towering cumulus (with which it refuses to coalesce),
and gives to the latter an appearance of great solidity.
Often maintaining its isolation, it spreads over the
topmost crests in a thin, loose strip of vapour, and,
bending down the opposite side of the cloud, forms a
complete detached arch. At times this arch has the
appearance of being highly condensed ; and, allowing
for the height of the species of cumulus to which
it attaches itself, the intervening space of clear sky
between the two clouds must often be of considerable
dimensions.
There can be little doubt that the cap or arch
formed in this way has a form which corresponds to
that of the larger cloud. At times, however, the
appearance may be one of perspective only, as may
be seen when there are short strips or thin lines of
No. 169.
condensed stratus lying among the cumulus. These,
particularly in unsettled weather, have their ends
sometimes bent downwards, as if attracted by the
earth.* In passing, we may say that this latter form
of cloud (which is closely allied to the cumulus-
" cap ") is seen generally before rain storms, and
often precedes violent squalls. It is seen occasionally
in parallel bands.
Whether the form of the vapour which crowns the
summit of a cloud-pile results from the radiation of
electrical force acting at a certain distance, or is
merely the effect of condensation caused by the chill-
ing effect of the cloud mass on the surrounding air,
is an interesting though a difficult matter to determine ;
the relations existing between different masses of
cloud not having yet much engaged the attention of
meteorologists. Even when these masses are similar
in species there is much difficulty ; but the difficulty
is greater when those species are different, e.g., those
of stratus and cumulus, as in our present subject.
It has been remarked by Maury and other writers,
that the sudden formation of hail or snow must often
be attended by a noticeable increase in the temperature
of the surrounding atmosphere, and the fact has been
so recorded. This increase of temperature is in agree-
ment with, and indeed corroborates, the mechanical
theory of heat so fully enunciated by Tyndall in his
interesting work on "Heat as a Mode of Motion."
The part which electricity plays in regard to the
origin of the stifling and oppressivef atmosphere that
precedes thunderstorms must be very powerful,
whether acting directly or indirectly.
It has been noticed that the passage of a large
bank of cirro-cumulus will often cause a remarkable
dropping of the temperature of the air beneath ; and
(allowing this to be true) we can only account for the
* Probably it is merely a more condensed variety of that
which forms our present subject.
T There can be little doubt, however, that the sensations
many persons experience before a storm result from the direct
action of the electricity in the body.
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
fact by supposing that the particles of the cloud are
in the transition state — changing rapidly from the
condition of half-fiozen water into the vaporous state
of cumulus or nimbus. We say half frozen, for the
cirro-cumulus scarcely ever exhibits, like the various
forms of cirrus, prismatic effects, which it undoubtedly
would do if it were composed of fully formed ice-
crystals. If then, we allow the accuracy of the ob-
servations recorded, as to the chilling effect of this
cloud on the atmosphere beneath, we may also be
justified in inferring that, for the most part, it is a
transition cloud between cirrus (the proper ice-cloud)
mid some other more -watery species, e.g., cumulus or
stratus, rather than an intermediate stage between
these and the cirrus itself.
(To be continued.)
A RAMBLE ON THE KENTISH HILLS.
I THOUGHT that an account of some of the
spring plants to be found on the hills near Otford
and Kemsing might be interesting to the readers of
Science-Gossip who had never botanised in this
locality. My first intention was to call this article
"A Walk on the Chalk," but thinking the title
might mislead, I changed it — "A Walk on the
Chalk" generally being considered in London "a
milk walk !"
Three of us started from Otford platform — it can
scarcely bear the dignified title of station — at about
eleven o'clock in the morning, walked through the
village, admired the old castle (where, by the bye,
a blacksmith has erected a smithy), and then through
a gate, over a ploughed field, up the hill ; what
with the hill and the field, it rather tired us, it
being extremely warm. Halfway up, on a gras.sy
bank, we espied Ophrys mnscifera and Aceras anthro-
pophora ; a little higher up two or three clumps of
Cynoglossum officinale; on the brow, under the trees,
we passed Daphne Laureola and Atropa Belladonna,
both in profusion ; then we caught sight of a fine
spike of Orchis fusca, which amply repaid our blow
up the hill. A short distance on we found Neottia
Nidus-Avis, its brown stalk and flowers exactly match-
ing the colour of the ground. Down the hill again
more fusca, then a large specimen of Habenaria chlo-
rantha, measuring about 28 inches in height, and
a quantity of Habenaria bifolia a little farther on.
Out of the wood, and on to a grassy knoll, where we
had a fine view of Kent stretching for miles and
fading away into the Sussex hills. Just a bit of
lunch ; then Ave turned into a copse on our right ; here
we found Cephalanthera grandiflora in full bloom and
plenty of it ; out again, down a disused chalk-pit ;
here growing were Helianthemum vulgare, Hippocrepis
comosa, Pyrus aria, Viburnum Lantana, and a few
stray specimens of Aceras anthropophora. Left here
and walked down to the small village of Kemsing,
noticed the quaint old church, which has lancet-shaped
windows, and, if report says true, is built on an old
Roman temple ; next came to St. Edith's Well, which
originated, not from the chalk hills, as we profane
moderns think, but from St. Thomas a. Becket's staff;
he, good man, travelling by the pilgrims' way, feeling
thirsty, stopped at Kemsing and struck his staff into
the ground, from whence, we are told, gushed the
water. After taking a good draught from it, and
gathering some of the Asplenium Ruta-muraria,
which grows on the wall built round, we set out on
the dusty road. Before we got far, one of my friends
drew my attention to the curious laciniated variety
of Elder (Sambucus nigra laciniatd) growing in the
hedge ; further on we came to a specimen or two
of Lathma squamaria, which the road-man had
tried hard to destroy by throwing a heap of stones
on it ; but no, he had left three untouched, all
with seeds ; one we gathered, and left two. Turned
back a little way, and down a lane past an old
farmhouse, where we found on a wall Ceterach
officinarum — this, by the way, a rarity in Kent. We
must scarcely mention a closer description of the
locality than this, or the herb collectors would be
after them, but enough to say, if any botanist
searches for it, he will be rewarded. Over a field, and
narrowly escaping wet feet by plumping into a boggy
ditch, out into a pretty country lane ; we walked down
here for about half a mile, and then came to the
(L. C. & D.) railway bridge, under which we pass,
and into the meadow on the left-hand side ; here
we gathered Orchis mascula, latifolia, and Morio,
also Valeriana dioica by the side of the ditch. Out
into the road, and a little higher up we found a beauti-
fully variegated variety of Sambucus nigra, all the
veins being surrounded with a- broad cream-colour
border.
Up the short but steepish hill, the road delight-
fully overshadowed with the" green foliage, and re-
lieved here and there by a bit of blue sky ; then on
to the Chart (Seal) ; here Junipcrus communis is
very common ; among the fir-trees we found Con-
vallaria majalis flowering very sparingly ; this, I
believe, is the characteristic of the uncultivated
plant Lomaria spicant, of course growing abundantly
here.
On looking at the time, we find it to be five o'clock.
And now we are close to Ightham ; here I part with
my friends and make my way through Inghatch (here
by the roadside is a clump of Lamium macula tu/u),
and on to Plaxtol, but go a bit out of my way to the
copse at the bottom of Sheet Hill, where Paris quad-
rifolia and Ophioglossum vulgatum grow, the first-
named plant being rather a local one in Kent. Gather-
ing a specimen or two of each, I walk on to Plaxtol,
and thence home, after having spent a most enjoyable
day.
Hadlvw. F. W. E. S.
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
ON MOUNTING MICRO-FUNGI.
AS the seasons of the year revolve in rapid succes-
' sion, each, and all, bring with them their own
particular work and studies ^for the microscopist.
When, as Horace puts it, " Solvitur acris litems grata
vice veris et luivo/ii," the ardent microscopist begins
to prepare for his early campaign, over hill, through
dale, and in the woodlands ; again, when summer
bursts upon him with all her warmth and beauty, he
plunges deeper than ever in scientific research for
objects dear to his own particular branch of study ;
autumn, too, finds him busily engaged wandering
through fields lit up with the brilliance of the golden
grain soon to be ingathered. At last comes winter,
"clothed all in frieze," this is without doubt the
season of all others when study and manipulation of
his objects collected in the bright seasons are brought
more particularly into play. Within his study, with
his microscope and objects at hand, cheered by the
friendly blaze and warmth of his own fireside, he feels
that the dull dark months, as some consider them, are
to him anything but dark and dreary. To such a
time we have once more come, and to each and all it
has brought its delightful work. My own particular
study throughout this year has been the micro-fungi,
those minute organisms which live on other plants.
It is my intention therefore in this short paper to
put before my readers, as briefly and as concisely as
possible, a few brief hints, culled from my own ex-
perience, as to the best and the easiest way of
mounting those micro-fungi for which we have made
so diligent a search throughout the spring, summer,
and autumn months, with, let us hope, plenty of
success. I do not intend to enter into the minutiae of
collecting the fungi and classing them. To those who
at present have not taken to this most interesting
branch of microscopical research, let me recommend
a book which will give them all the knowledge on the
head of collecting and classing they will require ; I
mean " Rust, Smut, Mildew, and Mould," by
Dr. M. C. Cooke, a book to whose value and excel-
lence all who, like myself, have used it and (let us
hope) profited by it will, I feel sure, bear witness.
The mounting of micro-fungi is very simple, and
may be classed under two heads : —
1st. Those specimens which may be mounted dry.
2ndly. Those which require some medium in which
to be preserved.
And, firstly, of the apparatus required for dry
mounting : —
1. Plenty of glass slips with ground edges.*
2. Thin glass circles of various sizes.
3. Three or four dozen vulcanite haiL,.
4. Sharp fine scissors (a pair).
• *, Gr ° und ed S e sli ps, though more expensive, are the cheaper
in the long-run, as they are neater and of smaller compass.
5. Bottle of white-lead varnish.
6. Turn-table and camel's-hair brushes.
All these things being at hand, we may proceed to
manipulate our fungi. Of course, the great Order
from which so many dry mounts are taken are the
/Ecidiacei ; we will suppose that we are about to
mount a specimen of M. Tussilaginis. First, take the
leaf on which the specimen is located, and with the
fine scissors cut round the cluster-cup, leaving suffi-
cient leaf to fill up the vulcanite cell. Having taken
care that the specimen lies perfectly flat in the field,
place a ring of white varnish round the top of the cell,
and on this lay the thin glass cover. After allowing
time for the varnish to dry, run two or more rings
round, and neatly, as a finish, one of green in the
centre of the white varnish. The slide having been
duly labelled is then fit to place in your cabinet. No-
thing is easier than this method, yet, like everything
else, the novice may fail in his attempts to succeed,
and after mounting a specimen iridium in the way
above described, he will perhaps in a day or two be
surprised to find he is unable to distinctly see his
object through a dimness which appears to have come
over the thin glass. This is caused by the object not
having been properly dried. Great care should be
taken that all specimens are thoroughly dried before
mounting.
We now turn to the method of mounting in fluid,
which is by no means so easy or so certain of pro-
ducing good results. The apparatus and fluid required
may be briefly named as follows : —
1. Ground-edge slips.
2. Thin circles.
3. Fine knife.
4. Spirit-lamp.
5. Glycerine jelly (the best).
6. Gold size.
7. White-lead varnish and brushes.
In this case we will take as our example for mount-
ing a specimen of Aregma bulbosum, of the order
Puccinia. Having seen that your slide is well
cleaned, take the leaf with the A. bulbosum on it,
and with the fine knife scrape on to the slide sufficient
spores to fill the field of view without crowding it.
Next take up some glycerine (which has been placed
in a cup of very hot water in order to liquefy) in a dip-
ping-tube, and gently let fall one drop on to the spores,
then hold the slide over the spirit-lamp in order that
all shall be warm, then very gently place the thin
glass cover over the medium, and put the slide aside
till cold. When the glycerine has well set, take a
knife with slightly warmed blade and scrape all the
superfluous glycerine from the outside of the thin
glass cover ; next run three rings of gold size round,
allowing each to thoroughly dry before the next is laid
on ; after this has been done, finish with white and
green varnish as in dry mounting. In this method
the difficulty will be how to obviate air bubbles ; these
in working with glycerine are its great drawback. I
B 2
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
CmomaceL
Ustilaffo Segetum
am rarely, however, troubled with them, and I owe my
success, I consider, to seeing that the glycerine is
thoroughly liquid and warm, and that the thin cover-
ing glass is laid down on the spores and fluid in the
most gentle manner. Be careful in mounting with
glycerine what varnish you use, as there is scarcely
one that is not affected by this fluid. After many
trials and many failures with others, I have come to
the conclusion that there is nothing equal to gold
size.
Thus then have I very briefly endeavoured to
point out the easiest and quickest way of mounting
micro-fungi. In conclusion, let me add a word about
the labelling of your specimens. Be very careful
always to roughly note on
each slide at the time of
mounting the name of the
specimen, for it is of little
use, in the case of those
fungi the spores of which
are mounted in fluid, trying
to remember the name some
day or two after mounting,
many spores being so much
alike that the thing is almost
impossible. Before placing
in the cabinet, neat labels,
such as may be bought at
any optician's, should be
placed on the slide one at
each end, bearing the Order
and Latin name of the
fungus, with date of mount-
ing and mounter's name. It
is as well also to add the
English name. As an ex-
ample of what I mean, see
Fig. i. — Example to show fig. i. I must, before finish-
mode of labelling micro-* . . . .
fungi slides, and also of in g> g lve one warning, and
applying rings of coloured that is, Be very sure that
varnish. ■
you get the best glycerine
jelly, viz. that which is as clear as crystal. There is
some sold which looks foggy and muddy, so to speak. ,
This, when viewed under the microscope, shows an
amount of deposit of some kind, which, with such
minute organisms as those of which I have been
treating and with a high power, prove ruination. The
clearest glycerine jelly I ever remember to have used
I procured of Mr. Dunscombe, optician, of St. Augus-
tine's Parade, Bristol. It was put up in a test tube,
which was fitted into a case ; this doubtless could be
obtained at any optician's, and is without doubt the
best glycerine for mounting micro-fungi I ever met
with. I trust that, this winter, many who have not
yet turned their attention to micro-fungi mounting
may at last be persuaded to do so, and I can promise
them that the result will fully repay their labour.
Charles F. W. T. Williams.
Co rn Sm ut
2 4-3- 73
BROWN
ANOTHER FUNGUS RAMBLE IN EPPING
FOREST.
T ENZITES BETULLVA occurs on the roots
**— ' and stumps of old trees : it has the habit of a
Polypore ; corky, coriaceous ; straight gills, some-
what branched when young, torn when old ; pileus
tomentose : —
Diidalea quercina and D . unicolor. The former is
Fig. 2.— Tomentose pileus of Lenzites betulina.
Fig. 3. — Lamellae (old).
Fig . 4. — Lamellae in the young state.
Figs. 5 and 6.— Lamellae straight-branched and anastomosing
of Dcedalea quercina (young state).
nearest Lenzites, the latter, of more frequent occur-
rence, approaches Polyporus : both are similar in
habit to this genus. The pileus of D. quercina is of a
pale buff-colour, with concentric lines not unlike
Polyporus ulmarius.
D. unicolor has a coriaceous, corky pileus, villoso-
strigose, cinereous, with zones of the same colour :
The sinuses of both species are torn and labyrinthi-
form when old ; similar in this respect to Lenzites.
The polypores are plentifully represented, both as
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
Boletus and Polyporus proper. The scientific dis-
tinction between the two is that in the former genus
the hymenium of the cells is separable from one
another and from the hymenophorum, which is not
the case in the latter. Generally speaking, the poly-
pores have a coriaceous, corky or even woody struc-
ture, while that of the Boleti is soft and spongy ; but
there are intermediate forms : P. spiimens, for in-
stance, which we gathered from the dead trunk of a
The polypores are arranged in divisions, according
as the stem is central, lateral, or wanting ; besides
these there are resupinate forms.
Of the stemless kinds, P. versicolor met the eye
upon almost every other old tree-stump ; rather hand-
some in the young state, before the rich velvety-brown
tomentum of the pileus with its broad border of light
drab variegated with zones of the same hue has
faded ; the hymenium is white, and pores so small as
BS*(
mwM
65§sfo
Figs. 7 and 8. — Labyrinthiform pores of
Dcedalea. unicolor (young state).
'^:1^ll§0j
§!••• •:•'
£?h
o
Figs. 9 and io. — Hymenium of Polyporus
versicolor (young state).
Fig. ii. — Reticulated stem
of Boletus edulis.
EmWN$&
Fig. 12. — Section showing the villose strigose
pileus of D&dalea unicolor, and pores torn
and toothed when old.
Figs. 13 and 14. — Fistulina hepatica with pores (enlarged in 13).
Fig. 15. — Section of Polyportts lucidus, showing the
tubular hymenium.
17.— Vertical section of a Boletus, show-
ing the porous hymenium.
Fig. 16. — Large angular pores of Boletus Jlavus.
tree, is somewhat spongy. The polypores are usually
stemless, with lateral attachments to their matrices ;
the Boleti have stipes like an agaric ; but P. ru-
fescens, of which we found one specimen near the
" King's Oak," is furnished with a central stipe : it is
the prettiest of its tribe, the pileus is red and polished,
especially on the broad border ; hymenium white.
P. lucidus (two specimens) is also a handsome fungus ;
it grows laterally from the roots of old trees ; the
pileus is of a dark reddish-bay (not unlike old red
morocco), and polished ; hymenium whitish.
to be scarcely perceptible to the naked eye. More
general and protean in its forms is Polyporus vulgaris,
a white, corky, closely adherent, resupinate species,
with a most repulsive and sickening odour : on trees,
sticks, stumps, everywhere ; frequent and also re-
supinate, but not adherent, P. ferruginosus : pileus
with hardly any substance, thin, and coriaceous ; hy-
menium irregular ; pores unequal ; of variable habit,
but usually growing laterally from old stumps. P.
tomentarius was also observed on old trees.
Of Boleti we gathered specimens of six species.
HARD WICKE ' S S CIE NCE - G O SSIP.
These are in habit like Agarics (see figure). Most
frequent, B. chrysenteron ; brown and tomentose
above, greenish-yellow below : B. aestivalis ; pileus
dark brown, cracked when old, dirty white beneath :
and B. scaber ; much resembling it, but stipe covered
with fibrous scales (both species in the wood behind
Loughton). B. edulis, one small specimen, brownish
above, whitish below (when young, but when old
turning to a pale yellowish-green), the tubes elongated
and half free ; it may be known from its congeners
by its stem, which is elegantly reticulated. B.flavits ;
pileus viscid, yellowish ; hymeneal surface yellow ;
pores large, angular, ragged ; stem cribrose above
with the decurrent tubes ; not frequent. B. ekgans ;
hymeneal surface lemon-yellow ; of firmer substance
than the preceding, and with much smaller pores ;
one specimen ; copse below Woodford.
Plentiful this year was another plant of the Poly-
pore family, of a soft, spongy, or fleshy consistence :
viz. Fishdina hepatica, growing upon old oak-trees.
Those who are unacquainted with its peculiar aspect
could hardly credit its strong resemblance to a piece
of raw bullock's liver, and still less imagine that so
odd-looking and unattractive a thing can be edible.
We had a portion of it dressed for dinner ; the odour
and flavour thereof were not bad, but it ate very much
like what stewed gutta percha might do, and there
was an after sensation upon the teeth and palate of
astringency, referable no doubt to the presence of
gallic acid. From a scientific point of view it is an
interesting fungus, because different to other Poly-
pores in that^the hymenium is at first papillose, but
when full grown the tubes are seen to be all separate
and distinct.
( To be continued?)
CHEMICAL ACTION IN ITS GEOLOGICAL
ASPECT.
By T. Mellard Reade, C.E., F.G.S., &c.
EVERY ONE is, no doubt, familiar with the fact
that, in boiling most water in our common
kettles, a white precipitate, known as "fur," forms
on the inside of the vessel. This is specially the case
with our well water, and is due to the fact that the
water, in its passage through the pores of the rock,
has dissolved and taken up, in solution, lime, in the
form of a carbonate, which is precipitated in the pro-
cess of boiling. This is not only the case with well
water, but, to a greater or less extent, with river water,
the relative amounts being due to the nature of the
rock forming the drainage basin of the river. We are
thus brought face to face with the fact that all natural
water contains, however clear it may seem, extraneous
minerals in solution, for not only do we find lime in
it, both in the form of a carbonate and a sulphate,
but also magnesia, silica, potash, soda, iron, and other
minerals, in more or less minute proportions.
This may seem a very small matter, and a very weak
instance of " chemical action," but these very forces,
apparently so insignificant, have been mainly instru-
mental in fashioning this world of ours into its pleasing
alternations of mountain and valley, hill and dale.
But to make the importance of the fact plain, it is
necessary to put some figures that will give an idea of
the gross, as well as relative, quantity of minerals
removed in solution by water. It is possible, you may
think, that 19 grains per gallon of "solids in solu-
tion " is so small as to be unworthy of notice, but as
regards the river Thames it means, according to
Professor Prestwich's calculation, the removal into
the sea annually of 548,230 tons of saline matter, or,
roughly speaking, a ton a minute.
We thus see that all rivers are carriers of invisible
material, and that, in addition to the mud, sand, and
gravel which, the most unobservant person can see, is
hurried along to the sea at every freshet, a slow and
silent transference of materials is taking place with
great uniformity of action, winter and summer, dry
weather and wet, from the land seawards. The
Rhine, the Rhone, and the Danube unitedly, accord-
ing to calculations I have made, remove annually in
solution over thirty-six million tons of saline matter,
gfc By an elaborate calculation, but a thoroughly re-
liable one, I have arrived at the result that the rain-
fall removes, in England and Wales, matter in
solution equal to 1 foot in thickness over the whole
area (in round numbers) in thirteen thousand years.*
But these effects of chemical action mean much
more, geologically, than at first sight appears, for the
removal of so much mineral matter in solution is, in
most cases, the destruction of the cementing materials
that hold the more insoluble particles of the rocks
together, and their consequent degradation. It is as
if the mortar of this building were dissolved out by
chemical action, and the loose bricks, stone, and
timber carried away by the first floods into the river
Mersey. Therefore it is clear that, in order to account
for geological changes of magnitude, we only require
time and large areas of land for the rain to act upon.
The effects of chemical action on rocks is often
apparent in an objectionable and costly manner in the
stone used for building purposes. The decomposition
and crumbling away of the new red sandstone of
which Chester Cathedral was built is an instance,
and in the Shrewsbury churches the decay is very
apparent. The same may be said of the Permian
sandstone, of which a church in Coventry is com-
posed, while in Ludlow parish church the same action
may be seen on the old red sandstone. The decay
of these stratified rocks is largely due to their numerous
planes of bedding and porous nature, permitting the
penetration of water. Solid granite, however, not
possessing any stratification, weathers and decays in
* Geological time. Presidential Address, Liverpool Geological
Society, session 1876-77.
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
some cases, such as the granite used for building pur-
poses about Dublin, the decomposition being very
rapid. The decay appears to me to be due to the
state of agglomeration of the grains of which it is
composed, in addition to the chemical nature of its
constituent minerals. Solid granite rocks decay in
situ to the depth of many feet, and the resultant of
the decomposition is, in Cornwall, kaolin or china
clay. In the boulder clay about Liverpool, we find
many decayed boulders of granite and greenstone, in
some cases the core being preserved, and ringing like
metal under the hammer, while the surface exfoliates
and falls to powder. Limestone appears to be beauti-
fully preserved in the clay, but exposed to the atmo-
sphere it is dissolved away. These specimens show,
in the case of limestone, the most delicate striations
preserved, in the case of greenstone only a resultant
powder.
If from such small examples we extend our views
to natural scenery, we find that its character has been
largely determined by chemical action. The valleys
and dells of Derbyshire, so admired for their beauty,
the gorge of the Chee Tor, the cliffs of Cheddar, in
Somersetshire, all result from the dissolution of lime-
stone by the chemical action of rain, but by far the
most remarkable features of limestone districts are the
caverns with which they abound. The Peak Cavern,
Kent's Hole, Wokey Hole, the Mammoth Cave of
Kentucky, are all produced by the continued action
of water percolating from the surface through joints
and fissures, removing the lime in solution, and en-
larging, slowly but surely, its channels until large
caverns are produced, sometimes underground rivers,
and, finally, as the roof falls in, valleys.
Having just returned from a visit to the Burren, a
remarkable limestone district in county Clare, by
Galway Bay, I was much struck with the effect of
chemical action on the scenery. There you have
grand limestone mountains, rising terrace above ter-
race, in many places entirely bare of verdure, in
others covered with grass, of the hue which gives the
name of the "Emerald Isle" to Ireland, while a
closer inspection shows most of the terraces and the
sides of the mountains to be split up with joints in
all stages of enlargement by rain wash, the upper sur-
faces often bare ; in others with basin-shaped hollows
holding water like a saucer, in which a fresh-water
Alga grows. In others the joints may be overgrown
with moss and verdure, giving a treacherous appear-
ance of solidity — places to be avoided at the risk of a
sprained ankle or broken leg — but by far the most
curious thing is to see, perhaps 18 inches down at the
bottom of the crevices, the surface rocks being bare,
ferns growing in the greatest luxuriance. My friend,
Dr. King, of Galway, pointed out to me that the
decay of the Alga formed a very fine soil which washed
into these crevices, forming a fitting support to the
Maidenhair fern. The Alpine plant, Dryas octopetala,
also grows in great luxuriance, and is the relict of a
former Arctic climate. In other places, where the
rock is not "jointed," Dr. King informs me, there
exist plains of bare limestone. Not a stream of
water is to be seen in all this remarkable district, but
many springs, which the inhabitants hold in super-
stitious reverence, and call "holy wells," sometimes
forming very picturesque subjects for sketching ; of
this character is the one at Glen Inah, near Bally-
vaughan. This continual solvent action on the rocks
from the joints frequently quarries out large blocks of
limestone, proving, I have no doubt, of great advan-
tage to the builders of those remarkable structures
called "Round Towers," the objects of so much con-
troversy and little knowledge, of which the use has
never been discovered, nor the date of their building
fixed.
Lochs Mask and Corrib are both basins in the
mountain limestone of Connemara. They communi-
cate only by an underground river. To show the
necessity of a knowledge of geology to the engineer,
I may mention that during the famine an attempt was
made to cut a canal to connect the two lakes for
navigation purposes. The cut was made, but when
the water was turned in, so fractured and fissured were
the bottom and sides that the canal would not hold
water, and it remains to this day a monument of
misdirected energy.
To treat fully of the connection between scenery
and chemical action would take up more space than I
have at my disposal, but I trust in this short outline
I have given an insight into the forces which produce
natural beauties that charm the eye, or grander ones
that awe the mind. The forces of the storm-tossed
sea, the hurricane, the earthquake, and volcano, may
seem much more potent and terrible, but the ever
evenly enduring wear of the elements through chemical
action produces in the end results quite as great, nay,
greater, though it is so distributed and slow as to be
unappreciable to the eye except in its effects after
long lapses of time.
ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE HOUSE-
FLY AND ITS PARASITE.
THE following remarks on the development of the
house-fly are such as have come under actual
observation, and the appended sketches were made by
Mr. G. Harkus from the microscope, with the aid of a
Beales reflector.
Mr. Harkus, with whom I experimented simul-
taneously, was fortunate, or the reverse, in having the
required ova brought to him in this way. A fly having
gained access to a cold joint of lamb considerately
left a sufficient supply for his examination. The
objectionable part of the arrangement was probably
counterbalanced by his being enabled to fix the time
of deposition with tolerable certainty. This was on
July 28. The eggs (one of which is represented
8
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
in fig. 20, its diameter 5 ' 5 inch) were placed with a
portion of the meat in a glass vessel, and next day
the maggots had emerged as in fig. 21 (diameter ^
inch), where the ramifications of the tracheal system
may be traced.
The warm weather, coupled with the indoor heat,
matured the larva rapidly, the change from maggot
to chrysalis (fig. 19) being apparent at each observa-
tion, some having assumed this state on July 30.
The perfect stage was reached and the fly emerged
on August 5, or eight days from the deposition of the
ova (fig. 18).
This was a week in advance of the result obtained
in my experiment, which I preferred to conduct out
render the trachea, as well as the undulatory vermi-
cular movement of the internal organs, apparent
throughout under a low power 5 in fact, from its
toughness, transparency, and strength, the larva is an
excellent object for microscopic examination. When
the animal matter was devoured, the maggots moved
restlessly about, changing in colour from yellowish-
white to brownish-red ; the cuticle became dense and
opaque ; motion gradually ceased, until the perfect
insect emerged by forcing of the segments of the
anterior end of the shell, occupying from fourteen to
fifteen days in completing its series of life changes.
Mr. Harkus's part of the experiment appears to be
useful so far as to show the adaptability of the fly and
its ova to circumstances, and that the larva assumes
the chrysalid state when its supply of food becomes
exhausted, although otherwise immature (in this case
the animal matter given them would dry up), instead
of dying from starvation.
The chrysalis and fly in his examples are undersized
and impoverished, compared to those permitted to
feed in a semi-fluid mass of animal matter.
F'g. 18.— The House-fly (Musca domestica), magnified.
Fig. 20.— Egg of House-fly, July 28, 1878, X 30.
Fig. 13. — Chrysalis of House-fly, July 20,
^1878, X 40.
Fig. 21. — Maggot of House-fly, July 29, 1878, X 25.
of doors. A piece of raw liver was exposed, which soon
had eggs enough attached to it. It would appear
that the fly has to some extent the power of with-
holding the deposition of her ova until a suitable
medium is found for the requirements of the larva.
In two or three days the maggots were at work ;
their activity and voracity in devouring the putrescent
mass of animal matter gave it the appearance of
fermentation.
For observation in the live box, any little weakness
connected with the somewhat objectionable odour
arising from the garbage had to be got rid of and
some few maggots washed clean. Neither immersion
in water nor yet compression seemed to inconvenience
them appreciably ; their leathery integument is not
easily ruptured, and is sufficiently translucent to
In autumn the house-fly seems specially the
victim to the attacks of a parasitic fungus {Empitsa
Musca), and may be seen glued, as it were, to
walls, a white powdery growth appearing at the
segments of its body (the spores of the fungus). This
vegetable pest is similar to, if not identical with, the
parasite which causes so much destruction amongst
fish in aquariums, and last year even attacked salmon
in some English rivers.
The cause of the fly becoming so firmly attached to
dry surfaces is this. The two pulvilli which, with two
strong curved claws (perhaps best seen with the flesh-
fly, Musca vomitoria, as a subject), terminate the foot
are surrounded by a fringe of tubular hairs, each ending
with a disc or sucker, through which a glutinous fluid
exudes. These form the points of attachment, enabling
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
the insect to walk in any position, the action of the
two claws detaching these points as the fly moves
along.
When the ravages of the parasite have sufficiently
weakened the fly by the destruction of its viscera,
&c, it becomes incapable of active movement, and,
remaining too long in a place, the viscid fluid continues
to exude, and then the fly " sticks to the wall."
M. H. Robson.
A RARE SPECIES OF HEMIPTERA.
THE following species of Hemiptera being, I
believe, an undescribed one, the account of it
may not be uninteresting to your readers.
It was discovered in some water percolating through
Fig. 22.— Dorsal aspect of sp. of Hemiptera.
Ventral aspect of Hemiptera.
a crevice in an old wall, in conjunction with the
Oscillatoria decorticcuis. Fig. 22 will give a general
idea of the dorsal aspect of the insect. The rostrum
was rather blunt, and at the apex were two small
globose suckers, containing a viscid matter of great
reflecting power. Eyes not apparent. The head
was joined throughout its whole width with the
thorax, with the exception of a small semicircular
space on either side ; from these spaces sprang the
wing cases, which stamps it as an individual of an
Order of the Hemiptera.
The sheath was closely covered with helical or
screw-like markings, which could only be brought
out distinctly with a high power, and forms a beau-
tiful object for the microscope. The first pair of legs
were devoid of any transverse segmentations, the
most singular feature being a long horny spine half
the length of the leg, and curved towards the tarsus.
I have not observed these appendages before on any
insect. The foot was beset with seven or eight fine
hairs terminating in a claw, which was continued into
an unusually long and fine point. The middle legs
resembled the pair last described, except that the
long bristles were absent. The hind pair of legs were
placed low down the meta-thorax, and were composed
of five distinctly marked segments, the femur being
about twice as long as the remainder of the leg. The
tarsus gradually tapered, and ended in a single claw
surmounted by hairs, the long spine being absent.
The ventral view, fig. 23, shows the abdomen with its
eight segments tapering to the anal region. The
whole of the underside of the beetle was covered with
very fine hairs.
Although I had the insect under observation for
some hours in an excavated slide, I did not once see
it use its wings or rise to the surface of the water as
if for the purpose of breathing.
Its colour was a dark brown.
The elytra were a pale yellow, the markings being
the same colour, but much more dense.
They resembled the wing case of the boatfly
{Notonecta).
Size of the object about j' s inch.
John Davis.
A GLANCE AT THE SCIENTIFIC WORLD
OF FIFTY YEARS AGO.
HAVING had lately to consult the volumes of
the "Philosophical Magazine" for 1829-30,
I have been much interested by the view of contem-
porary science which they afford. The volumes
record the death of four great lights of science, two
of chemistry, Sir Humphry Davy, Dr. Wollaston,
and two of astronomy, Dr. Young and the Marquis
de la Place. They'contain the last papers written by
the two first named : that by Sir H. Davy on the
electricity of the torpedo ; that by Dr. Wollaston
on a method of rendering platina malleable. The
advance which knowledge has made since that date
is of course especially perceptible in geology. The
writers of papers on that science seem mostly to look
upon the literal accuracy of the Mosaic account of
the creation and the Noachian deluge as an axiomatic
truth to which the facts observed have to be made to
fit. One writer repudiates the idea of mineral veins
having their origin in fissures of the rock, and adopts
an explanation similar to that of the Cromarty quarry-
man, who told Hugh Miller that, when God made the
rocks, he made the fossils in them. Even geologists
so philosophical as De la Beche, Conybeare, and
Lonsdale, stoutly maintain that the appearances pre-
sented by the rocks, and the physical configuration of
IO
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
the surface cannot be explained by any forces now
known to be in operation on the earth's surface, and
call in the aid of " debacles " (a word now as obsolete
as the view which it embodies), or huge gushes of
water, set in motion by the convulsions which pro-
duced the dislocations of the earth's crust known as
faults. The difficulties which prevented the accept-
ance of the uniformitarian theory seem to be, first, an
inadequate conception of the extent of past time (we
find it maintained that valleys could not have been
carved out by the erosive power of streams, since we
find ancient British and Roman fortifications attesting
by their perfect preservation that the form of the sur-
face has remained unaltered since the time of their
construction fifteen centuries ago) ; and, secondly, the
phenomena then known as "diluvial." The glacial
theory had not then arisen to throw a flood of light
upon the origin of such phenomena as perched blocks
and transported boulders, carried far from their native
mountains, yet lying in the midst of fine clay.
In natural history we find the natural system
minister of Flisk, N.B. I knew him at the time
only by two or three articles in the supplement to the
" Encyclopedia Britannica," which, if they be not fair
specimens of a Scotch D.D.'s usual quantum of Greek,
will at least remain a monument of his talent for
writing on animals that he not only never saw, but
would not even now know if he saw them. In addi-
tion to these truly novel specimens of entomological
knowledge, I knew him also by a subsequent compila-
tion called with much modesty ' The Philosophy of
Zoology,' the first volume of which contains nothing
new but some miserable plates, and the second little
original except some names which have been framed
in a proper independent spirit and with a noble
contempt of Priscian. Thus we have Trochusidce,
Gordiitsidce, Ciciudcladcv, cum multis aliis in dee of
similar calibre. Having tivo D's tacked to the end of
his own name, the worthy minister doubtless thinks
that he has a right to clap one to the tail of anything."
The following example is given of the dichotomous
system : —
Scotch
f i Breeched
i Dominies ( i Of Flisk ( i D.D. ( i Fleming
»{ 2 Not D.D.
2 Not of Flisk.
2 Not Dominies.
V 2 Not Breeched.
2 Not Scotch.
i i John.
2 Not Fleming \ 2 Not John.
beginning to make headway against the overwhelm-
ing authority of Linnceus, an authority which it was
looked upon as something little short of blasphemy
to gainsay. We have heard of an entomologist who
went through his cabinet and destroyed every speci-
men which he could not find described by Linnceus.
So the medieval physicians declared that they would
rather do wrong with Galen than do right with any
one else. A Mr. Roscoe, who speaks in a tone of
authority, declares that, whatever may be the merits of
Jussieu as a botanist, it is sufficiently clear that they
are not exemplified in the superiority of his arrange-
ment as a nomenclature for the vegetable kingdom.
" We are compelled to conclude that as a nomen-
clature and series of plants it is greatly inferior to that
of Linnaeus ; and that however excellent it may be in
some respects, it will never supplant in general use
that long established work."
Another system which has not been equally for-
tunate in standing the test of time is the dichotomous
system of the Rev. Dr. Fleming. A paper entitled
" The Dying Struggle of the Dichotomous System "
contains a criticism of that system, or rather of its
author, in comparison with which the debate chronicled
in the first chapter of the transactions of the Pick-
wick Club is amenity itself. The opening sentences
will give a fair idea of its tone : — " Some years have
now elapsed since a gentleman, the sable hue of
whose vesture, if not the smile on his countenance,
betokened that he should be at peace with all men,
came up from the North to London, and announced
himself to me as the ReY. John Fleming, D.D.,
The author of this satire is W. S. MacLeay. When
Scot meets Scot then comes the tug of war. How-
ever, time brings its revenges, and if the worthy
D.D.'s dichotomous system has failed to obtain recog-
nition, his assailant's own pet "quinary system" has
followed, or perhaps preceded, it into the limbo of
exploded vanities. We may congratulate ourselves
that scientific discussions are not now conducted in
such a tone. Very different in style are some plea-
santly written papers by Professor Schultes of Landshut,
Bavaria, " On the Cultivation of Botany in England."
The professor, in visiting England, was struck with
the deep, full verdure of English vegetation. He had
often heard and passed censures on the intense
colours of the figures in English botany, but now
perceived that the complaint was unfounded, the
prevailing hue of vegetation being even of a deeper
tone than there represented. He observed nothing in
the flora of the roadsides which struck him as being
different from that of Germany except Ulex eiiropans
and "a species of Rtibus, which, though called by all
the botanists of this country R. fruticosus, is not the
plant which bears that name on the continent, of
which the corollas are always pale red." What a
charming picture of simplicity ! the critical botanists
or " splitters " had not yet tried their hands upon this
prickly genus.
The professor is justly indignant because Sir J. E.
Smith, the president of the Linnean Society, and the
most eminent botanist in England, was formally in-
hibited by the vice-chancellor of the university from
delivering lectures on botany at Cambridge, because
HARD WICKE ' S S CIE NCE-GO SSI P.
ii
he was a Dissenter. However, the university of
Cambridge is not alone in not always acting in a
spirit of wisdom: for the university of Landshut falls
in for censure in that, while it spends 6000 florins on
its beer cellar, it allows its botanic garden to fall
into decay. Kew Gardens, in pre-Hookerian times,
did not impress our author favourably, but he was
highly delighted with those of the Horticultural
Society at Turnham Green, being apparently capti-
vated by the delicious flavour of the peaches and
pine-apples grown there. The British Museum of
those days, the present building being then only just
commenced, he considered a disgrace to an enlightened
people. He notes the fondness of the English for
flowers : ' ' The poor Londoner, who cannot afford to
buy what is beautiful, will still, if possible, obtain
something green to decorate the window with of his
dark little attic, and give his last farthing for a bit of
verdure." He is severe on the fiscal arrangements of
those days, especially the window-tax and the duty on
imported books. His herbarium being contained in
some musty old volumes on law and divinity, he was
charged thirty florins duty on them, to escape which
he had to take out his specimens one by one and
place them in papers bought for the purpose, and
abandon his old folios to the Custom House officials.
He visited Oxford, performing the journey in six
hours, though at the risk of breaking his neck. He
speaks with warm admiration of English botanists,
especially of Mr. Don, whose reputation does not
now stand so high as it then apparently did.
A curious example of the change which men's ideas
have undergone in another department of human
interest is afforded by a description of a " Parabolic
Sounding Board" erected in Attercliffe Church by the
Rev. J. Blackburn, minister of Attercliffe cum Darnall.
The woodcut with which the paper is adorned shows
a lofty pulpit of the "three-decker" pattern, sur-
mounted by a huge erection like a dimidiated um-
brella. This sounding-board was constructed on
mathematical principles, and it was claimed that, if
the preacher's mouth was exactly in the focus of the
parabolic surface, an attentive hearer would perceive
an effect that might be compared to the gentle swell
of an organ.
We find various things now familiar to us an-
nounced as novelties. We are told where ' ' those
curious substances bromine and bromide of potassium,
which we believe have not been hitherto prepared in
this country," may be obtained. Iodine has also the
interest of novelty. There is a paper, now historic,
by Dr. Robert Brown, " On the Movements of Active
Molecules" ; and we may read the speech of the Pre-
sident of the Royal Society on delivering a medal to
Mr. Charles Bell for his discoveries of the functions
of sensory and motor nerves, in which he says : " Of
all the branches of human knowledge, anatomy has
experienced the greatest difficulties in struggling
against passions, prejudices, and superstitions." We
may congratulate ourselves that the difficulties alluded
to were in great measure removed a year or two later
by the passing of the Anatomy Act ; but the prejudice
against the study of anatomy is not even yet extinct ;
and has it not been left to our present parliament to
prohibit in effect physiological research in the land
of Harvey, Hunter, and Bell, at the instance of an
ignorant and sentimental clamour, based upon the
groundless statements of disingenuous agitators ?
The perusal of these volumes shows us how great
the advance of science has been during half a cen-
tury, both as regards the number of ascertained facts
and the theories which connect them together and
give life to the dry bones. It is not, however, for us
to be puffed up with our knowledge ; if we know
more than our fathers, it is because we have inherited
the fruits of their labours ; and who can tell how much
that which passes current with us to-day may have to
be modified or set aside before another half-century
has passed ? We see how time tries scientific as all
other work : if a theory be false, neither the prestige
of a great name nor the sanction of authority can
prop it from falling ; if it be true, neither denunciation
nor even ridicule can prevent it from becoming ulti-
mately accepted.
H. F. Parsons.
THE GEOLOGY OF IRELAND.*
A LTHOUGH less known to English geologists
A than any other part of the British Islands,
the geology of the "Sister Isle" is, perhaps, for
many reasons, the most interesting and instructive.
Representatives of the most important formations are
here found developed after a manner different to what
they are seen elsewhere. There is "eozoonal " struc-
ture in the pure marbles of Connemara ; characteristic
zoophytes (Oldhamia) in the Cambrian slates of
Bray Head and the Wexford Mountains ; peculiar
Silurian fossils, as well as rocks, in the iron-bound
coasts of the west ; a wealth of Devonian ferns and
cryptogamia in the fine sandstones of Kilkenny, such
as no other member of this ancient formation has yet
yielded ; carboniferous rocks which, in addition to
the characteristic forms found elsewhere, have a fauna
of their own — strange-looking fishes, amphibians,
and labyrinthodonts. The carboniferous limestone
stretches over the greater part of midland Ireland.
Then we have triassic, Rhaetic, and a little oolite,
succeeded by chalk, miocene shales, and relics of
volcanoes and volcanic lava flows ; drift beds even
more distracting in the numerous forms they assume
than their representatives in England or Scotland ;
* " Manual of the Geology of Ireland." By G. Henry Kina-
han, M.R.I. A., &c., of H.M. Geological Survey. London,
C. Kegan Paul & Co. ,
12
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
Fig. 24. — Cambro-Silurian and Silurian Fossils. From Kinahan's "Geology
of Ireland," Plate II.
Geology of Ireland, physical and stra-
tigraphical, is treated in the methodi-
cal detail which is most valuable to a
student. We might take exception to
some of Mr. Kinahan's conclusions as
to the evidences of marine denudation
he freely quotes, for in many respects
the author is antagonistic to the
" subaerialists " in geology who at
present have the explanations all their
own way. And we think it would
have been better if the old instead
of the new technical terms had been
adopted.
The book is divided into five sec-
tions, each containing several chapters.
These sections are devoted severally
to "Sedimentary Rocks," "Metamor-
phic and Eruptive Rocks," " Super-
ficial Accumulations," " Physical
Features," and " Economical Pro-
ducts." It is illustrated by many
woodcuts, the sketches of which are
original, and some very good ; and
also by eight plates of fossils, &c, of
whose merit the reader can best judge
by the two which, through the kind-
ness of the publishers, we are enabled
to lay before them. The style in
which the book is written is well
suited to the subject, being matter-
of-fact and clear. Mr. Kinahan, with
Irish generosity, adopts the commend-
able practice of giving to all those
geologists who have in any way helped
him, or whose works are quoted, the
fullest credit they deserve.
This " Manual " will henceforth
be necessary to the student of the
geology of the British Islands, and
particularly that of Ireland. It is in
every sense of the word most credit-
post-glacial peat-bogs, turbaries, relics of ancient man
and ancient art — surely in this short summary of rocks
of every geological age and mineralogical character
we have the secret of that picturesque and scenic
natural beauty which the "Green Island" possesses
more than any other in the northern hemisphere.
Mr. Kinahan's "Manual of Irish Geology" is a
most useful addition to our scientific literature. No
other geologist was so competent to the task, for
Mr. Kinahan has been engaged on the Irish Survey
for many years, and now occupies the honourable
position of senior geologist. He has in person
examined, worked out, mapped, and surveyed the
most difficult and important parts of the geology of
Ireland. He has long been recognised as a keen
observer of physical geology, and the book before us
is filled with the results of a life's hard work. The
able to its author, and we hope it will bring him the
scientific honours he so well deserves.
MICROSCOPY.
"The Germ Theory of Infectious Diseases."
— This is the title of the address delivered by Dr.
Drysdale, as president of the Liverpool Literary and
Philosophical Society. It is a pamphlet of 74 pages,
published by Bailliere, Tindall, & Cox. We know
of no other similar paper which is so clear and com-
prehensive, so original and logical. It is not only a
capital summary of all that has been said and written
and experimented on this most important subject, but
it lays down the basis of new experiments, with a
view to determining the simpler and less complex
theories.
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
SJj
13
A New Lamp for Microscopic
Mounting. — In mounting balsam
slides, I find that a small benzoline
lamp with opaque white glass answers
admirably in the place of the spirit
lamp and brass plate advocated by so
many writers on microscopic mount-
ing. The slide may be laid flat across
the lamp-glass, and the heat can be
regulated to any degree by means of
the rackwork. The light which this
lamp gives enables the worker to
detect any moderate-sized air-bubbles,
while the opaque lamp-glass prevents
the light dazzling his eyes. The cost
of this lamp is only is. 6d., and it may
be bought of almost any oilman. — Geo.
Clinch, West Wickham, Kent.
Section Cutting. — Messrs. J. &
A. Churchill have just published a
neat little manual by Dr. Sylvester
Marsh, entitled "Section Cutting: a
Practical Guide to the Preparation
and Mounting of Sections for the
Microscope." Special prominence is
given to the subject of animal sections.
It is a most useful little book, and
cheap, the price being, we believe,
half-a-crown.
The Quekett Microscopical
Club.— No. 38 of the "Journal" of
this popular and useful club has just
been published, containing papers as
follows : — " On an Apparatus for Use
with Powell's Small Bull's-eye Illu-
minator," by Geo. Williams; "On
the Influence of Diffraction in Micro-
scopic Vision," by F. Crisp, LL.B. ;
and the address of the late president
(Henry Lee, F.L.S.). Prof. Huxley
has been elected president for the
ensuing year.
Fig. 25. — Upper Carboniferous (Coal-Measure) Fossils.
of Ireland," Plate IV.
From Kinahan's " Geology
Microscopy in Natal. — I have much pleasure
in informing you that we have, in our little colony,
just founded a microscopical society, which bids fair
to be very successful. It is called the " Natal Micro-
scopical Society," and is under the presidency of
Julius Schulz, M.D.— Stephen C. Adams, Hon. Sec.
Sections of Quartz. — Would Mr. J. Clifton
Ward kindly describe how he obtains and prepares
for the microscope the "slices" of quartz he speaks
of in his interesting articles in Science-Gossip ? —
R. S. P.
Diatoms in Coal.— In reply to F. W. Kitton's
communication, I only write to say that, when I saw
diatoms in coal first mentioned, I tried the ashes of
the coal we were then burning, and found abundance
of them of several different kinds, and from several
different specimens of ashes, but I do not think they
will be found in all kinds of coal. — Edtvard Thomas
Scott.
ZOOLOGY.
Science in the Provinces. — The number of
"Proceedings," "Transactions," &c, which reach
us, setting forth the work done in the scientific centres
which now exist in almost every town in Great
Britain, is increasingly great. One of the best
managed of these provincial societies is the West
Cumberland Association for the Advancement of
Literature and Science, which is formed by the union
14
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
of eight societies in as many of the Cumberland towns.
Their "Transactions" frrm a tolerably large annual
volume, and part iii. is now to hand, containing,
among other papers, reports, and presidential ad-
dresses, one on " Tne Probable Condition of the
Interior of the Eart'i," by Sir George Airy, K.C.B.,
F.R.S. ; on "Quartz," by Mr. J. Clifton Ward,
F.G.S. ; " Boulde' Clay," by Charles Smith, F.G.S. ;
"Common Beet'es,' 1 by W. Duckworth; &c— The
annual report of another nourishing and vigorous
society, the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club, is also
before us, containing, besides several papers of more
than local interest, the result of special geological
research in the Silurian rocks of county Down, by
William Swanston, F.G.S., and their hitherto unknown
and unclassified graptolites, by Mr. Charles Lapworth,
F.G.S. Mr. Joseph Wright, F.G.S., also gives a
carefully worked out and arranged list of the recent
foraminifera of Down and Antrim. These three con-
tributions would alone make any report valuable to
naturalists and geologists generally. There are also
papers, chiefly geological, by Messrs. W. Gault,
W. Gray, &c, and well-written accounts of the
summer excursions. — The twentieth report of the
East Kent Natural History Society has been sent us,
showing a healthy state of scientific activity. The
abstracts of the papers read at various meetings are
very clear. Prominence appears to be given to
microscopical examination of natural history subjects,
to which Mr. James Fullagar, Mr. Hammond, and
Professor Gulliver contribute very importantly. There
is also a good abstract of the address by the presi-
dent (Mr. G. Dowker, F.G.S.) on flint stones and
banded flints. — The Dulwich College Science Society
have issued their first annual report, and we cor-
dially hope it will be the pioneer of many to follow.
It commences well, by "reporting" on the botany,
zoology, &c, of the neighbourhood, and contains ab-
stracts of papers read at the bi-monthly meetings. —
The Eastbourne Natural History Society is favoured
by having several naturalists of note among its leading
members. Mr. Roper,'F.L.S., has recently addressed
the society on ' ' The Additions to the Fauna and
Flora of the Crickmere District during the Past
Year."— The North Staffordshire Natural History
Society have had several important summer outings,
at which interesting papers have uniformly been read.
— The various societies at Burton-on-Trent, Notting-
ham, Birmingham, Leicester, Northampton, Tam-
worth, &c. have had capital abstracts of their
proceedings published in the " Midland ^Naturalist,"
which has now reached the conclusion of its first
volume, and proves a most ably edited ' ' Journal of
the Associated Natural History, Philosophical, and
Archaeological Societies and Field Clubs of the Mid-
land Counties."
| The Geographical Distribution of Animals.
— We have received a coloured map showing the six
geological divisions of the globe, according to Wallace
and Sclater. It is published by Messrs. W. & A. K.
Johnston, and has been arranged by Dr. Andrew
Wilson. The map is accompanied by a small hand-
book, which gives the necessary explanatory matter.
The Black-throated Stonechat. — At a recent
meeting of the Zoological Society, Dr. Sclater ex-
hibited and made remarks on an adult specimen, ir.
full plumage, of the black-throated stonechat (Saxi-
cola stapazina), which had been obtained in Lanca-
shire, and had been sent for exhibition by Mr. R
Davenport, by whom an account of it was lately
written for Science-Gossip. The species had not
been previously recorded as occurring in the British
Isles, and is an interesting addition to the list of
" Accidental Visitors."
The Black-throated Stonechat in Lanca-
shire. — Your correspondent, " R. Davenport," in the
October number of Science-Gossip, may congratu-
late himself on being the first to record the occurrence
of Saxicola stapazina, or "russet wheatear," in the
British Isles. I have for years anticipated and longed
to hear of the appearance of this species on our side of
the Channel, and wondered why (at least) a straggler
should not occasionally appear at the same time with
its near relation, S. osnanthe. There is a capital
coloured figure and description of stapazina given,
amongst other continental or European species, in
Bree's " History of the Birds of Europe not found in
the British Isles." — John Gatcombc.
Ziphius curvirostris. — The drawing forwarded
to me is undoubtedly that of the skull of a specimen
of Ziphius curvirostris (Cuv.), a species often found in
the Mediterranean (see my article on " The Seals and
Whales of the British Seas," Science-Gossip for
February 1878, p. 29). Dr. J. E. Gray, in his
" Catalogue of Seals and Whales in the British
Museum," says that this species "has long been
regarded as fossil. It really exists in the Mediter-
ranean. The skull described by Cuvier (' Oss. Foss.'
v. t. 27, f. 3) was found by the fishermen of the Gulf
of Bouc. Others have since been obtained, and each
of them has been described as a new species." See
also Professor Flower "On the Recent Ziphiod
Whales," " Trans. Zool. Soc." vol. viii. p. 207. Pro-
fessor Fowler has seen the drawing forwarded by
M. Piercas, and has no hesitation in ascribing it to
this species. — T. Southwell.
Preserving Skins, &c. — The following is a
French substitute for arsenical soap : — Savon blanc,
625 grammes ; sulfate d'alumine et de potasse, 250 gr. ;
sous-carbonate de potasse pulverise, 125 gr. ; chlorure
de sodium, 125 gr. ; chaux en poudre, 250 gr. ;
camphre en poudre, 60 gr. ; eau, 750 gr. ; huile de
petrole, 60 gr. Gently boil the soap and salts together
in two-thirds the water. Mix the lime with the
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
i5
remainder. Dissolve the camphor in the petroleum.
Mix the whole when cold. — J. S.
Portuguese Man-of-war (Physalia pelagica).—
It will doubtless be interesting to many of your
readers to learn that a specimen of this exquisitely
beautiful marine creature has been picked up at the
Isle of Wight. During a storm which prevailed
about the middle of October last, I was watching the
waves at Bonchurch, when I observed a singular-
looking object on the beach. Upon a closer in-
spection I discovered it to be a fine specimen of the
Physalia pelagica. In the "Intellectual Observer,"
published in November 1862, an accurate figure is
given of one, also obtained at the Isle of Wight in
July of that year. The colour of that found by me
was, however, of a richer crimson, nearly the whole
of the semi-transparent membrane being of that
colour, the surface of this membrane being tinted
with an exquisite blue, so that, when held at any angle,
the most lovely shades of purple, blue, or crimson
were to be obtained, giving the exterior of the object
the appearance of shot silk. The pendent tentacula
were slightly injured, but still retained their lovely
blue colour. Being at some distance from home, and
having no vessel in which to convey it, I returned it
to its native element, but fear that it did not long
escape destruction upon the pebbly beach, upon
which the waves were breaking with great force. —
Edward H. Robertson.
"Health Primers." — By this title, Messrs.
Hardwicke & Bogue have issued the first instalment
of simple handbooks on health subjects, such as any-
one can afford to purchase (a shilling each volume),
and anyone can understand and be interested in when
bought. They are severally written by the ablest
medical writers of the day ; and the complaint is now
altogether removed that clearly written and inexpen-
sive books on subjects of this kind do not exist for the
benefit of the masses. The first four volumes treat
on — "The House and its Surroundings"; " Exercise
and Training"; "Alcohol: its Use and Abuse";
and " Premature Death : its Promotion and Preven-
tion." These books are capitally got up, with good
type and good paper.
Science-Gossip Folk-lore. — Mr. James Britten,
F.L.S., has compiled a capital and useful Index
to the Folk-lore in the First Series of Hardw kite's
Science-Gossip, vols, i.-xii. (1865-1876), which
has appeared in the "Records of the Folk-lore
Society."
The Bony Pike (Lepidosteus osseus). — This well-
known living representative of the nearly extinct order
of ganoid fishes, so abundant in the seas of the pri-
mary epoch, is not uncommon in the North American
lakes and rivers. Within the last few months the de-
velopment of the young fish, as they escape from the
eggs, has been studied by Professor A. Agassiz, who
says "that, notwithstanding its similarity in certain
stages of its growth to the sturgeon, notwithstanding
its affinity with sharks by the iformation of its pec-
torals from a lateral fold, as we\l as by the mode of
growth of the gill-openings and gill-arches, the Lepi-
dosteus is not at all so far removed from the bony
fishes (Teleostei) as is generally supposed."
BOTANY.
Epipactis purpurata (Sm.). — I have found this
plant growing in tolerable abundance under the shade
of a clump of trees. It seems to me to be quite a
different variety from E. latifolia. The whole plant
is larger, except the leaves, which are much smaller
and narrower in proportion, and lie closer to the stem,
than those of E. latifolia. The stem and roots are
thicker and more fleshy, and the latter grow much
deeper in the ground than those of E. latifolia. The
flowers are always of a yellow-green colour, slightly
tinged or lined with pink, there being no difference of
colour within the lip. The lower bracts are twice as
long, and the upper ones about the same length as the
flowers. I have found E. latifolia both in chalk and
alluvial soil ; but E. purpurata in the latter only. I
have seen nothing intermediate between this plant
and E. latifolia. Its purple colour is most decided. —
Walter Longley Bourke.
Vegetable Moth-trap. — In reply to your
inquiry in page 259 of Science-Gossip for November,
my attention was directed to the number of insects,
moths, bees, &c, caught by the flowers of Physian-
thus growing against a house at Newton Abbot,
Devon, in 1875. Mv impression is, that they do not
die in two minutes, but that some of them, at least,
live for two or more days after being caught. I have
had an opportunity every year since 1875 of observing
this plant, and though it exudes a thick milky juice
on fraction, I cannot discover that this is of a narcotic
or soporific nature, as many insects which appeared
to have been some time captive, flew away readily on
being released. I am inclined to believe that the
action is purely mechanical, but have been unable to
discover whether the plant has any power of opening
and closing the trap, or whether the insects entangle
themselves. I have reason to believe that many have
been more or less entrapped two or three times before
their final capture. It would take too long to enter
into a minute description of the structure of the flower,
which I have minutely examined. I brought this
plant before the notice of the East Kent Naturalists'
Society in 1875. The plant to which I allude is
growing in the open air with a south or south-east
city aspect, but though it flowers profusely, it has
never formed seed : can you explain this ? — John
P. Hall.
i6
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCES OSSIP.
Phyllactidium putCHELLUM. — I have a large
number of freshwater plants, Phyllactidium pidchellum,
growing upon the glass sides of a tall cylindrical
Vallisneria aquarium, and as in Science-Gossip,
1867, p. 178, it is requested that new localities for
this plant should be made known, I herewith send
the information. The water was furnished from the
Kennet and Avon Canal at Bath, but it has frequently
been supplemented by ordinary rain-water. — R. H.
Moore.
A New Catalogue of British Plants. — The
Rev. George Henslow contemplates printing a cata-
logue of British plants, arranged according to
Hooker's "Student's Flora." Anyone wishing for
copies, is requested to communicate with him at
86 Titchfield Terrace, Regent's Park, N.W.
Malformation of the Wallflower. — A pe-
culiar growth of this fragrant plant was recently
observed by me, the peculiarity in this case partaking
of a combination of petals, stamens, and pistil, to
form a six-celled body. The sepals of the calyx were
dark purple — almost black ; the plant remarkable for
vigorous growth. In florists' flowers, stamens and
pistils are converted into petals ; in this instance
there is a reversion of this phenomenon in a sponta-
neous manner. — M. Kino-.
Autumn Ramble in Epping Forest. — Dr.
De Crespigny is hardly right when he says, regarding
Agarics (p. 254): "In one sub-genus there is no
stem — Pleurotus." The larger species of this sub-
genus have a distinct and often very large stem,
some indeed being furnished with an annulus. A.
(Pleurotus) Ulmarius (illustrated as stemless on
p. 252) always has a thick stem. Mr. Berkeley's
A. Cecilia certainly grows in Epping Forest, but it is
not a "much smaller" species than A. rubescens ; it
is in characteristic specimens much larger : indeed
A. Cecilia is a decidedly large Agaric ; its correct
name is A. strangulatus, Fr., A. Cecilia being a
synonym. Why is A. nudus said to be "probably a
very dangerous species " ? I have known it eaten
without ill-effect during late years. A. (Pholiota)
aureus described as growing near the " Wake Arms,"
does not grow in Epping Forest : the plant mentioned
by Dr. Crespigny is A. spectabilis. A. aureus found
a place in Berkeley's " Outlines " by an inadvertence :
it has only been known of quite late years as a British
plant. A few years ago a variety of this species was
found at Downton, near Ludlow, whilst I detected
the true plant at Perth, three years ago. A. aureus
is very rare, whilst A. spectabilis is common every-
where.—^ 7 : G. Smith.
A Strange Place for Marsh Plants. — I have
been interested in the record of the occurrence of
plants in the new docks at Leith, as given by Mr.
Douglas in the last number of Science-Gossip. As
all the plants given in his list are natives of the south
side of the Forth, and are to be found all along the
coast from Bowness to North Berwick (in damp and
marshy places) it is quite unnecessary to imagine the
previous existence of a stream in order to account for
their appearance ; most of them used to grow at the
Figgat Whins, between Leith and Portobello. — A.
Craig- Christie.
Monstrosity in Digitalis purpurea. — An
instance of monstrosity in the flower of a cultivated
foxglove came under my notice last summer. It was
Fig. 26. — "Monstrosity" {Synanthy) in Common Foxglove.
an example of the malformation called "synanthy,"
which consists in the more or less complete union of
several usually distinct flowers. Dr. Masters, in his
"Vegetable Teratology," p. 40, illustrates a somewhat
similar case, and indeed shows that the corolla of the
foxglove is liable to various forms of monstrosity, such
as the production of a spur, the formation of a polype-
talous corolla by fission, and the occurrence now and
then of a regular corolla. In the specimen I have here
figured, the flowers at the top of the raceme not only
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
i7
grew together into a cluster, but so grew as to form a
single cup, nearly four inches in diameter, not unlike
a shallow convolvulus with a very irregular margin.
The cup so formed, however, was not complete,
having a slit down one side — a feature I should per-
haps not have noticed had not the figure in Dr.
Masters's work shown the same formation very
plainly, whence I infer that it may be usual. Inside
the cup was only a confused mass of distorted petals,
stamens, or carpels, while below it was an involucre
formed by the cohesion of the bracts of the several
flowers. When I gathered the specimen last June,
every other stalk on the plant showed promise of
producing a similar irregularity, though then only in
bud. — John W. Buck, B.Sc, New Kingswood School.
Destruction of Isoetes lacustris by Fish. —
I was geologising lately at the lakelets on the ice-
worn summit of Fairhead, county Antrim, and ob-
served a large quantity of fragments of the quill-like
leaves of Isoetes lacustris floating in the water. On ex-
amining the pieces I found they were all freshly
champed and bitten, the broad, flattened part of the
base was in every instance almost eaten away. Turn-
ing into a shallow little bay, I found this wholesale
destruction of this very interesting plant was caused
by a number of common black trou-t. They were
busily engaged nibbling and biting off the basal part
of the quills. I saw several of them with portions in
their mouths darting away into the deeper water. The
weather was very dry, and had been so for a long
time previous ; in consequence, the water of the
lakelets was low, and the brooklets flowing into them
were all dried up. The supply of worms and other
food brought down into the lakelets by the streams
was cut off owing to this cause, and the fish were
forced to feed on the Quillwort. This was the only
plausible explanation I could offer to account for the
strange conduct of the fish, but perhaps some of the
readers of Science-Gossip have observed something
similar, if so, [ would very much like to be informed
of the circumstance. In conclusion, I may state that
the Quillwort, Isoetes lacustris, is a very rare and local
plant in this district ; only two stations are recorded
for it in county Antrim, these are the little lakelets on
Fairhead, and the river Bann, near Jackson Hall. —
William Gault, Belfast.
GEOLOGY.
Dwarf Fossil Crocodiles. — Professor Owen has
recently described some fossil crocodiles found in
rocks of Purbeck age, under the name of Theriosuchus
pusillus. This crocodile was only 18 inches in length.
As regards its derivation, it appears to be related to
the theriodonts of the Trias.
The Upper Greensand Coral Fauna of
Haldon, Devonshire. — This was the title of a
paper recently read before the Geological Society, by
Professor P. Martin Duncan, F.R. S. The author in this
paper stated that since the publication of his supple-
ment to the " British Fossil Corals," published by
the Palaeontographical Society, several new corals
have been obtained at Haldon by Mr. Vicary, of
Exeter. Twelve additional species were noticed, of
which ten were new. This brings the total number
of species in the Haldon greensand up to twenty-one.
The new species are thus distributed : — Aporosa :
Oculinidse (1), Astraeidae (3), Fungidoe (5) ; Per-
forata: Turbinaria; (2); Tabulata (1). The paper
concluded with remarks on the genera and species
represented, from which it appeared that the coral
fauna of Haldon is the northern expression of that of
the French and Central European deposits, which are
the equivalents of the British upper greensand. The
Haldon deposit was formed in shallow water, and the
corals grew upon the rolled debris.
Holes in Oolitic Limestone. — In Science
Gossip for November, F. N. D. asks why holes are
found in oolite beneath sand. I cannot say for certain
that the cause I have seen at work with a similar effect
is certainly the cause for the holes mentioned ; but as I
know of no other equally efficacious, I tell him what
I have seen. Holes in limestone and basaltic rock
caused by small surface hollows — water percolating
through the superstructure acts on sand particles in
these hollow places, and the sand grains act as
gimblets or gouges by constant friction ; the rock is
worn away, and holes are made for a few inches to
many feet in diameter. In the large holes pebbles
and gravel take the place of sand, and wear out deep
cavities ; in places where the water action is confined
to dripping, the holes are deep and uniform ; where
they are exposed to running water the erosion assumes
varied shapes. The holes described by F. N. D. are
most likely made by water drops and sand in a rock
formed of some shale or soft material. — H. P. M.
The Thermal Sources of Carlsbad. — The
recent demolition of a house has led to the discovery
of a remarkable geological fact — the existence of
a peculiar zone, about 15 to 20 metres broad, be-
tween the steep pyritose granite, with frequent veins
of hornstone on which the town tower stands, and the
similarly pyritiferous granite creeping out beneath the
terrace of the Schlossberg. This zone is filled up
with a breccia of granite and hornstone, with thermal
waters circulating everywhere within its fissures, and
depositing on their inner surfaces crusts and veinules
of arragonite, some of them \\ metre thick. The
temperature of the whole zone is high, on account of
the warm water and steam issuing out of every cleft
and crevice.
Marine Fossils in Gannister Beds.— I was
much surprised to learn that Professor G. A. Lebour
announced the discovery of marine fossils in the lower
coal measures or "gannister beds" of Northumber-
land, and that "hitherto no marine fossils had been
i8
BARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
met "with in these rocks." We in Oldham are situate
within an easy walk of a long and well-developed
outcrop of these gannister beds, and I have been
intimately acquainted with them for upwards of
twenty years, yet, in a palasontological sense, it has
never occurred to me that this series, with some
limitations, could have had any other origin than a
marine one. From the time of my first acquaintance
with these beds I have believed that such fossils as
Goniatites, Orthoceratites, and Nautili, were the re-
mains of marine mollusca. — Jas. Nield, Oldham.
What are Conodonts ?— It will interest our geolo-
gical readers to know that at another recent meeting of
the Glasgow Natural History Society, Mr. John Young
stated that he has been enabled to compare Mr. Smith's
carboniferous limestone conodonts with the series of
Silurian forms so beautifully figured in the plates of
Dr. Pander, and that he finds in these plates that at
least five of the Silurian genera are represented
amongst the carboniferous specimens. These genera
are Cardylodus, Gnathodus, Ctenognathus, Prionodus,
and Lanchodus. Of some of these genera there are
one or two species that are so closely related to the
Silurian forms that it is difficult to point out any
characteristic distinctions between them. Mr. Young
stated that Professor Owen in his " Palaeontology,"
first edition, p. 96, says, " The writer, after the closest
comparison and consideration of the evidence, is
disposed to regard only those referred by Pander to
the genera Ctenognathus, Cardylodus, and Gnathodus,
as having any probable claim to vertebrate rank." It
is therefore interesting to find, as already noted, that
these three genera are represented amongst the car-
boniferous forms, and it becomes highly probable that
the other genera may yet rank amongst the vertebrates
likewise. In the deposits yielding these remains are
found beautifully preserved vertebral bones, appa-
rently of small fishes, while another tooth somewhat
closely related to Aulocodus (Pander) and scales like
Ccelolepis (Pander) are also found. Mr. Young also
stated that amongst Mr. Smith's specimens were one
or two slides of stout, minute, conical teeth, about a
line in length, of a round form, slightly curved, hollow
at their base, and tipped at their points with trans-
parent dentine or enamel. These teeth differ from
the conodonts figured in Pander's plates, in being
nearly circular in section, while the Silurian forms in
most instances have sharp opposite margins. The
carboniferous specimens may therefore belong to
true fishes, of which there is plenty of other evidence
in the same beds.
NOTES AND QUERIES.
Do Blackbirds migrate?— In the spring of 1876
a brood of blackbirds was hatched in the nursery of
Messrs. Lott & Hart, of Faversham, one of which,
a cock-bird, was mottled, one wing being entirely
white, which made it very conspicuous, and on that
account it was spared from being shot when it helped
itself to the cherries. In the early autumn it was lost
sight of with regret, being often looked for during the
winter, but was never seen ; and it was thought that it
had fallen a prey to some one who had the propensity
for putting into a glass case every bird that had the
misfortune to differ from its fellows. But in the
spring of 1877 it reappeared, and either found or
brought a mate with it, and built a nest in the garden,
where it remained all the summer, being the only bird
that held the royal prerogative of helping itself to the
fruit with impunity. In autumn the bird was again
missing, and it was thought that it had come to an
untimely end ; but on the evening of March 4 it
again made its appearance, and, perching on a fruit
tree quite close to the house, it made the inmates
aware of its presence by singing its evening chorus
with all its might. It would thus appear that the
blackbird does not stay in the same neighbourhood
all the year. Do they pass south for their winter
quarters like the ring-ousel, which we see passing
southwards in the early autumn ? these stay with us
for one clay, helping themselves to the mulberries, of
which they seem very fond, and then are seen no
more. — James Pink.
Preserving Reptiles. — I should be much obliged
if you could give me any good way of preserving
reptiles, more especially frogs and newts. I have
read that, if put in a bottle of corrosive sublimate and
spirits of wine, it takes them a long time to die, and
they are in great agony all the time. By stating,
first, how to kill, and, secondly, how to preserve,
you will oblige — Alfred Wheldon.
Stung or Scalded by Parsnips. — I was sur-
prised a few weeks ago to receive a note from the
Island of Guernsey, from which I quote : — " I have
been poisoned round my wrists, so that I could not
write. You must know that parsnips collect quantities
of dew, and if we touch, or are touched by, the most
minute point of a leaf while the dew is on it, a red
spot comes, which brings intolerable itching, espe-
cially when warm in bed ; then each spot turns into
a nasty yellowish blister full of very hot water. When
that bursts, it leaves an open sore, as painful as a
boil, which takes a long time to heal, and which
continues itching till quite dried up." And in answer
to an inquiry from me : " Only when wet with dew
will they sting or blister ; rain does not do it. Every
farmer or agricultural labourer in the island has
suffered from it." I may just add immense quantities
of parsnips are grown on the island for the cattle, the
soil being peculiarly suited to them. As I have not
seen this stinging or " scalding," as it is called by the
workmen, I should like to ask your readers if it be
commonly met with in England, or is it peculiar to
the island ? — Spes non Fracta.
Position of Yews in Churchyards. — Has it
been noticed that, as a rule, yew-trees in churchyards
are on the south of the church ? In twenty church-
yards in East Surrey I find there are only two or three
yews out of about forty that are north of the centre
line of the church. I should be much obliged if any
of the readers of Science-Gossip living in Surrey
would inform me which churches in their neighbour-
hood have yews and which have not, especially to be
informed certainly that the South London parish
churches have none, as this would save me much
unnecessary trouble ; also of any traditions or
reasons why they should be planted in churchyards. —
E. Straker.
Development of Frogs' Spawn.— On March
20, at 9 a.m., I collected some fresh spawn (there
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
19
was none on the previous evening), and placed it in
a vessel out of doors. On the 24th, I brought half
my collection into a greenhouse, temperature about
50 Fahr. On the 30th, the tadpoles in the greenhouse
were free of the albumen, while those out of doors,
after being several times under ice, were nearly all
free on April 7.—R. B. C. ( Ware).
Cats and Rabbits. — It does occasionally happen
for the cat to give suck and bring up rabbits. A few
years ago I got three young rabbits, at the time my
cat's kittens were destroyed, when the youngsters
were put into the basket beside the cat. She, by all
appearances, was pleased with the change ; in a short
time they were sucking. I kept them about nine
months, but had to part with them, owing to their
mischievous propensities. Last year a farm servant
in the neighbourhood of Kelso got two young rabbits.
The cat having kittens at the time, the rabbits were
placed as a substitute for the kittens. The cat took
well with the change ; the rabbits, when they got
older, became so mischievous that they tore every-
thing tearable that came in their way. They were
taken to a rabbit burrow a considerable distance off,
but the old cat succeeded in finding them out and
conducting them safely back to their cottage-home.
There are authentic cases on the Borders of the fox-
terrier taking a liking to kittens, and even beating off
their own mothers, and the collie-dog nursing young
pigs. — R. R. Fans, Far Is ton.
Successful Breeding of the Fox Moth
(Bombyx Rnbi). — In the months of September and
October the abundant number of the caterpillars
of this moth has often been observed. What with
weather and other causes, few become perfect insects.
For a few years back I have often tried to breed
them, but was never successful till I took the follow-
ing plan. I got a rough heather turf, sheltered it
from the north and east winds, made a wood frame
covered all over with thin cloth, and put thirty-six
caterpillars into it in October, and in June I had the
pleasure of seeing thirty-five perfect insects. — R. R.
Fans, Earlston.
Fagus, &c. — The "Fagus" of the Latins could
not have been the chestnut, for this tree was known
to the Romans by the name of Castanea nuces,
it having been first found by them at Castanea, a
town of Thessaly, near the mouth of Peneus. —
Mrs. Alfred Watney.
Natterjack Toad. — In reply to your correspond-
ent, J. Perrycarp, I have kept a natterjack for a
considerable time, and have never found it to emit
any odour. Does he not mean the common snake,
which, like most snakes, gives forth an offensive odour
when irritated or under sexual excitement ? — f. M.
Campbell.
Our British Snakes. — The blind-worm does
not " carry its young in a case in its back," the young
being hatched shortly before they are brought forth.
The adder is also ovo-viviparous, the egg bursting in
the act of parturition. The ringed snake, on the
other hand, is oviparous, leaving its egg to be hatched
by the solar heat. — J. M. Campbell.
HOW LONG CAN A FlSH LIVE OUT OF WATER ? —
I have on more than one occasion had proof of the
tenacity of life in some fishes, particularly those of
the perch family. Two instances are still fresh in my
memory : one where a goldfish which had been taken
from an aquarium had been left on a plate from six
till twelve o'clock at night, and being again placed in
the water swam about as vigorous as ever ; the other,
a roach, had been kept four hours out of the water,
with a like result on being replaced. — J. AT. Campbell.
Late Swallows. — I find in Letter 21 of Gilbert
White's " Selbourne," dated November 28, 1768, that
one of his neighbours saw a martin in a sheltered
nook, on a fine sunny day, hawking for flies ; he
also states he is perfectly satisfied they do not leave
this island in the winter. It is singular that in the
first week of this month in my garden I have seen
several pairs of swallows busily engaged in their
favourite pursuit of fly catching, although the nights
were very cold ; their numbers, however, dwindled
down, and on November 27 last one pair only
could I find in the district, and that pair about, my
garden. I saw- them every day until the 12th. The
night of the 1 1 th was a very cold, frosty one. I
found them in the morning sitting very disconsolately
on the spouting of the dwelling-house, taking occa-
sionally a short flight and returning to the same spot.
I have never known the swallow {Ffirundo rustica)
so late before. It seems to me that Gilbert White is
right in assuming that some of the flights are left
behind. — S. Griffin, Salisbury.
Intelligence in Man and Animals. — From
time to time we read in your journal anecdotes of
animals, the writers of which suggest that they may
be possessed of reason, in the sense that from two
premises they draw a conclusion. The great difficulty
in the investigation of the minds of animals appears to
be that man instinctively and unconsciously, unless
checked by reflection, explains their actions, especially
in extraordinary cases, by his own modes and laws of
thought. The dog, for example, is considered one of
the most intelligent of quadrupeds, and numberless
are the cases I have seen quoted to prove that he is
possessed of reason ; but in every instance it appears
to me that though his actions might and would in the
case of a man have been dictated by reason as above
defined, it does not appear at all certain that such is
the true explanation of the phenomena, at any rate it
is dangerous, scientifically speaking, to attribute to
reasoning powers what may perhaps have another
explanation. I purposely refrain from quoting any of
these alleged instances of reason in the lower animals,
merely wishing to suggest the difficulties in the way
of decision. If it could be proved that a dog de-
liberately chose one of two courses of action, the
case of reason would be established. It is for his
fidelity, attachment, and courage in defence of his
master that the dog has endeared himself to man. In
man's vocabulary these are called moral qualities, but
in a dog they are not the result of choice and a dis-
tinction between good and evil, but are part of his
nature, primal impulses (possibly affected by training)
of which we know nothing ; and it is as illogical to
praise the dog for their possession as it would be to
blame a magpie for secretiveness or a tiger for ferocity.
There appears to be an impression that the intelligence
of animals differs from man's only in degree. There
is a difference between a beggar and a prince, says the
old song, but this, however, is but one of degree ; but
until clear cases of reasoning are proved, and the
numerous mysterious instincts of animals explained,
surely are we not warranted in assuming that the
intelligence of animals differs from that of man not
only in degree but in kind ? — H. D. Barclay.
The "Chiffonier," or "Ole Clo'" among the
Insects. — I was amusing myself this last August in
watching the habits of spiders and other creatures in
the window, and on the broad window-ledge of an
unoccupied apartment in a villa at Bellosguardo, near
Florence, and collecting specimens for my microscope,
20
HARD WICKE ' S S CIE NCE- G SSI P.
when I saw what, for the moment, I imagined was a
little nest of spiders' eggs being blown along the
ledge ; but I perceived on closer inspection that the
object was not the usual dainty little spider's nest,
but a rather untidy, fluffy ball, about the size of a large
pea, and that the object was steadily and rapidly
moving along of its own accord, stopping now and
then for a second and then resuming its journey. To
my amazement, I then saw that the ball of fluff was
borne on the back of a little insect, greyish-white,
somewhat resembling the larva of the dermestes, and
that the untidy but spherical mass was surely com-
posed of cobweb, held on the creature's back by
being twisted about in and out among the long project-
ing hairs which were on the upper surface of the body.
The insect was about a quarter of an inch in length,
and bore on its head a pair of forceps about the size
of those borne by the common earwig, but for a
totally different purpose ; for, to my amusement, I
noticed that each time the creature paused it was to
pick up with these forceps some dead ant, or portion
of a dead insect ; legs, wings, scales of the common
wood-louse, or crumb of a thorax dropped from some
web after the meal of a spider ; and these fragments
were picked up so deftly, and in so droll a way did
the creature turn its head round, and carefully arrange
his treasure on his pack so as neither to lose it nor
his balance ; the movement was so cunning and so
curious, that I was forcibly reminded of the chiffoniers
in France and Italy, with their hook and their basket,
and of the "ole clo' " and his pack in England.
And, quoting Mr. Squeers, I involuntarily exclaimed,
" Well, Nature's a rum-un !" and called my friend to
watch the creature with me. For more than two days
I kept it in a small glass-lidded box, supplied it with
"ole clo'," and watched it constantly collecting and
packing ; but I never saw it feed, and one morning I
found that a large ant I had supposed to be dead had
attacked and eaten the creature, scattering the fluffy
pack and its contents all over the box. Some weeks
after this I received a note from a young friend at
Vevey, who from my description recognises the
" chiffonier," two of which, she says, "came towards
me, on the table in the garden where I was seated
reading, collecting and packing as you described."
From my friend at Bellosguardo I also, on my return
to England, received an account of one she had found,
and of which she thus writes : "I had half a mind to
send you one of those scavenger, or ' ole clo' ' insects
which Mr. P. found ; but could not arrange anything
that would insure its arriving alive. The pack on his
back is much less choice than the others, consisting of
parts of the bodies of dead flies, spiders' cobwebs, &c,
while he himself is much smaller. I feel quite sure it
is his food he collects, because the first night I put
him under a tumbler he ate the wings of his fly, the
only ornamental article in his collection. He is
exceedingly fond of sugar, has eaten, I am sure, twice
his weight, and has just added two small dead ants to
his load, under which he staggers visibly. His pack
is held on by long projecting hairs, and likewise
secured and strengthened by cobwebs." Whether we
have any "representative" insect chiffonier in Eng-
land I do not know, but thought this little sketch of
the insect might interest some of your readers. —
S. M.
Peregrine Falcon. — It may interest some of the
readers of Science-Gossip to know that a young
male peregrine (Falco peregrimts) was shot at Moor
Street, in this neighbourhood, on the nth November,
1878. — Roland Green, Rainham, Ke7it.
Superstitious Dislike of the Wren. — In
July's Science-Gossip a correspondent admits he
has occasionally met with instances of this supersti-
tion, but has always been unable to trace the reason
for such an aversion. I may mention an old Irish
tradition or legend, viz., that the Saviour, as alleged,
withdrew Himself, and took refuge under a tree, de-
sirous to be concealed, and the Robin carried moss
and laid it over the tree, making the covering more
dense, which so pleased the Lord that He blessed the
bird, and putting forth His hand left the red mark on
its breast ; but the Wren came and carried away the
moss, and so exposed His retreat, hence it is the
"Devil's Bird."— Wm. Lipsett.
Spiders' W t ebs. — Though I have often examined
spiders' webs in all sorts of odd corners, I have never
found any in cupboards where there was nothing for
them to catch. In fact, in most instances the webs
have had remains of flies, and especially moths, hanging
about them. I, therefore, though agreeing with the
opinion of your correspondent in the September num-
ber (the last clause excepted, which requires proof),
think that the webs are also intended for the purpose
of catching the semi-dormant moths and flies which
retire into these dark corners. Moreover, the webs,
though thicker and more closely woven, have always
appeared to me quite as well adapted to their purpose
as those anywhere else. — An Observer of Spiders.
The Earth-worm.— Two or three days after
reading the interesting article by Professor Paley,
in Science-Gossip for June, on the habits, &c, of
the earth-worm, my attention was attracted by the
singular movement of the lower leaf of a geranium.
Moving closer to it I found this was caused by a
common lob worm, its hole being some distance
from the leaf, it had to reach almost the whole extent
of its body, catching hold of the leaf, it contracted its
elastic body, until it had it almost within the mouth
of the hole, but the leaf being still on the plant, it, of
course, sprang back to its original position. This the
worm attempted with great patience a number of
times, but eventually finding its exertions of no use,
it contented itself with a few pebbles, filling up the
entrance with them, in the same manner as explained
by Professor Paley.— C. B.
Tenacity of Life in a Wasp.— Some time ago I
made an experiment on the insect above-named in
order to know something of sensation in the insecta.
Securing a wasp, I severed the head from the thorax,
and the thorax from the abdomen. In the thorax all
motion seemed to cease in a few moments, but in the
head vitality was maintained for several hours, and
the motion of the tongue out and in alternately was
performed with as much vigour as is usual to the
creature, then it gradually ceased. The abdomen
retained vitality for fully four days, and when touched
would contract and the sting be protruded. This
seems to me rather strange, as the abdomen is farthest
removed from the cerebral ganglion. — J. D. 0.
Kestrels' Nests. — Thinking it may interest some
of the readers of Science-Gossip, I append a few
notes of four kestrels' nests which lately came under
my observation, showing a strange diversity in nesting
habits for birds of the same species. The nests were
— three of them placed in a fissure of a limestone
cliff, some thirty feet from the ground — and the fourth
among the stems of the thick ivy, which covered part
of the rock. In two instances, however, no nest at
all (in the usually-understood sense of the word) was
made, the eggs, five in number, being laid on the
scanty soil, which scarcely covered the rock. The
third nest, though in an exactly similar position, was
elaborately constructed of twigs and small roots, and
HA RD WICKE ' S S CIENCE - G O SSI P.
21
neatly lined with moss and wool, which was worked
up with mud to a firm consistency. The fourth nest
in the ivy was very roughly made, being, I think, an
old jackdaw's nest "patched up," this last contained
four eggs in the last stage of incubation. Directly
under it, at about a yard's distance, was a nest con-
taining five young jackdaws, and these continued
unmolested by the hawk, sitting above them, till they
were fully fledged. — C. Candler.
House-flies and their Parasites. — A friend
of mine, a few days ago, observed a common house-
fly walking with apparently great difficulty and pain
upon the counter of his shop. Taking a glass he
looked closely at it and discovered that its lameness
and pain were evidently owing to something upon one
foot, which, however, he could not clearly discern,
owing to the low power of his glass. Taking, how-
ever, the sharp blade of his penknife he pressed it
upon what he thought was a growth from the foot,
but the leg of the fly came off. This object he
brought to his home, when we placed it under the
microscope, at first under a small, afterwards under a
high power, 5 inch ; we then discovered what a
formidable creature it was, and could well understand
the intense pain that poor little fly must have suffered,
dragging with it, without any hope of shaking off, so
fully armed a parasite. Its length I estimate about
the one-twentieth part of an inch, its shape that of a
bottle, its snout quite pointed, and its mouth filled
with sharp teeth, which we could readily distinguish !
under the high power of \ inch. Its body was covered
with apparently sharp bristles, it had four legs on
each side, and near its snout a pair of most terrible-
looking instruments exactly resembling the large
claws of a lobster. Its colour was that of the leg,
viz., dark brown. Certainly in all my researches I
have never seen a more terrific-looking insect, and am
not surprised at the fly being lame and in pain when
within the clutches of so minute but so powerful an
assailant. Have any of your readers noticed this
creature, and can any one give me some information
about it ? Is it parasitic, or is it a foe of the fly, and
only attacks it occasionally ? I shall be exceedingly
glad if any one of your numerous contributors can
throw any light upon it. — Rev. IV. Marsdon Beeby.
Piping Bullfinch. — While visiting in this neigh-
bourhood a gentleman showed me a piping bullfinch,
whose plumage during the last season has turned a
complete dull black colour. The bird has moulted,
but still it does not recover the variegations of its
plumage ; and, although a very clever piper, has not
been heard to utter a note since the change came over
it. The bird had been in the owner's possession for
many years, so that no trick could have been played
upon him. Can any of your readers account for this
strange metamorphosis ? — St. Austell.
Piping Bullfinches. — M. E. M. H. would be
much obliged if any one who has been successful in
teaching a bullfinch to pipe a tune would give her his
experience through these columns. She would par-
ticularly like to know what air he taught the bird,
how long it took to learn it, and whether he was
successful without a bird-organ ?
Second Growth of Plants. — Under this head-
ing there are three notes in Science-Gossip for
November on the second growth of various plants,
and only one writer, D. Douglas, Leith, suggests
that the late dry summer and the moisture of August
"has probably something to do with the unusual
abundance of these curious aberrations." The second
growth is not confined to flowers, it extends to all
plants when their roots do not run deep ; it may be
seen in cabbages, turnips, and potatoes ; the action
is a natural consequence of the laws of nature. Every
plant is a duct for moisture from the soil, under the
great law of attraction ; when this law has exhausted
all the moisture from the surface soil and surface
roots, the plant they belong to ceases to grow. If the
season continues warm, and showers fall, the growth
is renewed where it ceased, flowers develop more
petals, daisies grow double, twigs shoot out fresh
sprouts, and even farm roots in dry soils grow afresh
in strange shapes. It would be a question if the
seeds of the second growth could attain perfection in
annuals if the wet weather commences early. I do
not see that the action can have anything to do with
evolution, the phenomenon does not change the order.
— H. P. M.
Teratology in a Moss. — In an old quarry I re-
cently found a stem of common Polytrichutn undu-
latum, which had four setae, bearing capsules, spring-
ing from its summit. — Yoiuig Jl/uscologist.
The Crystal Palace Aquarium. — Mr. Gar-
diner, the secretary of the Crystal Palace Company,
in speaking of the admirable manner with which their
aquarium has been worked by Mr. Lloyd, says :
"Our sea-water is now more brilliantly clear and
healthy than it was when we obtained it, eight years
ago ; our animals (mostly those which we at first col-
lected, and of great number and variety,) are in ex-
cellent condition ; and we have never had occasion to
clean any of our tanks, &c, the labour saved thereby,
and the avoidance of disturbing the creatures, being
very great. We never remove any excrementitious
matters, large as is the quantity of food which the
creatures eat, nor do these substances accumulate.
They all are got rid of, or consumed chemically, as
fast as they are formed. Naturally, we doubted the
practicability of gaining these excellent results before
we saw them attained, because no similar aquarium
had before been erected in this country. Mr. Lloyd
is now prepared to make a further and important im-
provement, in the direction of manufacturing sea-
water for aquarium purposes, instead of sending for
it from the sea. He made, and used, such water,
with success, as recorded by him in print, more than
twenty years ago, even when he had not succeeded in
dissolving some of the ingredients of which actual
sea-water consists. However, I have no reason what-
ever to doubt what he now says of his having suc-
ceeded in incorporating these things which he before
left out, and that what he can now produce will be,
not merely an imitation, but an absolutely idenlieal
mixture. I have to add, that, in obtaining water from
the actual sea, unless a further and serious expense is
incurred of going far out from the shore for such
water, it is scarcely possible to obtain it clear, in
large quantities, and in a given time, from near any
coast, and consequently it arrives inland much con-
taminated with decaying organic matters, which have
to be removed before the water can be used. Here
this cause occasioned us some months of loss of valu-
able time before we could open our aquarium. But
in using artificial sea-water clearness and purity can
be obtained from the very beginning."
Sea Anemones in Aquaria. — Our treatment of
Tealia crassicornis was of the simplest, as the speci-
men we kept for the unusual length of three years
was merely placed in the aquarium with the rest of
the anemones, occasionally fed with a bit of raw
meat or mussel, and the tank frequently syringed. If
" W. H. C." could succeed in finding one on a separate
stone, or in knocking off a piece of the stone with
22
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
chisel and hammer he would insure" its base being
uninjured. I found some magnificent specimens at
Scarborough last summer, and perhaps some of your
readers can inform me whether cats are partial to such
things, for I brought them home, and one night,
thinking they would be benefited by a " low tide," I
placed two (one was a splendid fellow, the size of a
small plate) on a pane of glass on the floor. The
next morning every trace of them had vanished. Our
cat was believed to be out all night, but this is not
positively known. Has any one ever heard of cat or
dog eating a sea anemone ? It may interest some
collectors to know that I succeeded in getting about
twelve varieties at Biarritz this spring ; and, what is
perhaps more wonderful, they nearly all reached Eng-
land alive, and are even now in first-rate condition.
When it is considered that the unhappy creatures
made a tour of ten days with us after leaving the sea-
side, and had to endure a daily packing and unpack-
ing, spending a few hours in a tin box, and at night
placed in a basin and just covered with a little water
carried with us in a bottle, their constitutions cannot
be called delicate, especially as the last journey was
taken in a paper bag ! One bay at Biarritz was per-
fectly carpeted with the lovely Aiithea cereus of every
hue, and it was a matter of difficulty to walk ; but in
spite of all our exertions, we never could get them to
live two days. I know not why. We also found a
beautiful specimen of the Holothuria or sea cucumber,
and of a tiny bright blue and orange snail-like crea-
ture, which the sailors said was a sea-leech. Are
these rare ? We could not bring them with us to
England for want of space. I would only add in re
Tealia crassicornis, that unless the tank is a large one,
a single specimen is enough to keep. — C. E. R.
Metropolitan Scientific Association. — The
twelfth session of this society was commenced on
October 22, when the president delivered the usual
introductory address to an appreciative audience.
The president mainly confined himself to the subject
of Light and its analysis, and gave an exposition of
the successive advances made in this branch of re-
search from the earliest to the more recent times.
On concluding, a cordial vote of thanks was passed,
and an adjournment made to November 26, when
Mr. A. P. Holden read a paper on " The Sun-spot
Cycle in relation to Magnetic and other Disturbances."
The M. S. A., which was established as long ago as
1866, has steadily progressed to the present time,
when it is now permanently settled in the city.
Meetings are held the third Tuesday in each month
at the ward schools, Aldersgate Street, E.C., and
the society invite visitors to any of these meetings.
Mr. C. Judd, A.K.C., F.R.A.S., is president, and
Mr. W. West, of 9 Ackerman Road, Brixton, S.W.,
honorary secretary. Amongst the other officers are
many well-known microscopists, whose papers have
appeared several times in our columns.
Cornus sanguinea. — Owing to the warmth and
moisture of the few weeks in the beginning of winter
which produced almost the conditions of a second
summer, the Cornus sanguinea of this neighbour-
hood came out into full blossom for a second time
last year. The flowers which are on last season's
wood were in no way different from those that blos-
somed on the same plants last June and July. Is this
unusual ? — J. S., Luton.
Starlings and Larks. — The starling has often
been held up as a bird of immaculate character. I
am therefore sorry to state that I have last season
observed him plundering red currants as diligently as
his neighbours, the blackbird and the thrush. He has
also a taste for cherries. Still the benefits which he
confers are vastly greater than the injury which he
occasions, and I much regret that, to please such
sapient bodies as the London gun clubs, he has been
excluded from the protection — such as it is — of the
Wild Birds' Preservation Act. The skylark is also a
corn-eater. I have seen him distinctly at a very short
distance hard at work in an experimental plot of
wheat. It is remarkable, as a proof of the intelligence
of birds, how soon they detect the harmlessness of a
scarecrow, and how often such devices have to be
changed if they are really to protect fruit or grain.
The gardener in charge of the experimental plots
above-mentioned tells me that nothing is of much use
for more than two days. — J. IV. Slater.
Sea Anemones. — In answer to your correspond-
ent's ("C. E. R.") queries respecting sea anemones,
I have no special treatment for Bimodes getumacea ;
I have also found them very difficult to keep. The two
I now possess have been in my tank nearly two years,
and are the survivors of five I had from Torquay (one
being the parent of the young ones mentioned in my
notes on page 191) ; the other three dwindled away, as
described by " C. E. R." at periods varying from
three weeks to six months. With reference to feeding
the young ones (which I do once a week), I found it
a very difficult matter at first, but it is to be managed
with patience and care. The method I adopt is as
follows. I remove the young "ferns" into an old-
fashioned wine-cooler holding about a quart of water,
and keep them in a quiet place, where they get a
tolerable amount of light ; visit them several times on
feeding days, and when I find any of them open, I
drop a very small piece of mussel into the water and
guide it gently with a thin piece of stick until it drops
on the expanded disk, when it is soon devoured ; if
the first piece happens to miss the disk, I try a second
or third, and so on until all are fed, when I syringe
the water, which brings the pieces not eaten to the
surface, and they are then easily removed. I find,
after a few weeks of this treatment, the young ones
feed readily off a stick the same as the full-grown
ones, and I then put them back into the tank. I have
also reared B. gemmacea and S. bellis in one of my
aquaria, which is a glass fern dish (16 in. diameter),
having a rim about i\ inches from the top, on
which rim I place the young anemones, where they
are easily fed with a stick, being only just covered
with water. I have now in my tank several young
S. miniata and Dianthus plumosus, produced by
spontaneous division, in a very flourishing condition.
— C. A. Grimes, Dover.
A White Rook. — While walking in the neigh-
bourhood of Dursley, in October, I noticed, at a
distance of a quarter of a mile or more, a white bird
walking in a ploughed field among a large number
of rooks. Taking it to be a sea-gull, I approached
the field, and found that the bird in question was a
rook without a single dark mark on any part of its
plumage, as far as I could discern at about a gunshot
off. — C. \V. Carrington.
Testacella Haliotidea, &c. in Notts. — Per-
haps it may interest the readers of Science-Gossip
to know that Testacella haliotidea has been taken in
this county. I have taken four specimens, and seen
others, from which I conclude it has established itself
here. I believe, from inquiries I have made, that this
is the first time this species has been recorded from
Notts, if not as far north as here ; and probably it has
been introduced with herbaceous plants at some time.
Mr. Tate, in his " Land and Freshwater Mollusks of
Great Britain," says: "This species is found in
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
kitchen and market gardens around London, Nor-
wich, Gloucester, Taunton, Bristol, and in several
localities in Devonshire, Tenby, and in the Channel
Islands"; and Mr. Jeffrey's localities are much the
same. I think it not improbable that this, like some
other introduced species, will become more widely
distributed throughout the country, as it seems to be
gradually gaining ground, and its principal food is so
universally distributed. The first specimen I dis-
covered was devouring a large earthworm, and when
I took it in my hand, it did not relax its hold. A few
other somewhat rare shells were found by Mr. Musson,
the secretary of the Nottingham Naturalists' Society,
and myself a short time ago ; we spent a day collect-
ing on the Notts side of Pleasley Vale, near Mans-
field, and another on the same side of Creswell
Crags, of geological fame. In the former place,
amongst numbers of commoner species, we found a few
Cochlicopa tridehs (Azeca tridens of Tate), one speci-
men of Clausilia laminata (dead), and several of
Helix lapicida, in the same condition, but a living one
we could not find. However, in the latter place we
found one, but only one, alive ; a long search reward-
ing us with about half-a-dozen more dead ones. I
believe these, or part of them, are additions to the
Notts fauna. In the afternoon we spent some time in
one of the caves, known as "Mother Grundy's Par-
lour"; and besides a number of pieces of bone, we
found three canine teeth of the hysena, and a molar
tooth' of some animal we could not determine. Since
then I have found one specimen of Limax briinneus, a
somewhat rare species, according to Tate, but it has a
very distinct appearance, although so small. I think
Notts will bear a much closer investigation than it
has at present received, at least the northern part of
it ; and, doubtless, other species would be brought to
light. The list of mollusca found in the county at
present is about eighty ; and probably a list may be
prepared before long. — R. A. Rolfe, Welbeck, Worksop.
Modern Zoology. — Some few weeks there ap-
peared in one of the daily papers a prolonged corre-
spondence on the sanitary value of the Eucalyptus,
which ultimately degenerated into a discussion on the
grammatical accuracy of scientific nomenclature. One
of the writers, speaking of an opponent, asked,
" Does he not know that the scientific names of the
lion, dog, and panther respectively are Felis leo, Felis
cam's, and Felis pardus V Felis cam's the scientific
name for the dog ! I waited, expecting that a blunder
so gross would be at once pointed out by some of the
disputants, but no notice was taken. Is not this a
striking proof of the great ignorance of biology which
exists among the " intelligent and educated classes" ?
—S.
Deptford Pink. — It may interest your readers to
know that a fine specimen of the Deptford pink
(Dianthus Artneria) was found in the parish of Creet-
ing, near Needham Market, Suffolk, last summer. —
T. E. L., Creeting.
Blackbird and Thrush. — Mr. Kerr, in his
article on the Tardus viscivorus, says that I have
fallen into a singular mistake, and that the eggs with
claret markings were undoubtedly those of the
missel thrush. First, the eggs I saw were pale
blue, speckled like a blackbird's and spotted with
the deep claret markings of a song thrush as well.
If the claret spots could have been rubbed out, the
eggs would have been like handsome specimens of
the T. merula. Now the eggs of the T. viscivorus
are invariably either of purplish-white or very palest
sea-green ground with surface spots and blotches of
reddish-brown and underlying markings of faded
purple. In eight or nine nesting seasons I have not
seen one egg with "deep claret markings" ; also the
eggs of T. viscivorus are considerably larger than
those of T. merula. Mr. Kerr also says I must have
mistaken the bird I saw ( T. musicus) for T. viscivorus.
Well, the size of the latter (as he says himself) is
quite a sufficient distinction, irrespective of the
different and deeper brown of the former ; and as I
saw the bird within a few feet of me, both sitting and
flying round me, I could not have made the mistake
he thinks I have. Now if I had been mistaken (and
I am quite sure I was not), the circumstance would
not be the less peculiar, for, instead of T. musicus,
T. viscivorus would have been mating with T.
merula, for I saw (as I stated) T. musicus and -T.
merula together. Again, as to the nest, I confess I was
much at fault for not describing it. The outside was
rather roughly constructed of mosses interwoven with
grasses, and the lining was grass cemented with mud.
Also, as Mr. Kerr says, the missel thrush is an early
breeder, builds high, and prefers the fork of a tree for
the site of its nest. Now this was in the middle of
April ; the nest was not above 6 feet from the ground,
and was built in a hedge, and there are plenty of
trees all round in which it (if it had been a missel
thrush) would certainly have preferred to build. He
also says no instance has been known of a hybrid
between T. musicus and T. merula. Since my first
notice, I see that Mr. Dresser, in his " Birds of
Europe," mentions two or three instances : one on
the authority of Count Salvadori, another on that of
Mr. Wier, one of Macgillivray's able correspondents.
He also says there is a hybrid in the British Museum.
I think that Mr. Kerr has not carefully read my
notice, or he would have seen that I did not take one
egg, but rather intimated the reverse. At the same
time I must not close without thanking him for
kindly asking me to send him an egg for identifica-
tion ; but I was not in any doubt as to what the eggs
were, and having a considerable number and not too
much room, I never take one unless I absolutely want
it.— G. T. B.
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS.
To Correspondents and Exchangers. — As we now
publish Science-Gossip a week earlier than heretofore, we
cannot possibly insert in the following number any communi-
cations which reach us later than the gth of the previous
month.
S. M. — Send us the papers you enumerated.
W. Richardson. — You will find our answer to your query
as to "fins" in your specimen of trilobite in the September
number of Science-Gossip, 1878.
J. R. Ner 1 -. — The following are good practical students'
books on geology: — "Geology," by J. Clifton Ward; "Field
Geology," by W. H. Penning (in both of these you get instruc-
tions as to mapping, &c.) ; Woodward's " Geology of England
and Wales," and Kinahan's " Geology of Ireland." Richard-
son's is too old now. The second edition of Hooker's " Student's
Flora of the British Islands " gives the critical species of British
plants.
Rita V. — Your specimens are: — No. 1. Cardials pralensis,
Huds. ; No. 2. Restharrow [Ononis spinosa, L.) ; No. 3. Knap-
weed [Centaurea nigra).
W. L. B. (Pulborough). — A reply will be sent per post.
E. F. C. (Leicester). — First, names of plants, kindly sent for
identification, are as follows: — No. 1. A variety of Geranium
pusilluin ; No. 2. Myriophyllum -jerticillatum, L. ; No. 3.
Ranunculus pscudojluitans, N. ; No. 4. Ranunculus Lenor-
mandi ; No. 5. Ranunculus trichophyllus, Cha : x ; No. 6.
Ranunculus Jloril'itudiis, Bab. ; No. 7. Callitriche pedunculata,
V. C. ; No. 8. Potamogeton gramineus (?) ; No. 9. Juncus ('.') ;
No. 10. ynncus bufonius ; No. 11. CEnanthe fluviatilis ,Q.o\. (''),
not perf ct specimen ; No. 12. Chara Jlexilis ; No. 13. Gale-
opsis versicolor; No. 14. Trifolium medium ; No. 15. Plum-
24
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
bae;o Coronopus, L.; No. 16. Polygonum (Could you send another
specimen of this species ?) ; No. 17. Glycerin Jlnitans, Sm.
Campanula patula alba, is far from common anywhere.
Plumbago laciest r is (Yes).
J. A. (Coventry). — Hooker and Arnott's " Flora" is superseded
by Hooker's " Student's Flora " ; by all means secure this.
R. A. B. (Glasgow). — Your specimens are : — No. 1. Equisrtum
Telmateia ; No. 2. Hieracium alpinum, L. ; No. 3. Briza
media, L. ; No. 4. F oa alpina ; No. 5. Festuca ovina (?) ; No. 4
was a curious viviparous specimen.
J. Finnemore (Truro). — Smith's "Synopsis of the British
Diatomacese" is now a very scarce book. We received a
catalogue from a Berlin bookseller who has a copy ; the price is
92 marks, and Mr. Finnemore should make immediate applica-
tion. This is the only complete work on the subject, but as it
has been published nearly twenty-five years, the number of
species have since been trebled. O'Meara's " Irish Diatoms,"
the first part of which was published above three years since, is
useful ; a copy may perhaps be obtained of the author, the Rev.
E. O'Meara, Newcastle Rectory, Hazlehatch, Dublin. All
other information is scattered through the " Transactions" of
the Royal Microscopical Society, Quekett Club, Linnean So-
ciety, "Annals of Natural History," "Quarterly Journal of
Microscopical Science," &c. The address of the German book-
seller is K. Friedlander & Sohn, 11 Carlstrasse, Berlin, N.W.
J. A. Kay. — It is impossible to name your species of diatom
from your rough sketch, and absence of description as to mark-
ings, size, habitat, &c. There are about fifty species of Navicula,
of which it is one.
The Botanical Exchange Club. — To save personal appli-
cations and inquiries, we beg to state that the parcels of return
plants are being rapidly made up, and all subscribers who have
not received them will receive them in a few days.
J. H. M. — Your specimen is a Sisymbrium ; we should not
like to speak positively as to species, though it may prove to be
3". Irio.
W. R. Wells. — It is a somewhat thankless task to have to
name an entomological specimen from a worn wing. But your
moth appears to be BryopJiila glamiifera, a rather uncommon
species.
EXCHANGES.
For half-ounce sand containing foraminifera (fossil) send good
foraminiferous or diatomaceous material, or two stamps, to Geo.
Clinch, Hayes, Kent.
Wanted, European Anodons and Unios in exchange for fine
eocene fossils (British) or for N. American L. & F. W. shells,
including many species of Anodou and Unio. — G. Sherriff Tye,
62 Villa Road, Handsworth, Birmingham.
Offered Colias ednsa and other lepidoptera or birds' eggs
for specimens of Lcucophasia sinapis. — Herbert Ellis Norris,
St. Ives, Hunts.
In exchange for books or natural history objects, the fine cast
of a saurian from Lyme Regis, size 12 X 28. The matrix is the
colour of lias shale and the bones coloured in imitation of the
original, which is in Jermyn Street Museum. —Address T. C.
Maggs, Yeovil.
Wanted, any of the following in exchange for twenty-eight
parts of Sowerby's "English Botany"; Rossmassler's "Icono-
graphy," 3 vols., coloured plates; Jeffrey's "British Concho-
I°gy»" 5 vols., coloured plates ; or an equal number of parts of
the "Journal de Conchyliologie." — J. D. Butterell, 26 Coltman
Street, Hull.
Ichthyology. — Any reader of Science-Gossip requiring any
specimens (in spirits) for anatomy and other purposes who will
write to me with a view to exchange can obtain a number of
species according to the time of the year. Address, first instance,
Alpha, care of A. Reynolds, 58 New North Road, London, N.
Prepared slides of fossil wood from South Wales coal mea-
sures in exchange for other objects of interest. — W. H. Harris,
44 Partridge Road, Cardiff.
Polyzoa. fossil or recent, for exchange. — C. F. Ogilvie, Size-
well House, Leiston, Suffolk.
Nine good slides for polariser offered for Science-Gossip for
1870, unbound. Have a very large quantity of foraminiferous
sand from sponge, and will send on receipt of stamped and
addressed envelope, W. Wise, Broad Street, Launceston.
Will give well-mounted slides in exchange for good \ or J
objective. Send description of objective, and I will send list of
slides. — J. Horn, 5 Belle Vue Square, Scarborough.
Wanted, " Monograph of British Graphides," by Rev. W. A.
Leighton, B.A., or, Mudd's "Manual of British Lichens," 1861.
Microscopic slides of lichen spores, &c. or other books in
exchange. — Rev. W. Johnson, 19 Union Lane, Gateshead-on-
Tyne.
Science-Gossip, 1873 (in fair condition, unbound), in exchange
for fossils ; or what offers ?— W. H. B., i Percival Street, Long-
sight, Manchester.
American, African, Bermuda, European, British eggs, side-
blown, authenticated, many rarities : Eleonora falcon, Rufus
swallow, rock-thrush, Tardus cyancus, Alpine chough, Ciuereus
vulture, Lesser cormorants, imperial eagle, &c, in exchange for
others. — Sissons, Sharrow, Sheffield.
Slides of butterfly scales, garden white, small and large heath
and common blue, for other slides. — W. R. W., 20 London Road,
Carlisle.
British birds' eggs, side-blown, picked, labelled j well-marked
specimens. List free. Also complete collection of British
coleoptera, male and female specimen of every known British
variety ; 8000 specimens, artistically mounted on cardboard,
without pins (new style) ; correctly named. Particulars sent.
Exchange arranged by letter. Foreign correspondence solicited.
— Henry Sissons, Westbourne Road, Sheffield.
Wanted, Science-Gossip for 1873, bound or loose. Must
be in good condition. Will give well-mounted micro slides or
cash. — F. Kellow, 94 Long Acre, W. C., London.
Offered, Scottish fossils and American lepidoptera. Wanted,
fossils, brachiopoda, or fish-remains preferred. — T. Stock, 16
Colville Place, Edinburgh.
Well-mounted slides for exchange, including good foramini-
fera, animal hairs, &c. — J. Ford, Wood View, New Bridge
Crescent, Wolverhampton.
For section of clematis, send well-mounted slide to Thomas
Shipton, The Terrace, Chesterfield.
Side-blown eggs for exchange (mute swan, carrion crow,
magpie, sedge warbler, pied wagtail, and others). — James
Ingleby, Eavestone, near Kipon.
In duplicate, about 100 different species of the British land
and fresh-water shells, including well-authenticated examples of
Vertigo miuutissima, V. alpestris, V. pusilla, V. substriata,
F.angustior, Limnrr.a involuta, Succinca oblonga. Desiderata ;
Good _ foreign land shells, Helices, Bulimi, Achatina, &c. ; also
Pisidium roscum, P. obtusale, L. Burnetii, Pupa ringens. —
W. Sutton, Upper Claremont, Newcastle-on-Tyne.
Science-Gossip from January 1874 to December 1878, inclusive
(three numbers missing); also "Nature" for 1876 (one part
missing) ; both unbound, in good order. For objects, &c, or a
parrot, or anything useful. Please send offers. — J. J. Macintosh,
47 Aylmer Street, Montreal, Canada.
I have about a dozen splendid exotic butterflies, also many
other natural history specimens, for disposal or exchange. Send
for list. — "Science," 165 White Ladies Road, Bristol.
Ianthina communis (small), in exchange for Isocardia Cor,
Cytherea chione, ScalariaTurtonis, or other rare marine slides.
— J. W. D. Keogh, 25 Camperdown Place, Great Yarmouth.
Offered, infusoria, entomostraceans, crustaceans, isopod
crustaceans, rotifers, sponges in spirit, fresh-water polypes,
scales of young crocodile, sea-urchins, and spines and pedicel-
laria; of sea-urchin and starfish, for specimens of small verte-
brate animals or bones of such. — Leo. 144 Finborough Road,
Earl's Court, S.W., London.
North of Ireland beach and estuarine clay floatings and
chalk flint powder, each rich in foraminifera, for good geological
or microscopic objects. — Wm. Gray, Mount Charles, Belfast.
Slides ofdiatoms, hoofs, horns of animals, &c, well-mounted,
for other well-mounted objects. — H. B. Thomas, 34 Montpelier
Street, Montpelier Square, S.W., London.
Quantity of first-class micro slides of general interest well-
mounted, and large assortment of unmounted material. Wanted
magic lantern, 3£-inch condenser and slides ; photo apparatus,
&c. All letters answered. — T. M'Gann, Burren, county Clare.
BOOKS, ETC., RECEIVED.
"Ramsay's Physical Geology and Geography of Great
Britain." Fifth edition. London : E. Stanford, Charing Cross.
" Flowers and their Unbidden Guests." By Professor Kirner.
Translated by Dr. Ogle. London : Kegan Paul & Co.
"Wild Sports and Natural History in the Highlands." By
C. St. John. London : John Murray.
" Six Months in Ascension." By Mrs. Gill. London : John
Murray.
" South-Western Pennsylvania in Song and Story." By Frank
Cowan, Greensbury, Pa.
" Proceedings of the Natural History Society of Glasgow.
Vol. iii. part iii.
" Science pour Tous."
" Feuille des Jeunes Naturalistes."
"Canadian Entomologist."
"American Naturalist."
"Midland Naturalist."
"Land and Water."
" Chambers's Journal." '
&c. &c. &c.
Communications received up to ioth ult. from : —
T. S.— R. D.— W. G. S.-H. L.— J. H.— G. H.— E. S.— R. M.
— E. C— Dr. G. H. H.— L. C— Dr. A. G. S. T.— S. M— Dr.
A. M. McA.— J. B. E.— S. B.— J. G.— S. G.— A. S.— H. B.—
A. H. S. W.— R. G.— Dr. H. F. P.— Professor B.— J. A. S.—
C. E. R.— W. H. H.— E. M.— V. C— F. C.— E. H. R.— J. D
W. J.— A. W.— H. E. W.— J. D. B.— F. C. M.— J. W. B.—
H. E. N.— J. A. W.— G. C— B. L. M.— M. L.— A. C. C—
H. D. B.— J. R. N.— R. W. W.— T. R. J.— H. S.— J. M.W.—
T. S. —J. F.— F. T. F.— W. H. B.-W. R. W.— F. C K.—
T. S.— W. S.— F. H. A.— J. I.— J. J. M.— E. T. S.— J. W. D. K.
— W. G.— R. S. P.— J. F. R— J. C— H. B. T.— W. R. W.—
J. W. S.— T. McG.— E. F. C— &c.
BARJDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
2 5
u
SCIENCE-GOSSIP" BOTANICAL EXCHANGE CLUB
REPORT FOR 1878.
, O fewer than twenty-
five working mem-
bers during the
past season have
forwarded parcels
for exchange.
Most of the collec-
tions were small,
though they were
excellently pre-
served and label-
led. We prefer,
however, mention-
ing any novelty
(with the locality
where it was col-
lected), although
we feel bound to
give any notes for-
warded with the
parcels when they
are of public interest. Thus, Mr. Cunnack, ofHelston,
writes : —
" Lavatera sylvestris : without doubt wild on
Tresco, St. Agnes, and St. Mary's, Scilly Isles,
especially on the first-named. Valerianella carinata :
very plentiful near the town of Helston. Mentha
pubescens, Willd. : authenticated by Dr. Syme. Plen-
tiful in the corner of a damp meadow near Pengersick
Castle, in the parish of Breaze, about five miles west
of Helston. M. sylvestris is particularly abundant
close to it. Two forms of M. pubescens were observed,
one spicate, the other a subspicate form. Echium
violaceum : in great plenty in fields near St. Just, West
Cornwall, one where potatoes had been planted being
full of it, presenting a beautiful appearance. There
were thousands of specimens in full flower. There
seems no reasonable doubt of its being a native.
Juncus capitatns : very plentiful this year near Caer-
thillian Valley, extending to Gue Graze Valley, about
a mile and a half distant."
Mr. King, of Edinburgh, also notes : — " Symphytum
tuberosum : a somewhat local plant in the neighbour-
hood of Edinburgh, where we gathered the specimens
sent on the banks of the Braid Burn. The plant is
No. 170.
plentiful on the shady side of the rivulet ; on the
opposite bank we saw not a single specimen. On
the banks of the Water of Leith, near Bonnington, we
have gathered a stray plant, mixed with the butterbur
and other coarse plants. Lolium temulentum, Linn.,
is another local species in our neighbourhood, and
about Leith, waste ground in proximity to the docks,
and adjoining sea-beach, this plant is found less or
more for these three years back. In the month of
July, I found a single clump on the banks of the Firth
of Forth, about one mile west from Granton. The
variety arve?ise I have not collected previous to the
past summer. Car ex pendula, Linn. : on the railway
bank near Trinity, where I gathered this plant, the
soil is poor and wet, the rusty water oozing out in all
directions. This sedge favours a soil containing com-
pounds of iron."
Mr. A. Brotherston observes several good things,
as follows: — " Salix Russelliana, var. : very near, if
not quite, fragilis on the one hand, to alba on the
other ; apparently it is a hybrid between these two.
The male, which was unknown to Sir J. E. Smith, is
not uncommon in this district. Ranunculus fluitans,
var. Bachii, Wirt. : Tweed, near Kelso, and Teviot
near Roxburgh Castle, July, 1878. I send a few
specimens from four different plants, some of them
with well-developed floating leaves. Though perhaps
not typical Bachii, they are nearest that form."
We were glad to be able to distribute this valuable
specimen to all our members. We trust they will
study it carefully ; perhaps some of them may be able
to note other characteristics. Also, a few carefully
selected examples of what we suppose to be Salix
ambigua, Ehrh., are sent out. Is not S. ambigua a
variable hybrid betwixt S. repens and 6". aurita ?
These specimens are for comparison with others.
Picris hieracioides, var. arvalis : Tweedside, near
Kelso, June, 1878. Probably introduced with grass
seeds. Carex Watsoni, Syme : Tweedside, Makers-
town, Roxburgh, June, 1878. Plentiful many places
on Tweedside, occurring in long narrow beds close to
the edge of the river. Potamogeton pectinatus, L. :
Teviot, near Kelso, Roxburgh, July, 1878. This is a
common species on the borders.
Mrs. Edwards finds Eranthis hyemalis in a wood at
C
26
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
Subbery, on the borders of Derbyshire, "probably
introduced to this locality." Also Crocus nudiflorns,
from a hilly pasture in the village of Walstanton,
Salop. "We have it from several localities this
season, in fact from all the neighbouring counties."
Amongst the novelties which will be doubtless
highly valued by all our contributors are the fol-
lowing : — Ruppia spiralis : Bospham, Sussex. Coll.
Rev. F. H. Arnold. Mentha pubescens : by a rivulet,
Pra Sands, West Cornwall. Coll. W. Curnow. Tha-
lictrum flexiwsiim, Bernh. : cut from plants four to
five feet in height, growing in an exposed situation at
Bala Lake. Coll. C. Bailey, F.L.S. Seseli Libanotis :
Cuckmere, near Sleaford, Sussex. Coll. H. E. Wil-
kinson. Sarothamnus prostratus : Lizard Point, Corn-
wall. Coll. J. Cunnack. Trifolium Townsendi : St.
Martin's, Scilly Isles. Coll. W. Curnow. Zostera
nana : river Tamar, East Cornwall. Coll. W. Curnow.
Lavatera arborea : Tresco, Scilly Isles. Coll. W.
Curnow. Orobanche rubra, Sm. : Lizard Point. Coll.
W. Curnow. Orobanche amethysta : St. Mary's, Scilly
Isles. Coll. J. Cunnack. Orobanche amethysta: St.
Ouen's Bay, Jersey. Coll. J. Cosmo Melville, Esq.
Papaver somnifcrum $. glabrnm : Rosley, Cumberland.
Coll. Rev. R. Wood. Polygonum cognatiim : Wes-
terley Ware, Kew. Coll. T. R. Sim. Viola per mixta,
var. sepincola : Merstham, Surrey. Coll. W. H. Beeby.
Cyperus fuscus, Linn. : Pond-side, Shalford Common,
Surrey. Coll. W. H. Beeby. Potamogeton zosteri-
folins : Spondon, Derby. Coll. Rev. W. H. Painter.
CallitricJie obtnsangtila : Mitcham, Surrey. Coll. A.
Bennett, Esq. Rumex maritimns : Groby Pool,
Leicestershire. Coll. E. F. Cooper. Triticum acutum,
DC. : Leith, Edinburgh. Coll. D. Douglas. We
have sent out a large supply of this species for our
friends to compare with other herbaria specimens,
the name being somewhat doubtful ; many of the
examples closely resemble T. repens, Linn.
We return our thanks to all members for the
excellent manner in which the specimens have been
got up. In some instances it is impossible by any
other means to secure so valuable a rarity, for
example, as the Cyperus mentioned above. Our best
thanks, and those of the members, are also due to
Mr. J. F. Robinson for acting as curator.
"UNGKA," APE OF SUMATRA (SJMIA
SYNDACTYLA) ; THE ANATOMY OF ITS
LARYNX, etc.
By Dr. George Bennett, F.L.S. &c.
DURING a visit^to the Island of Singapore, on
the 13th of November, 1830, a male specimen
of this interesting animal was presented to me. The
animal had been recently brought by a Malay lad
from the Menangkabau country, in the interior of
Sumatra. The Malays at Singapore called this animal
the "ungka"; by Sir Stamford Raffles it has been
stated as being called the siamang among the natives ;
and the ungka ape is described by F. Cuvier as the
onko, in his splendid work on the Mammalia. On
making inquiry among the Malays at Singapore, they
denied this animal being the siamang, at the same
time stating that the siamang resembled it in form,
but differed in having the eyebrows and hair around
the face of a white colour.
The Simla synddctyla is described and figured in
Dr. Horsfield's " Zoology of Java ;" but the engrav-
ing does not give a correct idea of the animal. The
following sketches are taken from drawings made
by Charles Landseer, Esq., from the original. My
specimen was a young male. It is preserved in the
collection of the British Museum.
I now proceed to relate the habits of the animal as
observed by me on board the ship " Sophia," during
the passage to England. The measurement of the
animal was as follows : — From the os calcis to the
vertex of the head, 2 ft. 4 in. ; span of the arms, 4 ft. ;
length of the arm, from the axilla to the termination
of the forefinger, 1 ft. ioi| in. ; length of the leg from
the groin to the os calcis, 1 1 in. ; length from the
xiphoid or ensiform cartilage to the crest of the pubis,
7h in-
The teeth are twelve in each jaw ; four incisors,
two canine, and six molars : in the upper jaw the
canine were placed widely apart from the last incisor,
giving an appearance as if a tooth was deficient : this
did not occur in the lower jaw. The teeth of the
animal were in very bad condition. The colour of
the animal is entirely black, being covered with stiff
hair of a beautiful jet black over the whole body ; the
face has no hair, except on the sides as whiskers, and
the hair stands forward from the forehead over the
eyes ; there is little beard. The skin of the face is
black ; the arms are very long, the radius and ulna
being of greater length than the os humeri ; the hair
on the arm runs in one direction, viz. downwards,
that on the forearm upwards ; the hands are long and
narrow, fingers long and tapering ; thumb short, not
reaching farther than the first joint of the forefinger ;
the palms of the hands and soles of the feet are bare
and black ; the legs are short in proportion to the
arms and body ; the feet are long, prehensile, and,
when the animal is in a sitting posture (fig. 29), are
turned inwards, and the toes are bent. The first and
second toes are united (except at the last joint) by a
membrane, from which circumstance he has derived
his specific name. He invariably walks in the erect
posture when on a level surface ; and then the arms
either hang down, enabling him sometimes to assist
himself with his knuckles ; or, what is more usual, he
keeps his arms uplifted in an erect position, with the
hands pendent (fig. 28), ready to seize a rope and
climb up on the approach of any danger, or on the
intrusion of strangers. He walks rather quickly in the
erect posture, but with a waddling gait, and is soon
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
27
run down if whilst pursued he has no opportunity of
escaping by climbing. On the foot are five toes, the
great toe being placed like the thumb of the hand ;
the form of the foot is somewhat similar to that of the
hand, having an equal prehensile power ; the great
toe has a capability of much extension outwards,
which enlarges the surface of the foot when the animal
walks ; the toes are short, the great toe is the longest.
The eyes of the animal are close together, with the
irides of a hazel colour : the upper eyelids have
lashes, the lower have none : the nose is confluent
with the face, except at the nostrils, which are a little
elevated ; nostrils on each side, and the nose united
to the upper lip : the mouth large : ears small, and
resembling the human, but without the pendent lobe.
He has nails on the fingers and toes ; he has two hard
tubercles on the tuberosities of the ischium, but is
destitute of a tail or even the rudiments of one.
His food is various : he prefers vegetable diet, as
rice, plantains, &c, and was ravenously fond of
carrots, of which we had some quantity preserved on
board. He would drink tea, coffee, and chocolate,
but neither wine nor spirits : of animal food he pre-
fers fowl to any other ; but a lizard having been
caught on board, and placed before him, he took
it immediately in his paw, and greedily devoured it.
The first instance I observed of his attachment was
soon after the animal had been presented to me by
Mr. Boustead. On entering the yard in which he was
tied up, one morning, I was not well pleased at
observing him busily engaged in removing his belt
and cord, at the same time whining and uttering
a peculiar squeaking noise. When loose, he walked
in the usual erect posture towards some Malays who
were standing near the place ; and after hugging the
legs of several of the party, he went to a Malay lad,
climbed upon and hugged him closely, having an ex-
pression, in both the look and manner, of gratification
at being once again in the arms of him who, I now
understood, was his former master. When this lad
sold him to Mr. Boustead, whenever the animal could
get loose he would make for the water-side, the Malay
lad being usually on board the prau in which they had
arrived from Sumatra ; and the animal was never
taken until, having reached the water, he could pro-
ceed no farther. On sending him aboard the ship, he
on arriving, after rewarding his conductor with a bite,
escaped, and ascended the rigging ; but towards the
evening he came down on the deck and was readily
secured.
He is not able to take up small objects with facility,
on account of the disproportion of the size of the
thumb to the fingers. The metacarpal bone of the
thumb has the mobility of a first joint ; the form of
both the feet and hands gives a great prehensile power,
fitted for the woods, where it must be almost impos-
sible to capture an adult animal alive.
Under the throat is a large black pouch, a con-
tinuation of the common integument, and very thinly
covered with hair : this pouch is not very visible when
undistended : it is a thick integument, of a blackish
colour and corrugated appearance. It extends from
the under part of the chin to the throat, and is attached
as low down as the upper part of the sternum, and is
also attached above to the symphysis of the lower
jaw ; its use is not well known, but it is not impro-
bable that it is an appendage to the organ of voice.
Sometimes, when irritated, I have observed him inflate
the pouch, uttering at the same time a hollow barking
noise ;* for the production of which, the rushing of the
air into the sac was an adjuvant. The inflation of the
pouch was not, however, confined to anger ; for, when
pleased, he would purse the mouth, drive the air with
an audible noise into the sac ; or when yawning, it was
also inflated ; and in all instances he would gradually
empty the sac, as if he derived a pleasure from it.
When the sac has been distended, I have often pressed
on it, and forced the air contained within it into the
mouth, the animal not evincing at the time any sign of
its being an annoyance to him. When uttering the
barking noise, the pouch is not inflated to the same
extent as when he yawns. It has been stated in an
American publication, that the use of the air-sac is
for a swimming-bladder. It may be said in refuta-
tion (if the assertion is not too absurd to be refuted)
that the animal being one day washed in a large tub
of water, although much frightened, did not inflate
or make the least attempt to inflate the sac. He is
destitute of cheek pouches as a reservoir for food.
When sleeping, he lies along either on the side or
back, resting the head on the hands, and seemed
always desirous of retiring to rest at sunset ; but
would often (I suppose from his approximation to
civilisation) indulge in bed some time after sunrise ;
and frequently when I awoke I have seen him lying
on his back, his long arms stretched out, and, with
eyes open, appearing as if buried in deep reflection.
The sounds he uttered were various : when pleased
at a recognition of his friends, he would utter a pecu-
liar squeaking chirping note ; when irritated, a hollow
barking noise was produced ; but when angry and
frightened, or when chastised, the loud guttural
sounds of ra, ra, ra, invariably followed. When I
approached him for the first time in the morning, he
greeted me with his chirping notes, advancing his
face at the same time, as if intended for the purpose
of salutation. He had a gravity of look and m'ldness
of manner, and was deficient in those mischievous
tricks so peculiar to the monkey tribe. In only one
instance did I experience any mischief from him, and
that was in his meddling with my inkstand : he had a
penchant for the black fluid, would drink the ink, and
suck the pens, whenever an opportunity offered of his
gratifying this morbid propensity. He soon knew
the name of Ungka, which had been given to him ;
* When the barking noise was made, the lips were pursed
out, and the air driven into the sac, at the same time that the
sound was uttered, the lower jaw was also a little protruded.
C 2
28
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
and would readily come to those to whom he was
attached when called by that name. His temper was
mild, and not readily irritated ; his mildness of dis-
position and playfulness of manner made him a
universal favourite with all on board.
When he walks in the erect posture, he turns the
leg and foot outwards, which occasions him to have
a waddling gait and a bow-legged appearance. He
would walk the deck, being held by his long arm, and
then had a resemblance to a child just learning to
walk. He has an awkward manner of drinking, by
which the liquid is much wasted : he first applies his
lips to the liquid,
throwing the head
up, which may in
some degree be attri-
buted to the promi-
nency of the lower
jaw ; and if the vessel
in which the liquid is
contained should be
shallow, he dips the
paw into it, holds it
over the mouth, let-
ting the liquid drop
in. I never observed
him lap with the
tongue when drink-
ing ; but when tea
or coffee was given
to him, the lingual
organ was carefully
protruded for the pur-
pose of ascertaining
its temperature. He
usually (on first com-
ing on board), after
taking exercise about
the rigging, retired to
rest at sunset, in the
maintop, coming on
deck at daylight.
This continued until
our arrival off the
Cape, when, expe-
riencing a lower tem-
perature, he expressed an eager desire to be taken in
my arms, and indulged by being permitted to pass
the night in my cabin, for which he evinced such a
decided partiality, that on the return of warm weather
he would not retire to the maintop, but was always
eager to pass the night in the cabin.
He was playful, but preferred children to adults ;
he became particularly attached to a little Papuan
child who was on board, and who, it is not impro-
bable, he] may [have in some degree considered as
having an affinity to his species. They were often
seen sitting near the capstan, the animal with his long
paw around her neck, lovingly eating biscuit together.
Fig. 27. — The Ungka Ape {Simia synddctyld) at home.
She would lead him about by his long arms ; and it
was very amusing to see him running round the cap-
stan pursued by or pursuing the child ; he would
waddle along at a rapid pace, sometimes aiding him-
self by his knuckles ; but, when fatigued, would spring
aside, seize a rope, and ascend a short distance, safe
from pursuit. In a playful manner he would roll on
deck with the child, displaying a mock combat,
pushing with his feet (in which action he seems to
possess great muscular power), entwining his arms
around her, and pretending to bite ; or, seizing a
rope, he would swing towards her, and, when efforts
were made to seize
him, would elude the
grasp by swinging
away; or he would
drop suddenly on her
from the ropes aloft,
and then engage in
various playful antics.
He would play in a
similar manner with
adults, but always
seemed to have a pre-
ference for children.
If an attempt was,
however, made by the
child to play with him
when he had no in-
clination, or after he
had sustained some
disappointment, he
usually made a slight
impression with his
teeth on her arm, just
sufficient to act as a
warning that no liber-
ties were to be taken
with his person ; or
as the child would
say, " Ungka no like
play now." Not un-
frequently, a string
being tied to his leg,
the child would amuse
herself by dragging
the patient animal about the deck ; tired, however,
of such practical jokes, without having himself any
share in the fun, he endeavoured to disengage him-
self and retire ; on finding his efforts fruitless, he
would quietly walk up to the child, make an im-
pression with his teeth on one of the members that
were the nearest, soon terminate the sport, and procure
his liberty.
There were also on board the ship several small
monkeys, with whom Ungka was desirous of forming
interesting "conversaziones," to introduce a social
character among them, to while away the tedious
hours, and to dissipate the monotony of the voyage ;
HARD WICKE ' S S CIE NCE-GO SSI P.
29
but to this the monkeys would not accede, and they
all cordially united to repel the approaches of the
"little man in black," by chattering, and sundry
other hostile movements peculiar to their race.
Ungka, thus repelled in his endeavours to establish a
social intercourse, determined to punish them for their
impudence ; when they again united to repel him, by
chattering and divers other impudent tricks, he seized
a rope, and, swinging towards the nearest, seized his
"caudal appendage," and hauled away upon it, until
the agility of the monkey obliged him to relinquish
his hold. But it not unfrequently happened that he
made his way up the rigging, dragging the monkey
by the tail after him, and if he required both hands
Fig. 28. — Ungka Ape in erect position.
to expedite his ascent, the tail of his captive would be
passed into the prehensile power of his foot. These
ludicrous scenes were performed by Ungka with the
most perfect gravity of countenance ; having no
caudal extremity himself, he knew he was free from
any retaliation. As this treatment was far from
being amusing to the monkeys, they afterwards either
avoided him, or made so formidable a defence on his
approach, that Ungka was obliged to refrain from
indulging himself in "tale-bearing." He had, how-
ever, such an inclination to draw out tails, that, being
obliged from "peculiar circumstances" to relinquish
those of the monkeys, he cultivated the friendship of
a little pig that ran about the deck, and, taking his
tail in his hand, endeavoured, by frequent pulling, to
reduce it from a curled to a straight form ; but all his
efforts were in vain ; although piggy did not express
any ill-feeling at his kind endeavours. On the din-
ner being announced by the steward, he invariably
entered the cuddy, took his station near the table,
and " scraps were thankfully received." If when
once at dinner he was laughed at, he vented his
indignation at being made the subject of ridicule,
by uttering his peculiar hollow barking noise, at the
same time inflating the air-sac, and regarding the
persons laughing with a most serious look until they
had ceased, when he would quietly resume his dinner.
He disliked confinement, or being left alone ; when
shut up, he would display great ebullition of temper,
but would be perfectly quiet when released. At sun-
Fig. 29. — Ungka Ape in sitting position.
set when desirous of retiring to rest, he would ap-
proach his friends, uttering his peculiar chirping note,
beseeching to be taken into their arms : his request
once acceded to, any attempt to remove him was
followed by violent screams ; he clung still closer to
the person in whose arms he was lodged, and it was
difficult to remove him until he fell asleep. His
tailless appearance, when the back is turned towards
the spectator, and his erect posture, gives an appear-
ance of a little black hairy man.
The limbs, from their muscular and strong pre-
hensile power, render the animal a fit inhabitant for
the forest (fig. 27) ; enabling him to spring from tree
to tree with an agility that we have frequently wit-
nessed him display about the rigging of the ship ;
3°
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
passing down the backstays, sometimes hanging by
his bands, at others by walking down them in the
erect posture, like a rope-dancer, balancing himself
by his long arms ; or he would spring from one rope
at a great distance to another, or would drop from
one above to another below. Being aware of his
inability to readily escape pursuit when running on a
level surface, his first object, when about to make an
attack, was to secure a rope, and swing towards the
object he was desirous of attacking ; if defeated, he
eluded pursuit by climbing out of reach. He was
very fond of sweetmeats, dates, &c. ; some Manilla
sweet cakes that were on board he was always eager
to procure, and would not unfrequently enter the
cabin in which they were kept, and endeavour to lift
the cork of the jar : he was not less fond of onions,
although their acridity would cause him to sneeze and
loll out his tongue ; when he took one he put it in
his mouth, and ate it with great rapidity. He could
not endure disappointment, and, like the human
species, was always better pleased when he had his
own way ; when refused anything, he would display
all the'ebullitions of temper of a spoiled child, lie on
deck, roll about, throw his arms and legs in various
directions, dash everything about that might be within
his reach, walk about, repeat the same scene as be-
fore, uttering during the time the guttural notes of
ra, ra ; the employment of coercive measures during
the paroxysms reduced him in a short period to a
system of obedience, and the temper was in some de-
gree checked. He had not an unapt resemblance to
a spoiled child, who may justly be defined as papa's
pride, mamma's darling, the visitor's terror, and an
annoyance to all the living animals, men and maid
servants, dogs, cats, &c, in the house that he may be
inhabiting.
The position of the feet, when the animal walks, is
turned outwards, and the great toe, which has a
capability of great extension, is spread out wide,
giving a broader surface to the foot ; when he walks,
to use a nautical phrase, "he sways the body," and
stepping at once on the whole of the under surface of
the foot, occasions a pattering noise, like that which
is heard when a duck or any aquatic bird walks on
the deck of a ship.
When the weather is cold, he is seen huddled
together, loses all his lively and playful manner, and
sleeps much during the day : on the return of warm
weather, it imparts life to the animal ; his spirits
revive, he resumes his gambols and sportive gaiety.
Although every kindness was shown to him by the
officers and crew, and sweetmeats were given to him
by them, he would not permit himself to be taken in
the arms, or caressed familiarly by any person on
board during the voyage, except the commander, Mr.
Hays, the third officer, and myself ; all those, in
particular, who wore large bushy whiskers he parti-
cularly avoided.
When he came at sunset to be taken into my arms,
and was refused, he would display a paroxysm of
rage, but that being unsuccessful, he would mount
the rigging, and hanging over the deck on which I
was walking, would suddenly drop himself into my
arms. It was ludicrous to behold the terrified looks
of the animal, and half-suppressed screams, if his
finger was taken towards a cup of hot tea, as if to
ascertain its temperature. He would frequently hang
from a rope by one arm, and, when in a frolicsome
humour, frisk about, shut his eyes, and have a re-
semblance to a person hanging and in the agonies
of death. When strangers came on board, he ap-
proached them at such a distance as he considered
consistent with his ideas of safety. The only lady
who had honoured him with her notice was one who
came on board from a ship (" Euphrates ") we spoke at
sea ; he evinced, however, no partiality to the gentle
sex, and would not permit her to caress him : whether
it was the bonnet, which was a la mode of 1828, or
other portions of the lady's dress, that excited his
indignation, I know not ; but he was evidently ;iot
eager to become acquainted with her : as she appeared
at first timid of approaching the animal, it may in
some degree have occasioned the cunning brute to
keep up the feeling.
On the 19th of March (1831) we had reached the
latitude 45 41' N. and longitude 24 40' W. ; the
animal seemed (although clothed in flannel) to suffer
much from cold, and he was attacked by dysentery :
his attachment was so great, that he would prefer
going on the deck, in the cold air, with the persons
to whom he was attached, to remaining in the warm
cabin with those whom he did not regard. On the
24th he became much worse, his appetite gone, and
he had a dislike of being moved ; the discharge from
the bowels was bilious, mixed with blood and mucus,
sometimes entirely of blood and mucus, with a putre-
scent odour : the breath had a sickly odour, mouth
clammy, eyes dull and suffused ; drank a little water
occasionally, and sometimes a little tea ; he generally
remained with his head hanging on the breast, and
limbs huddled together ; he would, however, when
yawning, inflate the pouch as usual. On the 29th we
had prevailing easterly winds ; and he was daily
sinking until the 31st of March, when he died, in
latitude 48 36' N., longitude 9 1' W.
On examination, the thoracic viscera were healthy ;
the spleen was healthy, of small size, and lobulated
at one extremity ; the liver was large and healthy,
the difference in size between that organ and the
spleen was considerable in comparison with the rela-
tive proportions of those organs in the human subject ;
the gall bladder contained a small quantity of dark,
thick, and viscid bile ; some of the mesenteric glands
were enlarged, some being of a white, others of a dark
colour. On laying open the duodenum, it was found
to contain a quantity of mucus slightly tinged with
bile ; the colon and caecum were full of liquid bilious
fasces mixed with mucus, and several ulcerated patches
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
3i
on the inner surface, and a dark spotted appearance
at others ; the rectum also contained similar faeces,
but mixed with a curdy matter, and there were several
large patches of ulceration on the inner coat, more
particularly near the termination of the gut : the
kidneys were healthy, on the right the capsula renalis
was large, but none was visible on the left ; the
bladder was quite empty, the inner surface scarcely
moist. The animal had been castrated, but the sper-
matic cord terminated in the scrotum in two small
oval substances, rather larger than peas ; the sacrum
and os coccygis were similar to those parts in the
human subject. The communication of the larynx
was examined ; the epiglottis was only indicated by a
slight obtuse angular rising ; the sacculi laryngis three-
eighths of an inch in the long diameter, one-eighth
in the short ; their margins were well defined, con-
tinued forwards below the body of the os hyoides
into a membranous sac situated internal to the external
thick one. This animal has one common sac, and
thus differs from the orang-utan, which has two ; the
lungs also differ from those in the orang-utan in being
subdivided on each side, the right lung having three,
the left two lobes, as in the human subject. The
extremities of the bones of the animal were cartila-
ginous.
When at Achua, on the coast of Sumatra, the
Rajah and suite came on board, and I amused them
with some drawings, among others they recognised
that of the Pearly Nautilus, but said it was seldom
procured at this place, but was occasionally seen off
the coast. They were not acquainted with the orang-
utan of which I showed them the engraving in Abel's
" China," but immediately recognised that of the ungka
gibbon, which, they stated, was found in the forests
of the interior of the island, but was very difficult to
capture alive. As mentioned by the Rajah there
must be great difficulty in procuring them alive, as
since the one given me at Singapore, I am not aware
of any specimen, young or adult, of this species of
gibbon having ever been brought alive to Europe.
THE IVORY-NUT PALM.
IN 1843 Mr. William Purdie was despatched to
New Granada to collect plants for the Royal
Gardens, Kew. He was especially instructed to find
a few special plants, one of which was the ivory-nut
palm, of which he says : — "In a journey of 600 miles
from Santa Martha to Ocana in New Granada, at the
village of Semana, seventeen leagues from hence
(Ocana), and near the great river Magdalena, I
entered the mountains by the Paroquia del Carmen,
and saw for the first time the ivory-nut palm (Phyt-
elephas fnacrocarpa), called Tagua by the natives.
The habit of this palm is to have little or no stem,
what there is is decumbent ; its habit is not robust.
Old plants have from fifteen to twenty pinnate leaves,
which when full grown measure nearly twenty feet in
length, of a delicate pale green colour, and very
graceful in aspect ; the pinnae are numerous and
linear, the whole leaf being similar to that of the
date palm. The male and female flowers are pro-
duced on separate plants (dioecious). The female
flowers are produced generally in six clusters from
the bases of the leaves on short footstalks. The
clusters are of an imperfectly rounded form, covered
with strong protuberances, about an inch and a half
long. The clusters are compactly united together,
forming a nearly globose head, and on account of the
style-like projections resembling the rigid hair of a
negro it is not inaptly called Cabeza del Negro (negro's
head). The h«tids lie close to the ground, each cluster
containing four to five seeds. The seed contains at
first a clear insipid fluid ; it afterwards becomes milky
and sweet, and ultimately hardens, and becomes the
vegetable ivory of commerce. Each nut is about the
size of a green walnut, and is covered with a yellow,
sweet, oily pulp, which is collected and sold under
the name of Pepo del Tagua, for one real (6a'.) a
pound at Ocana. A spoonful of it, with a little
sugar and water, makes the celebrated Chiche de
Tagua, said to be the most delicious beverage of
the country."
The stem of the male plant is longer and more
erect than that of the female, regarding which Mr.
Purdie says : "I have at last had the good fortune to
detect the male flowers of the ivory-nut palm, for
which I long sought in vain. The singularity of its
inflorescence is only equalled by its beauty. It differs
from most other • palms by having a double spathe ;
the central column is thickly set with clusters of male
blossoms, and forms, when taken all together, a mass
three feet long and four inches thick. Half is con-
cealed within the spathe, from which the other portion
projects in a gracefully recurved form. The fragrance
is most powerful and delicious, beyond that of any
other plant, and so diffusive that the air for many
yards around was alive with myriads of annoying
insects, which first attracted my attention, the dense-
ness of the vegetation not permitting me to discern
the blossoms at any distance. I had afterwards to
carry it in my hands for twelve miles, and though I
killed a number of insects that followed me, the next
day a great many still hovered about it, which had
come from the wood where it grew, which are dense
and shady, and abound with snakes. The men I had
with me found it necessary to dislodge them from the
plants with a long stick before they approached them.
We killed several, not particularly formidable in
appearance, but deadly in their nature. A cross,
decorated with flowers and a few loose stones, near
one of the Tagua woods, marks the grave of a young
man who died a few hours after being bitten by one
of these snakes."
Mr. Purdie having sent abundance of seeds to Kew,
many plants were raised, one of which in 1864 had
3 2
HARD WICKE'S S CIENCE- G OS SIP.
formed a decumbent stem about a foot in length,
producing leaves 15 to 16 feet long.
Dr. Berthold Seemann, also a botanical collector for
Kew, found the Phytelephas in abundance in Darien ;
he gives a very interesting account of it, which in all
principal points agrees with the above.
J. Sm.
HINTS FOR THE YOUNG MICROSCOPIST.
IT has often occurred to the writer of these few
lines that it is a pity that so many practical
dodges as must have been adopted by various micro-
scopical manipulators should be lost, as it is to be
feared they have been from time to time. Unless
called out by queries, they seldom appear in the form
of suggestions. Acting under this impression, the
writer is led to call attention to two or three little
arrangements which he has found very useful, hoping
that others will follow the example.
Fig. 30. — Brass stand to
support the forehead
whilst making micro-
scopical drawings.
Fig. 31. — Improved wash-
bottle.
In making drawings of objects seen under the
microscope (for which purpose no apparatus is so
satisfactory and easy to use as Natchet's prism or
camera), most persons must be conscious that a steady
head is as requisite as a steady hand. To insure this,
a very simple plan (fig. 30) has been adopted for a
long time by the writer. It is this : — two thin stair-
rods (a, a) of any convenient length are fastened by
one end into a stand of brass or wood (b), and just as
far apart as to admit the head between them. Then
there is a sliding flat bar (c), which can be screwed
tight at any height. Round this is wrapped any soft
substance, as lint or list, on which the forehead is
placed just in the position desired. A steadiness and
comfort are thus at once obtained which greatly assist
the draughtsman.
Again, in using the wash-bottle the following little
alteration will be found most convenient. (Fig. 31.)
In place of having two glass tubes, one of which is
placed in the mouth, let this mouth-tube be broken
off an inch or two above the cork, and upon it fit an
elastic indiarubber tube (a) of any convenient length,
say nine inches ; then a couple of inches of glass tube
put into the free end (b) makes a nice mouthpiece.
The advantage is obvious, as this plan allows the head
to be moved nearer to or farther from the object
without interfering with the position of the bottle.
This has been used by the writer for many years.
Other suggestions may follow if it is thought
desirable.
Codicote Vicarage. T. R. I.
THE BOULDER CLAY OF LEITH.
IT may interest your readers to learn something
regarding the traces that have been left of the
glacial period in this vicinity, which has proved to
be a very interesting one in regard to that part of
geological history.
Edinburgh is surrounded by an extent of country
covered, more or less, with a thick layer of boulder
clay. In most of the excavations in and around the
city, this is reached after passing through the soil
to an average depth of six to seven feet. To the
south of the city, away on the first slopes rising
towards the Pentland hills, the boulder clay is very
thick, and forms a fine basin for the new reservoir in
course of construction at Alnwick hill. From that
point we can trace the clay to the north, through the
Newington district of the town, where I have found it
with the usual striated boulders. Passing through
the city this deposit disappears on reaching the ridge
which goes upwards towards the castle, till we
approach Leith Walk, where it is again found. Some
cuttings at Pilrig — the border-land between Edin-
burgh and Leith — have revealed the boulder-clay
about seven feet from the surface. It is not, however,
till we examine the shore at Leith that we get any-
thing like a good section of it ; and here both the
mercantile enterprise of that town and the denuding
power of the ocean, have come to our aid. As a
result of the latter, the banks which rise against the
sea between Leith and Portobello, are gradually
giving way and receding, revealing the tough boulder
clay, which seems to die hard in its battle with the
sea.
When the boulders are found in situ, they are
almost invariably lying with their longer axis from
W. S. W. to E. N. E., and are striated in the same
direction. This agrees with the strise in Arthur's
Seat, a hill rising to the east of Edinburgh and
about two miles from the coast. I have found those
boulders all along the coast from Cramond to Joppa,
a distance of nine miles, but they are best seen
between Leith and Portobello, where they lie thickly
and where many of them have beautifully marked
striae. The ground here has been rendered geologi-
cally classic by the writings of Dr. Robert Chambers
and Hugh Miller ; the former however, attributing
the phenomena in question to the agency of the sea
HARD WICKE ' S S CIENCE- G O SSI P.
33
during the various changes of its level, while Miller
detected in them the signs of a power now foreign to
this country. When Miller worked here, the boulder
clay was not so well exposed as it is now, and the
examination is thus rendered much easier. Owing
to the increase of trade at Leith, a new and very
large dock is being constructed to the east of the
town. In order to get a sufficient depth of water
the sea bottom has been excavated, and this has laid
open fine sections of the various deposits which have
accumulated there.
The boulders are generally of greenstone ; and
be made by one, who attempts for the first time, to
track the knowledge of early botanists on any point,
without some general knowledge of the subject-
matter, i.e., of the plants themselves. I propose
making the British forms of Thalictrum the most
prominent subject of my present investigation.
British botanists are looking forward with interest
to the Guide to the Literature of Botany promised by
the Index Society from the pen of Mr. B. Daydon
Jackson, the accomplished editor of Turner's " Libel -
lus" and Gerard's " Catalogus ;" but, pending any
better arrangement, I venture to divide the history of
Fig. 32. — Section showing the boulder clay, &c. near Leith. a, surface soil ; b, old sea-bed, with gravel layers ; c, boulder -
clay ; d, present sea-bed.
seem to have been carried from Arthur's Seat and the
Corstorphine hill, some distance inland. So far I
have not observed any of the west country rocks en-
closed in the clay ; but do not doubt that this is the
track of the great glacier which, according to Geikie,
had its origin away in the western highlands.
Since the deposition of the boulder-clay in this
locality, the relative position of sea and land seems
to have changed twice. The following diagram
shows this ; and also gives a general idea of the posi-
tion of the deposit at Leith. On the top of the clay
is found a thick layer of sand and pebbles, giving un-
mistakable proofs of marine origin, by the stratified
order of the latter ; while the boulder clay is once
more raised above the bed of the ocean. A few
hundred yards from the beach, the boulder clay dis-
appears on account of the slight incline it takes
towards the sea, and unless this is noticed, the sudden
freeness of the shore from boulders is apt to confuse
the geologist.
Robert Humphrey.
THE CRITICAL BOTANIST.
[The History of Botany.]
THE experience of recent years has clearly shown
the great value' of a historical or chronological
method of research in nearly every branch of science.
It may be well, therefore, in taking my own study of
the genus Thalictrum as an example of critical method
to give in considerable detail the materials as I have
collected them. Every study must have a beginning,
but many errors of interpretation will undoubtedly
British botany into four periods, the first terminating
at the year 1670, the second at about the year 1746,
the third at 1829.
Without going back to Solomon, or even to Aris-
totle and his pupil Theophrastus, who, born B.C. 371,
described some 500 plants, classified as trees, herbs,
and shrubs, I must 'just mention the name of Peda-
nius Dioscorides of Anazarba, in Cilicia, whose
Greek work on Materia Medica is believed to have
been written in the second century. It seems, how-
ever, to have been one of Pliny's main sources of in-
formation, and the author of the " Historia Naturalis,"
born A.D. 23, died in A.D. 79. After the time of
Pliny it may truly be said, in the words of M. Crepin's
excellent " Guide du Botaniste en Belgique " — a work
well meriting an English imitation — "Avantle xvi e
siecle, la botanique ne peut etre considered comme
une veritable science. Elle n'etait que l'humble auxi-
liaire de la medecine ; les plantes n'etaient pas
etudiees pour elles-memes et les traites qui les
concernaient n'etaient, pour la plupart, que des com-
mentaires des ouvrages de Theophraste, de Dioscoride
et de Pline." Though in the sixteenth century the
Dutch may fairly claim the credit of possessing the most
illustrious names in botanical science, Fusch, Dodoens,
and L'Obel, we in England have reason to be proud
of the early date (1538) of the first botanical work
of "the father of British botany," William Turner.
Turner was born probably between 15 10 and 15 15 ;
his first work was entitled " Libellus de re Herbaria
Novus," and has been reproduced in facsimile, and
edited by Mr. Jackson ; his " Herbal " was completed
in 1 568, the year of his death. Remade Fusch, born
at Limbourg, about 1500, died at Liege in 1587, his
34
HARD WICKE ' S S CIE NCE - G O SSI P.
various works, such as ' ' Plantarum omnium quarum
hodie apud pharmacopolas usus est magis frequens
nomenclature . . . sententiam," Paris, 1541, being
mainly materia medica. Rembert Dodoens was born
at Mechlin in 1517, and died at Leyden in 1585. In
1554 he published his " Cruydeboeck," which was
translated into French by Clusius in 1557, into Eng-
lish by Henry Lyte in 1578, and into Latin, as the
" Stirpium Historic Pemptades," by the author in
1583. "La gloire de Dodoens," says Crepin, "est
d'avoir rompu avec le passe, d'avoir, dans son histoire
des plantes, etudie la nature par lui-meme. . . . On
peut dire, en toute verite, que Dodoens est l'inventeur
de la classification des plantes." His classification is,
however, hardly worthy of the name. Conrad Gesner,
born at Zurich in 15 16, published a work, " De Raris
et Admirandis Herbis," in 1555, but his great work,
with figures of 1 500 species, was not published when
in 1565 he died, and his ideas on classification were
carried out by Andreas Caesalpinus, called by Linnaeus
"Primus verus systematicus." In his " De Plantis,"
published at Florence in 1583, he distributes 1520
plants into fifteen classes, his primary division being
into trees and herbs, and the secondary ones accord-
ing to the position of the embryo, and the nature of
the fruit and seeds. In 1561 Valerius Cordus pub-
lished Gesner's " Historia de Plantis," at Strassburg.
Matthias de l'Obel, born at Lille in 1538, died at
Highgate in 1616. In 1570, in conjunction with Peter
Pena, he published in London his "Stirpium Adver-
saria Nova," and in 1576, at Antwerp, his " Observa-
tions. " His works were largely followed by John
Gerard. (born 1545), who, in 1596 and 1599, published
catalogues of the plants growing in his garden, and
in 1597 his "Herball." Gerard seems largely indebted
to Dodoens, and seems to have little original merit.
The " Herball" contains about 2000 plants. In 1601
appeared the " Rariorum Plantarum Historia," the
chief work of Charles de l'Escluse, commonly known
as Clusius (born 1526, died 1609). It was printed at
Antwerp, "par le celebre Plantin, le genereux Mecene
des botanistes." In 1606 and 1616 was published at
Rome the "Ecphrasis " ofColumna, who alone seems
to have appreciated the views of Caesalpinus ; for
both Caspar Bauhin, in his " Pinax," in 1623, and his
elder brother John, in his ' ' Historia Plantarum Uni-
versalis," which describes 5000 species, follow Lobel.
Pulteney describes the latter work, published in 1650,
as "a repository of all that was valuable in the
ancients, in his immediate predecessors, and in the
discoveries of his own time, relating to the history of
vegetables, executed with that accuracy and critical
judgment which can only be exhibited by superior
talents." In 1623 Thomas Johnson (died 1644) pub-
lished his "amended " edition of Gerard's "Herball,"
which is virtually a new work by an author far more
critical than that of the original. A botanist of per-
haps still higher calibre was John Parkinson, apo-
thecary of London, and the King's herbarist, born
in 1567, who, in 1629, published a horticultural work,
"Paradisi in sole Paradisus Terrestris," and in 1640
his " Theatrum Botanicum." The "Phytologia Bota-
nica " of Dr. William How, published in 1650, " The
First attempt at a Flora in England," and the
"Pinax" of Dr. Christopher Merrett, published in
1666, are surpassed longo intcrvallo by the " Cata-
logus Plantarum Anglire " of John Ray, which
appeared in 1670.
Whilst the Catalogus opened a new period in
British botany, a series of great works marked a
fresh era in general botanical classification. These
were the " Historia Plantarum Universalis " of Robert
Morison, published in 1678, Ray's "Methodus Plan-
tarum" in 1682, Rivinus's " Introductio Generalis in
Rem Herbariam," in 1690, and Toumefort's " Ele-
mens de Botanique," in 1694. Robert Morison, a
native of Aberdeen, Regius Professor at Oxford, in
his history, and in a previous work on the Umbel-
lifera;, followed Caesalpinus in looking to the fruit for
his main characters ; but so far as influence is con-
cerned, Ray is the founder of a natural system of
classification in England. He acknowledged his
obligations to Jungius of Hamburg. His primary
division was into Flowerless and Flowering Plants.
The latter he separated into Dicotyledons and Mono-
cotyledons, and he recognised the natural groups
Fungi, Musci, Filices, Compositae, Umbelliferae,
Labiatae, Boraginece, and Cruciferee. In his "His-
toria Plantarum," completed in 1704, he describes
6000 plants, and in the second edition of the Me-
thodus (1703), he classifies about 18,000, then known.
His " Synopsis Methodica Stirpium Britannicarum,"
published first in 1690, was " the first systematic Flora
of Great Britain." Of him A. L. de Jussieu wrote in
1 7 19, " Non a floribus tantum fructibusve, sed etiam
a foliorum, caulium, radicumque tantum partium
organicarum figura earumque colore, odore, sapore,
et totius plantae facie exteriori sumenda esse genuinae
methodi principia affirmabat."
Rivinus first insisted on the classificatory importance
of the flower, especially eulogising Caesalpinus and
Ray. Tournefort first defined genera as now accepted ;
but in his classification he kept Theophrastus's old
division into trees and herbs, basing his subdivisions
entirely on the corolla. He distinguished the Com-
positae, Scrophulariaceae, Labiatae, Rosaceee, Cruci-
feree, Umbelliferae, Caryophyllaceae, Liliaceae, Amen-
tiferae, Ferns, and Fungi ; but the primary division
renders his system far inferior to that of Ray. It,
however, prevailed on the continent till the time of
Linnaeus, as did Ray's in Britain. Tournefort de-
scribed 698 genera, including 10, 146 species. Among
British botanists of this period it will suffice to name
Plukenet, Bobart, Buddie, Petiver, Sloane, Dillenius,
and Blackstone. The "Specimen Botanicum" of
the latter, Pulteney says, "I consider as the last
book published in England on the indigenous botany
before the system of Linnaeus had gained the ascen-
HARDIVICRE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
35
dancy over that of Mr. Ray." It was published in
1746.
Carl von Linne, born in 1707, died in 1778. The
first sketch of his artificial sexual system appeared in
his " Systema Naturae," published at Leyden in 1735,
and it was further carried out in the "Genera Plan-
tarum" (1737) and the " Species Plantarum " (1753),
in which no less than 7294 species are defined. Lin-
naeus's great services to botany were the establishment
of the binomial system of nomenclature and of ver-
bally-accurate and terse definitions. He required
every species to be definable in twelve words. He
adopted Ray's division of the vegetable kingdom into
flowering and flowerless, coining the names Phane-
rogamia and Cryptogamia, and then divided phane-
rogams into twenty-three classes by the number and
character of the stamens. These were mainly sub-
divided into Orders, according to the number of
carpels. Linnaeus himself only regarded this as a
tentative system for practical purposes. " Methodi
naturalis fragmenta," he writes, " studiose inquirenda
sunt. Primum et ultimum hoc in botanicis deside-
ratum est. Natura non facit saltus. Plantae omnes
utrinque affinitatem monstrant, uti territorium in
mappa geographica . . . Diu et ego circa methodum
naturalem inveniendam laboravi . . . perficere non
potui." I cannot refrain from quoting the following
advice to the tyro from his " Philosophia Botanica"
(1751), in which work he lays down the sensible rules,
"Descriptio ordinem nascendi sequatur," and " De-
scriptio compendiosissime, tamen perfecte, terminis
tantum artis, si sufficientes sint, partes depingat."
" Tyro ignotas sibi plantarum species investiget ipse,
secundum classes, characteres, differentiasque syste-
matis.
" Principia et Fundamentum Botanices rite intel-
ligat.
"Historiam literariam Botanices sibi familiarem
reddat et imprimis auctores de speciebus plantarum
consulendos. Synonyma auctorum, retrogrediendo
ad inventores, evolvere adsuescat."
The "Flora Britannica " of Dr. (commonly called
Sir) John Hill was the first work arranged on the
new system in England ; but, as Sir J. E. Smith said,
it was the "Flora Anglica" of William Hudson,
first published in 1762, that "marks the establish-
ment of Linnaean principles of botany in England."
A second edition appeared in 1778, the year of
Linnaeus's death. Sir James Edward Smith, who
purchased Linnaeus's herbarium and library, and
was the main founder and first president of the
Linnean Society, established in 1788, strongly, in
fact, too strongly, supported the Linnaean system,
adopting it in his " Flora Britannica " (1800-4) and
in his "English Flora" (1824-8). In 1776 appeared
the first edition of that very influential work, the
"Botanical Arrangement" of William Withering;
land it is most important for the student to note that
Linnaeus, Hudson, Withering, and Smith very fre-
quently meant very different plants when using one
name. In 1777 William Curtis commenced the
"Flora Londinensis," which he continued till 1798,
the year before his death, and in 1787 he began
the " Botanical Magazine." Sir James Smith in 1790
commenced the issue of "English Botany," illus-
trated by James Sowerby, and in 1807 Professor
Thomas Martyn, in the ninth edition of "Miller's
Gardener's and Botanist's Dictionary," may be said
to have summarised the botany of his time with
considerable attention to early authors.
We next come to the last of our four periods, that
of the rise of the natural system — a period in which
the growth of our knowledge of plants may be par-
tially estimated from the facts that in 1819 Augustin
De Candolle estimated the known species of phane-
rogams at 30,000, in 1839 Loudon enumerated 31,731 ;
in 1846 Lindley gave 80,387, and in 1853, 92,920.
It is Bernard de Jussieu to whom belongs the glory
of working out the true natural system, which he
embodied in his arrangement of the Trianon Gar-
den (1759). In 1773 his nephew, Antoine-Laurent
de Jussieu, having studied his uncle's grouping, com-
municated a paper to the Academic des Sciences on
the Ranunculacere, in which he showed the great
truth of the relative value of characters, that they
must be weighed, not counted. He extended his
views to other Orders in the following year, and in
17S9 published his "Genera Plantarum secundum
Ordines Naturales disposita," which, according to
Sir Joseph Hooker, "with slight modifications, has
ever since retained its position as the basis of a com-
plete scientific classification."
Robert Brown (born 1773, died 1858), "facile
princeps botanicorum," as Humboldt termed him,
was the first in this country to advocate the natural
system. This he did in his " Prodromus Florae Novce
Hollandiae," published in 1810. In 1818 Augustin
De Candolle commenced his "magnum opus,"
"Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Vegetabilium,"
which has been, with the assistance of many botanists,
completed, in seventeen volumes, by his son Alphonse
in 1873, an< l contains descriptions of every known
species of Dicotyledon.
In 1 82 1 was published the first British Flora on
the new system, Samuel Gray's "Natural Arrange-
ment of British Plants," and in 1829 Dr. Lindley
produced his "Synopsis of the British Flora." In
1830 Sir William Jackson Hooker, who had con-
tinued the "Flora Londinensis" from 1821 to 1828,
published the first edition of his "British Flora,"
and in 1843 Professor Babington issued the first
edition of his "Manual of British Botany." Then
commenced those great series of works which immor-
talise the names of Loudon and Hewett Watson.
Loudon may be termed the Martyn of the period,
and his works, especially the "Encyclopaedia of
Plants" (1855) are a wonderful summary marking
the progress of half a century. Mr. Watson, in Ids
36
HARD 1VICKE ' S S CIE NCE - G SSI P.
"Cybele Britannica" (1847-1859), not only did for
British plants what Alphonse De Candolle has done
for those of the world in his " Geographie Botanique"
(1855), but anticipated many of the principles of that
work. Leaving unmentioned much important matter
in the pages of periodicals such as the " Phytolo-
gist," the "Journal of Botany," the "Gardener's
Chronicle," and Science-Gossip, I will conclude this
list of authorities with the name of a great work still
in progress, the "Genera Plantarum " of Mr. Bent-
ham and Sir Joseph Hooker.
There are, of course, many other important works
published abroad, besides special papers, &c, of
English authorship ; I shall even refer to others in
my research into the history of Thalictrum ; but these
are, I think, those most generally important in the
history of British Botany.
G. S. Boulger.
ON THE COLOURS OF ANIMALS, AND
THE ARRANGEMENT OF PIGMENT IN
LEPIDOPTERA.
By Alexander M. McAldowie, M.B., CM.
ALTHOUGH limited to a few spots in man and
a few of the higher vertebrata, and altogether
absent in some of the lowest forms of animal life,
pigment is of almost universal occurrence in the
zoological kingdom. We gaze with wonder at the
dazzling splendour of the tropical birds and butterflies
which adorn our museums, and we admire even more
the softer beauty of the fauna of more temperate
regions, yet all this variety of tint is due to the
deposition in various parts of the body of colouring
matter, the nature and uses of which are as yet in
many instances but imperfectly understood.
In some cases the use of pigment is to protect the
deeper tissues from the bright glare of the sun by
absorbing the rays of light. This is its function in
the eye, where it prevents the rays from being re-
flected back on to the retina and interfering with
vision. In most animals, however, pigment is present
for the purpose of enabling them to conceal them-
selves from their enemies or their prey ; the colour of
the animal, as a rule, bearing more or less resemblance
to that of the soil, herbage, or foliage in which it
lives. This is very strikingly seen in the "leaf"
insects, where the likeness is so close as to merit the
appellation of "protective mimicry." It may also be
observed in the eggs and young of birds which nidifi-
cate on the ground.
Some animals possess the power of changing their
colour in a certain degree and assuming that of the
surrounding , medium. We have only to recall the
story of the chameleon in illustration of this. It
occurs in several reptiles, batrachians, and fishes.*
* See an interesting note on the Angler Fish in Science-
Gossip for July.
Many species of cuttle-fish can change their colours
rapidly under irritation or excitement. In birds and
mammalia, however, change of colour takes place
much more slowly, and is produced by shedding the
feathers or hair. This takes place at certain seasons ;
during the breeding season more especially, also in
the winter. The former is seen in the ruff and many
other birds, the latter in the ptarmigan, ermine, hare,
and others. The minnow, stickle-back, and several
other fishes exhibit bright iridescent tints during the
spring time.
While noticing the uses of colouring matter in the
Fig- 33. — Pigment-cells from the Tadpole.
Fig. 34. — Pigment-cells still
cohering, from the choroid ;
mag. 370 diameters (after
Heule) ; a, nucleus.
Fig- 35- — Ramified pigment-
cells, from the tissue of the
choroid ; mag. 350 diameter
(after Kolliker).
animal kingdom, it is interesting to observe the
difference between animals and plants in this respect.
The colours of flowers are now understood to have
reference only to the visits of insects.*
Pigment exists in the form of minute granules
deposited in the connective tissue corpuscles or the
epidermic or epithelial cells. The pigment-cells of
connective tissue are usually of a stellate or ramified
form (fig. 35), containing numerous processes. The
nucleus of the cell remains colourless, and, as a rule,
the ends of the processes contain no pigment. Briike
and Buchholtz have observed movements in the stel-
late pigment-cells of batrachians and fishes. The
" Flowers," by Dr. Taylor, p. 14.
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
37
pigment granules were seen sometimes congregated
in a spheroidal mass round the nucleus, at other times
diffused in a radiating manner through the cell or
into the processes. The movements were accompanied
with shortening and elongation of the ramifications.
The changes of colour observed in the animals no-
ticed previously are caused by alterations in the form
of the pigment-cells, and are produced either sponta-
neously, or by variations in the intensity of light, or
by other external stimuli. R. Wagner has observed
extraordinary mobility in the pigment-cells of cuttle-
fishes, which contain pigment granules of different
colours and are termed " chromatophores." Von
Wittich * has described the changes produced in the
cells of Hyla arborca by electrical excitation, although
Professor Rollett was unable to perceive any influence
exerted on the pigment-cells of batrachians by the
action of induction shocks of electricity.
Fig. 36. — Cortical section of horsehair, showing the linear
arrangement of pigment, i-inch.
The pigment granules vary in colour and shape.
Under the highest powers they exhibit no definite
form, being often subcylindrical, or elongated with
rounded extremities. Beale says : " They may be re-
moved from the cell, and when they escape into the
surrounding fluid they exhibit molecular movements." t
In vertebrate animals the pigment is derived from the
red blood corpuscles. These, as they grow old, part
with their colouring matter to the serum. From
thence it is taken up by the pigment-cells and con-
densed in their interior, where it undergoes several
chemical changes and passes through several shades
of colour. Rindfleisch states : " Should they (the
pigment granules) be numerous enough to fill the
protoplasm of a cell, the colourless nucleus is partly
pushed aside, partly surrounded ; the pigmented cell
appearing to be perforated by a circular gap or
hole. Flat cells (choroid coat of the eye), in which
the nucleus is in contact with both surfaces at
* Miiller's _" Archiv," 1854, p. 41.
f "The Microscope in Medicine," p. 154.
once, retain their characteristic aspect (fig. 34). In
spheroidal cells, however, the nucleus ultimately
disappears, leaving a coloured corpuscle, in which
only the external form of the cell can still be recog-
nised." *
The source of the pigment in the invertebrata is
not definitely known.
Pigment is also found in animals deposited in the
hair, feathers, and other tegumentary appendages.
In these situations it is not enclosed in cells. The
pigment granules in the hair are located in the cortical
Fig. 37. — Portion of
broken scale from
Argynnis Adififie,
i inch.
Fig. 38. — Black scale from I'nnessa
urtiaz, i inch.
tissue, disposed in lines running parallel to the axis
of the hair (fig. 36). They are exceedingly minute,
estimated in the human hair at j5$ m inch in dia-
meter. It is here that we must look for an analogy
with that occurring in Lepidoptera. The scales of
Lepidoptera are homologous to hair or feathers in their
situation and appearance, and also analogous in their
function. We find likewise a similarity between the
arrangement of pigment in the scales and that in hair.
The pigment is deposited between the fine membranous
layers which compose the scales, and is arranged in
parallel lines corresponding to the situation of the
ribs or striae. Under the microscope these appear as
straight dark lines with irregular edges (fig. 37). As
* "Pathological Histology," vol. i. p. 62.
38
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
a rule the pigment is most thickly deposited in the
upper third of the scale. It is sometimes altogether
absent from the lower third. But it is occasionally
pretty equally distributed over the whole scale, and
down into the foot-stalk,
In a broken scale of the Argynnis Adippc the dark
lines of pigment at the seat of the fracture appeared
broken up into small irregular particles (fig. 37).
These had no definite form, but were mostly angular
in outline. It is not probable that these were the
ultimate molecules of pigment.
In examining the scales from the wings of Lepido-
ptera which had been decolorised by chlorine, the
lines appeared to be unchanged in their outline
although they were not nearly so dark as before. To
the naked eye the wings themselves had a translucent
membranous appearance.
Many of the bright and lustrous tints seen in Lepi-
doptera are not due to pigment, but are produced by
the surface and edges of the scales, which have the
power of absorbing some of the prismatic colours and
reflecting others.
MICROSCOPY.
A Live-box. — I send you a drawing of a live-box,
which might be of interest to your readers. A, A are
glass slips ; B, B are brass bands ; c, c are wedges ;
Fig. 39. — Improvised live-box.
Fig. 40. — Thick indiarubber ring for live-box.
D is an india-rubber ring. The advantage gained by
using this form of live-box is that it is thoroughly
water-tight, and that it can be taken to pieces,
cleaned, and put together in a very short space of'
time. — Albert Smith.
Newcastle Microscopical Society. — A general
meeting of the North of England Microscopical Society
was lately held. The following officers are appointed
for the ensuing year : — President, Professor G. S.
Brady, Mr. M. H. Robson, and a committee of ten.
The inaugural meeting was held on Wednesday,
January 8. This society has been formed to meet
a long existing want amongst microscopists, who
will now have an opportunity of meeting at regular
intervals with excellent accommodation, and under
the direction of an organised society, which since the
dissolution of the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Microscopical
Society in 1864 they have not possessed.
The Pygidium of Insects. 1 — At a recent meeting
of the Royal Microscopical Society, Mr. Henry Davis
read a paper on this subject, in which he showed
that the organ which went by this name had its re-
presentative in the Neuroptera, and other groups of
insects, as well as in the flea, and the lacewing fly.
He regarded the pygidium as a special organ of sensa-
tion for conveying to the insect an intimation of the
presence of dangerous enemies.
ZOOLOGY.
Birds Migrating. — In compliance with your
correspondent's wish, I write to tell you that I have
noticed here (Oporto), during August, a migration
similar to that mentioned in Science-Gossip of
October I. The night of August 26 was dark and
hazy, the wind light and from the south or south-west.
I heard more particularly from eight to nine o'clock
P.M. fluty querulous notes from birds flying over my
house from north to south, and not very swiftly.
There appeared to be only one species, and the notes
were in sets of four — tchoo-hoo-
hoo-hoo. It was impossible to see
the birds, although I tried repeat-
edly when some must have passed
close over the house, which is on
a hill to the north side of the
mouth of the Douro, and about
eight minutes' walk from the sea.
They seemed to pass in small flocks, keeping up a
constant calling and answering. The notes were
heard chiefly from eight to nine, but continued less
frequently till late on in the night. I believe that
hundreds, if not thousands, must have passed during
that night. They had been heard some nights pre-
viously also. It would be interesting to learn the
species to which these migrants belonged. That
they were some species of large sandpiper I feel
pretty certain, and I suspect they were red-shanks.
Can any of your correspondents suggest how this
could be ascertained with certainty ? I noticed some
days previously numbers of red-shanks, ringed dotterel,
whimbrel, turnstones, and some smaller sandpipers
on the banks of the Douro. Most of these were
late arrivals from the north. Some possibly may
have passed Maidstone ! I suppose it would be
difficult to devise some way of catching them while
flying over at night? Could the phonograph be
available for comparing the notes of birds ? This is
an interesting locality for observing the migration of
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
39
birds, such as the turtle dove, wood pigeon, hoopoe,
flycatcher, pipits, skylark, starling, red-wing, lap-
wing, golden plover, &c. We have arrivals of birds
from the north to spend the winter here before all
our summer visitants leave for the south. — Win. C.
Tail, Foz do Douro, Oporto.
House-flies and their Parasites. — There can
I think be little doubt that the parasite described by
the Rev. W. Marsden Beeby was the young nymph
of one of the Gamasinre, which species or genus it
would not be possible to say from the description,
nor indeed are the genera and species of this family
well settled. With regard to the question of whether
the creatures are parasitic, or rather to what extent
they are so, this is still a subject on which opinions
differ ; the older writers considered that many species
were parasitic in all stages, but the researches of
modern French acarologists make it probable that
they are only parasitic in the larval stage, and in the
active asexual stage which is called the nymph. M.
Megnin, whose opinion deserves the highest possible
consideration on such a subject, considers that the
parasite is not in any way injurious to the fly, and
only uses the fly, or other insect or creature, as a
means of conveyance. I confess, however, that my
own observations of the positions in which the nymphs
of gamasids are found upon dipterous and hymeno-
pterous insects would rather have led me to the
conclusion that, at all events in some species, the
gamasid seeks nourishment from the juices of the
insect. The instruments resembling the large claws
of a lobster would be the chelate mandibles of the
Gamasus. These resemble the large claws (or chelae)
of the lobster and craw-fish, inasmuch as they are
chelate, i. e. nipper-like, the fixed side of the nipper
being formed by a toothed prolongation of the penul-
timate joint of the chelate limb or organ, and the
movable side by the ultimate joint, which is drawn by
powerful muscles against the prolongation of the
penultimate. These mandibles, however, are not, like
the lobster's claw, hard throughout their whole length ;
the two final joints only are hard, the posterior ones
being elastic and extensible at will, so that the man-
dibles can be greatly protruded or wholly withdrawn
within the body of the gamasid, nor can they probably
be considered to be the true homologues of the
lobster's claws, as these appear to be the appendages
of the ninth cephalo-thoracic somite, and to constitute
the anterior and prehensile pair of the ambulatory
legs, whereas in the gamasid they are true mandibles.
I confess that Mr. Beeby's description of the teeth
made me somewhat hesitate as to whether the parasite
was really a gamasid, as I am not aware of any mouth
organs in Gamasinae which can properly be called
teeth. The mouth consists of the labium and maxilla;,
which together form a suctorial sharp-pointed tube,
of the mandibles above mentioned, a labium or lingua,
and of a pair of maxillary palpi. At the base of
these, however, is an organ somewhat corresponding
to the galea in Orthoptera, and this may possibly bear
spines in some species. Finally, I may say that the
acarid would not have remained long on the fly's
foot ; if left alone he would soon have mounted into
some more convenient position on the body. If it
were not for size, Mr. Beeby's description would
answer equally well for a chelifer (say, such an one as
Hermann's C. parasita, "Memoire apterologique,"
p. 117); indeed the pedipalpi of the chelifer are even
more like lobsters' claws than the mandibles of the
gamasid, but I presume that one of these well-known
creatures would have been at once recognised. It is
of course extremely easy to distinguish between the
two, as the abdomen of the chelifer is segmented,
while that of the gamasid is not. — Albert D. Michael.
"A Rare Species of Hemiptera." — Would it
be possible to obtain from " John Davis " (the writer
of the article headed " A Rare Species of Hemiptera,"
p. 9) an example of the creature which he describes ?
This I admit has fairly puzzled me. His calling it
both a hemipterous insect and afterwards a " beetle "
or a coleopterous insect is decidedly peculiar. — C. 0.
IVaterkonse.
Birds and Fruit. — On December 23, whilst
taking a country walk, I was surprised to see a haw-
thorn tree which grew up out of the hedge, laden
with the following birds : — fieldfare, missel-thrush,
song-thrush, blackbird, and green linnet. The
bush had been evidently richly laden with scarlet
haws, and the ground was covered with those which
had been shaken off whilst the half-starving birds
were feeding. I concealed myself and watched the
birds I had disturbed return to their banquet. There
could hardly have been less than a hundred indivi-
duals, and the voracity with which they devoured the
tempting berries was both amusing and gratifying.
The remarks of Dr. Taylor, in that chapter of his
recently published "Flowers; their Shapes, Per-
fumes, and Colours," relating to " Birds and Flowers,"
that the red or other colours of fruits are for the sake
of attracting birds, just as the colours of petals are to
attract insects, came to my mind with great force.
In this way one could see how useful both the colour
and the succulent pericarp must be to seeds protected
by "stone" and pericarps in distributing the seeds
far and wide in the droppings of the birds. During
my walk I afterwards saw the blackbirds and thrushes
devouring the scarlet berries of the holly in a similar
way. — T. G. Hudson, Wolverhampton.
The Weather and the Birds.— The incoming
of severe wintry weather at the beginning of De-
cember had been foreshadowed to the ornithologist
by the large numbers of northern birds which visited
our shores. Flocks of snow-buntings, as well as
northern ducks (as the "long-tailed"), wax- wings,
&c, visited the eastern coasts. The fieldfares have
4Q
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
been unusually numerous, and no doubt the influx of
birds will help our native species to give a good
account of the larvae of insects. Wild duck, teal,
widgeon, &c, were abundant in Norfolk and Suffolk,
and were caught in immense numbers at the decoys.
Scottish eagles found the Highlands too severe and
drifted southerly to England, a golden eagle being
shot at Fritton, near Lowestoft, where it and an
uunsht companion had been attracted by the hosts of
wild fowl, &c. The poor paltry poppers at small
birds from behind hedges have had capital "sport"
this severe winter !
Errata. — In my note at page 14 of Science-
Gossip for Ziphius curvirostris read Ziphius caviros-
tris, and for Professor Fowler read Professor Flower.
— T. Southwell.
The Watford Natural History Society. —
Part II. of the second volume of the " Transactions"
of this vigorous society is to hand, containing the
Anniversary Address of the President (Dr. A. T.
Brett), and papers on "British Butterflies" by the
Rev. C. M. Perkins; "Observations on Injurious
Insects," and "Economic Entomology," by Eleanor
O. Ormerod.
The Moa not yet Extinct (?) — A miner writes
to a New Zealand paper to say that whilst he and his
mate were prospecting for gold last autumn, between
lake Rotorua and the Cannibal Gorges, in the pro-
vince of Nelson, he saw what he believed to be the
moa. His description is as follows : — " We heard a
strange screeching noise in a gully about a hundred
yards from where we were camped, and went to
where the noise proceeded from, and to our surprise
we saw two gigantic birds coming towards us. They
did not show the least alarm at seeing us, but con-
tinued coming to where we were, so we took to our
heels. We heard them two or three times that night
again. Having no gun with us we thought it advis-
able to start the next morning, for fear they would
tackle us. One of them was apparently about twelve
feet high, and the other somewhat smaller, with
feathers resembling the kiwi's."
BOTANY.
The Sea Lettuce {Ulva latissima), — At a recent
meeting of the San Francisco Microscopical Society,
a paper on the "Fruiting of Sea Lettuce," was read
by C. L. Anderson, M.D., who said : — " A few days
ago I collected a quantity of Ulva latissima for my
marine aquarium. The fronds were well grown
(October 26), of a beautiful deep green colour. The
plant was put into the water at night. Next morning,
quite early, the water had a turbid look, and I feared
there was too much dead matter ever to become clear.
But as the sun came to shine on the side of the
aquarium, I noticed a band of green matter bordering
the side in the sunshine, and adhering, apparently, to
the glass at the upper surface of the water, and the
aquarium was clear. When the green band was
touched there seemed to be a dispersion of the mate-
rial, but readily coming together again. Like a cloud
of very minute insects they were constantly changing
the form of the mass, and, amceba-like, throwing out
processes here and there, the greater part, however,
clinging to the glass. Putting a small quantity under
the microscope I found two kinds, or forms. One
was quite round, and moved slowly, with an irregular
rolling motion. I could not detect cilia, although the
motion would indicate their presence. The other
form was smaller, conical, and very active, moving so
rapidly that at first I could not make out its form. A
careful inspection revealed the fact that they were the
zoospores of the ulva. The conical form had fila-
ments at the apex. Carpenter says ' ciliated.' I
would rather consider them as accessory to cilia, and
intended as holdfasts that the plant may grow. Both
Dr. Carpenter and Dr. Wythe present illustrations of
these zoospores, showing their development from the
frond cells of the ulva, and Carpenter remarks that
' they might easily be taken for true infusoria.' And
so they might. On further examination I found some
of these zoospores clinging to the broken walls of the
cells, both forms, and exhibiting active exertions to
be free. As to the generative process, of which Car-
penter says, ' nothing whatever is known,' I am of the
opinion that the filament spores are fertilised after
their escape from the cell by the round spores, and
that the latter, having performed their function, like
the antherozoa, disappear, and the filament spores
become fixed and grow by the multiplication of cells
peculiar to other algae. The next morning these zoo-
spores had diffused themselves into the water, and the
turbidity remains as it was the first morning before
the ' swarming.' It is likely that nearly all these
germs have perished in the water for want of a
congenial place to become attached that they might
grow."
" Monstrosities " in Plants. — In the middle of
last summer I had many plants of Canterbury bells
in my garden which had grown from seed that had
been sown in 1876, only two plants of the lot having
flowered in the year after they were sown, as biennials
are supposed to do, and ripening their seeds before
they died. The remainder became larger plants, and
were all in the following summer now past covered
with blossom. Some of the flowers were white, some
blue. Among the plants with white flowers was
nothing that I noticed as abnormal. Among those
with blue flowers two plants presented variations
worthy of notice. One of them was crowned with
a terminal head of synanthic flowers, as nearly as can
be like the figure of such a production in Dr. Masters's
"Vegetable Teratology." The corollas of several
flowers were fused into an oblong dish, to one end of
HARDWICKKS SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
4i
which adhered a somewhat similar formation proceed-
ing from the fusion of two or more flowers, forming a
cup or vase not quite so long or shallow. These two
structures adhered to each other by the outer surfaces
of their compound corollas, and seemed as if they
were made up together of about five or seven flowers.
This curious phenomenon proceeded apparently from
fasciation : not from fusion of lateral flowers, for the
fused flowers were all equally terminal. In the Can-
terbury bell, as in other species of Campanula, the
sub-terminal flower does not expand till after those
on the lower branches, and therefore is considerably
later than the flower which terminates the stem. By
keeping in view this rule, the synanthic termination
of a fasciated stem may be easily distinguished from
any possible fusion of lateral flowers. No other in-
stance of synanthy was observed on the plant where
this occurred, though it had a profusion of well-
formed single flowers. Another plant which flowered
at the same time bore flowers each of which had a
double corolla. Nothing in the flower was mis-
shapen. The inner corolla was bell-shaped like the
outer, and its segments alternated with those of that
within which it was. The stamens too alternated
with the segments of the inner corolla, a fact which I
noticed in several flowers and think of some import-
ance, as it would place them in a different position
with reference to the sepals than is the case with
stamens of a flower whose corolla is single. All
these plants have since died. When withered flowers
were removed, or the plants were not exhausted by
ripening seeds, other flower buds grew and were ex-
panded, but no leaf bud was developed that might
form the basis of a new growth. No foliar prolifica-
tion was to be found in any of the plants whose lives
were strictly limited, so that it seems as if they can-
not by any means become perennial. — John Gibbs.
Teratological Notes. — I see in the September
number of Science-Gossip a short account of the
Fig. 41. — "Monstrous" Calceolaria; A, ordinary corolla;
B, elongated hollow corolla, terminating in a small open-
ing at c. Reduced J.
malformation of a common cabbage leaf. My slight
experience of a similar phenomenon may be of inter-
est. Some two or three years ago I came across a
similar instance to that mentioned by your corre-
spondent. In my case several of these curious leaves
were produced on the same plant within a short
period of time, all more or less resembling one
another. I have been informed by a friend that he
has observed the same appearance in a geranium
leaf. I have enclosed a rough sketch of curious form
in the flower of a calceolaria. Two of these have been
produced at about the same time on different plants
in the same garden. I may mention the plant under
consideration was not the common yellow variety, but
a rich red-coloured species known to gardeners by
the name "Prince of Orange." — A. H. Hintor.
Teratology of Clover. — I have found a head
of Alsike clover, in which all the pistils are trans-
formed into foliage leaves, similar, but on a smaller
scale, to a single lobe of the regular leaves. — B. K.
Exceptional Fruitfulness of Mosses this
Season. — Is it the general experience of muscolo-
gists that the present season is an exceptional one
with regard to the fruitfulness of mosses ? In this
district several kinds not generally in fruit are found
with fruit, such as Hypnum puriim, squarrosum,
taniariscinum, triquetrum, loreum, &c. In an excur-
sion of a few hours lately my brother and I found
nearly sixty different species, more than one-half of
which were in fruit. — R. Wood, Rosley Vicarage,
Carlisle.
New Species of Isoetes. — Dr. Moore has re-
cently given an account of a new species of Isoetes
found in Upper Lake, Bray, county Wicklow, Ire-
land, which has been named I. Moorei. It strongly
resembles /. lacuslris.
White Varieties. — I found two perfectly white
plants of Geranium pitsilluni by a roadside in South
Devon last autumn. In Science-Gossip for 1875,
page 68, there is an account of a white variety of
G. molle: as both nearly resemble each other, one of
us may be mistaken. They are not mentioned in any
botanical work I have seen. — R. W. IV.
Ranunculus Ficaria. — Whilst taking a morning
walk, at the beginning of last year, I was surprised to
find what a difference occurred with regard to the
number of petals in the lesser celandine {Ranunculus
Ficaria). The smallest number I counted was six,
and the largest on one flower was sixteen, just double
the usual number. Frobably in the latter case, some
of the stamens had been converted into petals, but at
that time I did not think of observing whether this
was the case or not. — J. A. Weldon, Northallerton.
A New Species of British Moss. — At a recent
meeting of the Linnean Society Mr. E. Holmes
showed examples of a species of Moss, Aulacomnion
turgiduni, new to our British cryptogamic flora.
This acquisition had been obtained by Mr. West, a
Bradford botanist, in Yorkshire. Mr. Holmes made
some remarks, and comparisons between this species
and A. palustre.
42
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
GEOLOGY.
Burrow, the Geologist. — In your December
number a slight reference is made to Mr. John
Burrow, the " Settle Palaeontologist "—where he is
mentioned as "having spent his life in working out
the palaeontology of his district." Perhaps it may be
worth noting that this was not strictly the case, and
also that Mr. Burrow's work, in the fields of science,
furnished us with a good instance of what may be
done — as an interesting amusement — by our English
youth. I first made the acquaintance of Mr. Burrow
at Cambridge (where we kept in the same staircase),
and afterwards had the privilege and pleasure of re-
newing our friendship in his own much loved Craven
district. I frequently accompanied him to his pet
productive spots about Settle, which he had explored
for a considerable distance, and from which, by
patient energy, he had made a rich ingathering of
fossils— and all this (the point mainly to be noted)
while he was as patiently working his way to the
height of the sixth form in the neighbouring school at
Giggleswick. At Cambridge he won triple honours
— in mathematics, classics, and natural science —
still keeping to geology as a recreation, and proceed-
ing with the work of fossil-arrangement. Hence I
venture to say that the great work which he did
among the carboniferous rocks for palaeontology, ivas
the work of a schoolboy, and that, too, at a time when
"natural science" was never mentioned in public
school-life. Would that nowadays the interest of
this kind of recreative health-giving science could
compete in greater degree with the much-absorbing
interests of athletics, cricket, and football, in our
English schools. — Matthew Wood, Evesham.
The Ultra-gaseous State of Matter. — One
of the most important discoveries in molecular
physics is undoubtedly that just communicated to the
Royal Society by Dr. Crookes, in a paper entitled
"The Illumination of Lines of Molecular Pressure,
and the Trajectory of Molecules." It has been so
long taken for granted that there could be only three
conditions in which matter existed — the solid, liquid,
and gaseous — that it comes upon us with downright
surprise to hear of a fourth condition — the ultra-
gaseous. But there can be little doubt that Dr.
Crooke's experiments have proved this. The paper
is reported at some length in "Nature" for De-
cember 12, and we refer our readers to it for the
details of the delicate experiments from which this
important conclusion is arrived at. It would seem
that the hypothetical "ether" of astronomers, which
is supposed to fill space, is not so supposititious as
some have argued.
Marine Fossils in Gannister Beds. — Your
correspondent, Jas. Nield, of Oldham, has, I am
afraid, somewhat misapprehended the gist of my late
discovery of the above in Northumberland. The
occurrence of marine forms in the lower coal-measures
of England (not to be confounded with the often mis-
named "lower coal-measures" of Scotland, which
are the equivalent of our carboniferous limestone
series) has long been well-known to geologists, and
the neighbourhood of Oldham is the classical ground
for such finds. Up to the beginning of the year just
expired, however, the gannister series north of the
Tees had been determined and mapped by means of
stratigraphical evidence only, none but plant remains
similar to those characterising the overlying beds
(middle and upper coal - measures) having been re-
corded from these beds in the district. In February
1878, 1 hit upon the first batch of marine fossils in the
south of Northumberland. Since then I have found
more elsewhere in the county, and I am informed that
others have in the meantime been detected in carrying
out mining operations in South Durham. The entire
interest of the find lies in the palaeontological evidence
of occasional marine conditions having persisted from
upper carboniferous limestone or Yoredale beds into
those of the coal-measures much further north than
was believed by many (including myself) to be the
case. Some important theoretical considerations with
regard to the classification of the carboniferous rocks
depend on such facts, and give them a greater interest
than they might, at first sight, be supposed to possess.
In the original notice of my find in " Nature" an un-
fortunate misprint occurred — country for county —
whence, notwithstanding inrmediate correction, the
present misapprehension may have arisen. Some
account of the beds and their fossils will be found in
my recently issued ' ' Outlines of the Geology of North-
umberland."— G. H. Lcbour.
Pleistocene Deposits of the Cornish Coast,
near Padstow. — This was the subject of a paper
recently read before the Geological Society, by Mr.
W. A. E. Ussher, F.G.S. The author described
certain deposits seen in a small bay near St. Enodock's
chapel, and known as Daymer Bay, and in section at
Greenway cliffs. The former included a portion of
raised beach, and a reef of consolidated old beach and
a peaty deposit below high-water mark, the raised
beach indicating a depression of from 5 to 10 feet and
a subsequent elevation of more than that amount,
during a pause in which the lower beach was formed.
The further elevation of the coast was sufficient to
favour the growth of forests furnishing the peaty bed,
which a subsequent subsidence has brought down to
its present level. Greenway cliffs consist of grey
slates, resting against which, in two places, are old
consolidated blown sands ; about 5 feet above high-
water mark is a raised beach, near which the face of
the cliff consists of "head " capped by gravel. Mr.
Ussher discussed the relative ages of these deposits,
and inclined to regard the gravel as a fluviatile deposit,
and the stony loam or " head " as an ancient talus or
flood-gravel, both deposited before the raised beach.
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
43
Peculiar Fossil Brachiopod. — Mr. John Young,
F.G.S., has discovered a new species of Rhynchopora
in the upper series of the carboniferous limestones, at
Bowertrapping, near Dairy, Ayrshire. This genus
was established by Professor M. King, of the Queen's
College, Galway, for a species of Rhynchonella, whose
shell showed a distinct perforated structure, which he
had found in some places on the Continent in the Per-
mian formation. Before the discovery of a perforated
structure in this species it was included in the genus
Rhynchonella, but is now named Rhynchopora Gcinit-
ziana. Mr. Young finding the carboniferous specimen
to be distinctly perforated sent it for determination
to Mr. Thomas Davidson, F.G.S., Brighton, author
of the Monograph of the " British fossil Brachiopoda,"
and he being satisfied of its punctate structure, for-
warded it to Professor King, who writes that it is
undoubtedly a new and second species of his genus
Rhynchopora, and that he considers the carboniferous
species an interesting discovery, confirming all he had
already written as to the structure of the Permian
shell. It is proposed by Mr. Davidson, who will
figure and describe Mr. Young's specimen, to name
the species Rhynchopora Yonngii in honour of the
discoverer.
Silurian Fossils in the Girvan District. —
This is the subject of a monography by Professor
A. Nicholson and Robert Etheridge, jun., published
by W. Blackwood & Sons. The monograph is a de-
tailed descriptive catalogue of the fossils of the
Silurian area of Girvan in Ayrshire, a district which
has long presented peculiar geological difficulties.
The authors have been assisted in their arduous work
by a Government grant made through the Royal
Society, and also by Mrs. Robert Gray, whose cabinet
of Girvan fossils is especially rich, and has been of
great use to the authors.
Fossil Entomology. — We specially direct the
attention of our geological readers to the exhaustive
and suggestive series of papers which are appearing
in the " Entomologist's Monthly Magazine," on
" Fossil Entomology," by Mr. Herbert Goss, F.L.S.,
F.G.S. The fourth paper appeared in the January
number, on "The Insecta of the Carboniferous
Period, and the Animals and Plants with which they
were correlated."
NOTES AND QUERIES.
Piping Bullfinches.— With reference to a query
under head of " Piping Bullfinch " inserted in
Science-Gossip for January, I would remark that
Gilbert White no less than three times in his
" Natural History of Selborne " alludes to the fact of
the plumage of bullfinches becoming dark or black-
coloured from the administration of hemp-seed. In
the latest edition of White's " Selborne," by Thomas
Bell, Esq., the author in a footnote states that the
effect of a diet of hemp-seed in blacking the plumage
of birds, and particularly the bullfinch, is now well
known. — John Cohbrook.
The Doubleday Collection. — Having lately
gone through the above collection, it is satisfactory to
say the collection is less deteriorated than appeared to
be at first sight. There is not one type in the whole
collection lost. Some erroneous statements have
crept into several periodicals, stating that 238 species
have been destroyed by mites. This I deny in toto.
The collection is open for inspection, and all those
interested are invited. — James English.
Leafless Trees. — Although at the present wintry
season of the year but few flowers either in the garden
or the woods are left to gladden the sight, there is
still to the observant eye a never failing charm in the
leafless trees. When seen against a clear grey sky,
each one has a form and beauty all its own —
" Alike yet various.
Here the grey smooth trunks of ash, or elm, or beech, dis-
tinctly shine
Within the twilight of their distant shades."
No tree in all the grove but has its charms, and
each its hue peculiar at all seasons of the year ;
and we may, if we are observant, learn to distin-
guish the several kinds of trees as easily by their
outlines in winter as by their leaves in summer.
We have also been much interested in noticing the
colour of the leafless trees surrounding our home
when the sunshine has lighted them up ; they then
appear as if tinged with a deep red colour. We have
much pondered over this appearance of the trees in
the sunlight. We have since seen it noticed in a little
book on " Field Flowers," by Shirley Hibberd. He
remarks that, " if you had to paint a winter scene
with sunshine, you would have to wash all the trees
with a tone of red." What is the reason of this ? We
should be grateful if any of the readers of Science-
Gossip would kindly explain the cause. Could it
arise from the russet case, or envelope, in which the
tender germ of the leaf is folded, uninjured, with
inimitable art, till the bitter winds and cold frosts of
winter have passed away ? May be, Keble refers to
this appearance of the trees in the wintry sunshine
when he writes in one of his most beautiful hymns :
" Red o'er the forest peers the setting sun;
The line of yellow light dies fast away
That crowned the eastern copse ; and chill and dun
Falls on the moor the brief November day."
E. Ediuards.
Parasites on Pigeons. — The best means for
destroying the parasites on fantail and other pigeons,
your correspondent " M. G." will find is to syringe
well the house in which the pigeons live, themselves,
and their nests with carbolic acid, diluted with water,
at the same time using very freely Keating's Insect
Powder. There is no danger of the parasites found
upon pigeons, fowls, or other birds, forsaking them for
man or womankind ; they will not live upon the human
body. The most sensible reason why pigeons' feathers
should not be used for stuffing pillows, &c, appears to
be, because they are too stiff, they would tnat together,
and so make but an uncomfortable rest for the head.
For the same reason game and other small birds'
feathers would not be desirable for stuffing pillows ;
the old superstition why they should not be thus used,
we believe to be entirely without reason. — E. Edwards,
Interesting Plants in the Royal Gardens,
Kew. — On the west side of the palm-house is a
most remarkable plant, which has given rise to a great
deal of writing upon the disputed phenomenon of
parthenogenesis, viz. Ctzletiogyne ilicifolia, a native of
Australia, and included in the natural order Euphor-
biaceas. It is a small dioecious shrub with alternate
spinose leaves closely resembling the common holly
44
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
(hence its specific name) ; the small greenish flowers
are unisexual, the staminate flowers being borne on
toothed bracts in axillary spikes, and the pistillate in
a similar manner or in cymes. The first plants that
arrived here were sent by Allan Cunningham, in 1829,
and were all females. After a time some of these
flowered, and, without the application of pollen,
ripened seed which germinated and produced plants
resembling the parent form. A communication of
these facts to the Linnean Society by Mr. Smith
("Transactions of Society," vol. xviii.) drew consi-
derable attention to the plant. Klotzsch examined
the seed and stated that it contained a bud and not
an embryo, but Braun, Radlkofer and others consi-
dered it as a true embryonic formation. Henslow
states that it is possibly an analogous phenomenon to
what takes place in some aphides, where one im-
pregnation is sufficient for several generations. If
that be the case, the definite settlement of any doubt
resting upon the subject is merely a question of time,
as it is almost impossible for true fertilisation to take
place, there not being a single male plant in Europe.
On the same side as the above we notice Laportea
stimulans, an urticaceous plant with large crenulate
ovate leaves, having numerous stinging hairs on both
surfaces. This plant was found by Leschenault in
Java, and he states that its sting produces inflamma-
tion and tetanic symptoms, similar to Laportea crenu-
lata, but less severe. On the same authority we learn
that the natives of Java rub buffaloes with the fresh
leaves to excite them to fight with tigers. At the
south end of the house is a magnificent specimen of
Grias canliflora, the anchovy pear of Jamaica, a
native of the West Indies, included in the Order
Myrtaceae, tribe Barringtoniese. Its generic name is
derived from grao— to eat, alluding to the fruit ; the
specific name refers to the appearance of the flowers
on the old wood. It is a slender, unbranched tree,
having at the summit a crown of drooping lanceolate
glossy green leaves, which are larger than those of any
other dicotyledonous tree (3 feet long by l\ to 2 feet
broad). The large white flowers spring in clusters
from the stem, but they are rarely seen, and this plant
has never flowered. The fruits are pickled and eaten
like mangos, which they are said to resemble in
flavour. We find on the shelf at the east side of the
house a small plant of Hura crepitans, the sandbox-
tree or Monkey's "Dinner Bell," considered as a
native of tropical America, but now cultivated for
shade through the tropics generally. It is a Euphor-
biaceous tree of extremely quick growth ; the wood
is so soft that a clap of thunder or gust of wind will
break the largest boughs. The fruit is a woody cap-
sule of many cocci, which in drying burst open down
the back into two valves, at the same time separating
from the axis with the noise of a pistol shot. The
juice of the tree contains an extremely poisonous
principle. Boussingault relates that when he and
M. Rivero analysed some of the milky juice, they
were both attacked with erysipelas. It forms a large
branching tree, 30 to 40 feet high, bearing unisexual,
inconspicuous, reddish flowers. The female flowers
have a very remarkable trumpet-shaped style, with a
reflexed, many-toothed, terminal portion. The seeds
are occasionally administered as a purgative to ne-
groes, but are extremely dangerous, for two seeds
have produced death. — Lezuis Castle, West Kensington
Park.
The Cultivation of Mistletoe. — Seeing in
the June number of Science-Gossip a botanical note
by Mr. J. M. Higgins about growing mistletoe in
Devonshire, where it is seldom seen, I thought it
might interest some of your readers to hear about
attempts to grow it in Edinburgh, where it is never
found in a state of nature. In the first week of
February I planted about twenty seeds of mistletoe,
in the same way as Mr. Higgins, on hawthorn, ser-
vice, plane, poplar, pear and apple trees, and I may
add that in no cases were they pecked at by birds.
On April 24, when passing one of the apple-trees,
I noticed that one of the seeds had begun to ger-
minate, and on examining the others I found them
beginning to smell and turn green ; and by May 1,
other seven seeds had burst and had protruded small
green suckers, which have since taken hold on the
bark. By the beginning of June the rest of the seeds,
with a few exceptions, had sprouted, those .on the
apple and hawthorn trees being furthest on and
healthiest looking. I have therefore great hopes of
growing the parasite, and I may mention that several
gentlemen in the neighbourhood have been very suc-
cessful in its cultivation ; one plant in particular which
I have seen several times in a garden near is remark-
ably handsome and strong, being, I believe, about
seven years old. There is one very good specimen of
mistletoe in the Edinburgh Botanical Gardens, and I
believe several smaller plants in Warriston Cemetery.
Can any of your readers explain to me why four of
my seeds have sent out two suckers apiece, while
the rest of them have only sent out one each ? —
Horace N. Bonar, Edinburgh.
The Nightingale in Yorkshire. — Last May
a man found a nest in a wood near Ripon. He
thought it was a tree-pipit's nest, with curious
coloured eggs in it. He took them to Mr. Pratt of
Ripon, who told him they were nightingales' eggs and
not tree-pipits. This is the first nest I have heard of
being found in Yorkshire. — James Ingleby.
Cuckoo's Visits. — Mr. Bennett asks if the cuckoo
revisits the same place yearly. I believe it does. A
neighbour told me last May he heard a cuckoo with
a very peculiar note for the last four years near his
house ; he was almost sure it was the same bird. In
answer to the inquiry for a description of the cuckoo's
eggs : They vary very much in colour, and very much
resemble the birds' eggs of the nests they are placed
in. Some are like meadow-pipits, others pied wag-
tails, some lighter in colour and others darker, and
small for the size of the bird. — James Ingleby.
The Cuckoo and her Eggs. — " The Universe,"
by F. A. Pouchet (Blackie & Son, 1877), speaking of
the cuckoo laying her eggs in the nests of other birds,
has the following, page 198 : — " It is the nest of the
golden crested, or common, wren that this bird selects
for the accomplishment of its designs." Can any
reader of Science-Gossip verify this statement from
personal observation ? Has any one ever seen a young
cuckoo in a wren's nest ? In matters of this nature
statements not made from personal observation are of
no value. After careful search and observation of
many years, I havejnever myself found a cuckoo's egg
or young except in the nest of a gronnd-bnilding bird,
never, indeed, except in the nest of the meadow-
pipit and the grey wagtail. The writer also "states
that the cuckoo has "never more than two eggs."
Has this been certainly ascertained, and how ? Have
any considerable number of birds been examined
before the eggs come to maturity, to justify this state-
ment?—?. A. Kerr, Whiteabbey.
Malformed Egg. — I have recently seen in this
neighbourhood an egg from a Brahmapootra hen
which contained within it another smaller egg. The
inner egg was imbedded in the albumen of the outer
one, and had pushed the yolk out of its normal
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
45
central position. Both eggs were covered by shell.
Can any one explain the nature of this malformation '.'
— F. IV S., Todmordcn.
Preserving Fossils.— Having a number of mam-
malian remains from caves which seem liable to chip
and decay after exposure to the air, I should be
greatly obliged to any reader who would tell me the
best treatment for their preservation. I have been
advised to paint them over with hot solution of gela-
tine, but this does not appear to improve those speci-
mens on which I have tried it. I should also be glad
to learn the best plan of preserving fossils from the
coal and chalk ; some specimens from the lias are very
liable to chip. — W. G. Tuxford.
Pronunciation of Scientific Names.— The
great difficulty is to find the place of the accent. There
appears to be no certain rule for this ; most frequently
it is on the penultimate syllable, in other cases its
place is determined by the etymology, and again in a
few instances both systems find supporters, as in the
case of veronica and veronica. Would it not be a
good plan to mark the accented syllable in those
generic and specific names occurring in at least the
more popular of the manuals of the various branches
of natural history ? These accents need not appear
on every repetition of the word, a good accented
index would answer the purpose. The more fortu-
nate of the dabblers in science, who live in large
towns, and have the advantage of hearing lectures,
and talking over their pet subjects with friends having
a similar taste to their own, may not need this help,
but it is different with those who live in out-of-the-
way country places, and read but rarely hear anything
about their favourite studies. — IV. G. Tuxford.
Birds Singing at Midnight.—" X." expresses a
wish to know whether it prevailed all over the
country. I heard them singing on the nights of the
15th and 16th of February, 1878, and other nights as
well. — James Ingkby, Yorkshire.
The "Fagus" of Cesar. — Caesar's words,
" Materia cujusque generis, ut in Gallia, est, pneter
fagum atque abietem," have puzzled many, and Mr.
Freeman has opened up a subject on which it may be
hoped that other correspondents will give an opinion.
Selby has touched on it in several places. It can
scarcely be doubted that Caesar must have seen the
beech, which loves the chalk of Kent and Sussex, and
is still the tree which characterises the hangers fring-
ing the northern slope of the Sussex Downs, while as
the sweet chestnut was (in all probability) introduced
to Britain by the Romans, he appears to have noted
its absence. Is it not then most likely that Caesar's
"Fagus" was the chestnut? Both trees grew in
Italy in his days, as is apparent from Virgil. It may
be observed that Linnaeus included the beech and
the chestnut under the same generic name " Fagus."
Has this led translators of Caesar into an error ? Old
Gerarde's quaint comparison of the fruit of the two
trees is worth quotation. Speaking of the beech, he
says, " The fruit or mast is contained in a huske or
cup that is prickly and rough bristled, yet not so much
as that of the chestnut ; which fruit being taken forth
of the shells or urchin husks be covered with a soft
and smooth skin, like in colour and smoothnesse to
the chestnut." " The beech tree," he adds, " loveth
a plaine and open countrey, and groweth very plenti-
fully in many Forressts and desart places of Sussex,
Kent, and sundry other counties." — F. H. Arnold,
LL.B.
Colour of Birds' Eggs. — Can any of the readers
of Science-Gossip inform me of anyway to preserve
the colour of birds' eggs from fading ? I do not want
varnish ; something that will not show, but keep the
colour from growing dull ? — James Ingleby.
Birds using Others' Nests. — In connection
with birds appropriating the nests of others to lay in,
the following may be interesting : — Walking through
a small copse in the early part of the summer I dis-
turbed a blue-tit which flew from a large bush. It
was soon joined by its mate, and by their rapid
motions and uneasy cries I concluded that their nest
was not far off. There was, however, no likely place
for it to be built, and I thought there must be some
other reason for the uneasiness of the birds. In the
bush before me there was a blackbird's nest, which,
judging from its very untidy appearance, I expected
to find empty. I tried it however, and to my surprise
found it contained seven blue-tit's eggs. The black-
bird's nest had probably been robbed early in the
spring, and the tits had lined it with some soft
material, and there laid their eggs. — T. L. S.
Fossil Ferns. — I remember seeing in the British
Museum some years ago a number of fossil ferns, the
impressions beautifully coloured a bright emerald
green, without destroying the sharpness. I should
be glad to learn what colour is used for this purpose,
and how applied. — IV. G. Tuxford.
Query about the Daisy. — Will any reader kindly
inform me on what authority Chaucer, in "The Legend
of Good Women," states the following : —
" The greate goodness of the queen Alceste
That turned was into a daisy.
She that for her husbande chose to die," &c.
******
" In remembrance of her, and in honour
Cybele made the daisy, and the flow'r
Ycrowned all with white, as men may see
And Mars gave her a crowne red, pardie !
Instead of rubies set among the white."
C. F. IV.
Poisonous Action of Dulcamara. — With refer-
ence to your correspondent's query relative to the
poisonous action of Dulcamara on man, I would beg
to quote some interesting remarks from Professor
Taylor's work on Poisons (3rd edition). That great
toxicologist writes : "There are two species of night-
shade {Solatium) S. Dulcamara, bitter-sweet or woody
nightshade, which has a purple flower and bears red
berries, and the 6". nigrum or garden nightshade,
with a white flower and black berries. Duval gave
to dogs four ounces of the aqueous extract, and, in
another experiment, 180 ripe berries of the Dulcamara,
without any ill effects resulting. On the other hand,
Floyer states that thirty of the berries killed a dog in
three hours. The differences may perhaps be recon-
ciled by supposing that the active principle, solania,
on which the poisonous properties of both species
depend, varies in proportion at different seasons of
the year. In one instance a decoction of the plant is
said to have produced in a man dimness of sight, giddi-
ness, and trembling of the limbs. In September,
J 1853, the red berries of the woody nightshade are
stated to have caused the death of a boy aged four.
He had eaten some of the berries, and at first did not
appear to suffer from them ; but eleven hours after-
wards he was attacked with vomiting, purging, and
convulsions, which continued throughout the day,
the child being insensible in the intervals. He died
convulsed in about twenty-four hours. Other children
had partaken of the berries at the same time, but one
of them suffered only slightly."— Lancet, June 28,
1856, p. 715. All my own books on botany certainly
point to the conclusion that Dulcamara berries are
poisonous, although of much less virulence than those
of belladonna ; from which I suspect persons ignorant
4 6
HARD WICKE ' S S CIE NCE- G O SSI P.
of the nature of these two solanums have been led into
some confusion. In the preparation of a conserve
from the berries, probably the active principle solania
was dispersed, if so, not only half a pound, but a
much larger quantity of it could be taken with
impunity ; moreover, because the French chemist
Duval gave both extract and berries to dogs without
injury, does it follow that man should escape ? I be-
lieve goats might eat any quantity without harm. I
imagine no parent in his or her senses would permit
a child to eat Dulcamara berries unless they wished to
compass its death. — John Colebrook.
Bombycide (Saturnia).— I have a fine specimen
of Hyalophora Cecropia (6 inches across the wings),
caught alive last July in a friend's garden at Clapham.
Can any of your readers account for this? These
moths surely never breed in England ? Is it not
likely to have escaped from some entomological
cabinet 1— James Ives.
Tadpoles. — On March 15, 1878, I collected some
frog's spawn, placing it in a small jar in a warm
corner of my room, and was surprised at seeing one
four days later. The little tadpoles had escaped
from their prisons. At that time each was attached
to its parent egg, all traces of which further on had
disappeared. I also noticed the ciliary movement
mentioned by " R. B. C," but once^only, although I
made continual observations as the animals became
more developed.—//. //., Aldebnrgh, Suffolk.
A Spectre of the Mountain. — During a tour
of two months on the Continent, I chanced to witness
the following beautiful phenomenon : — On Sunday
afternoon, September 1, 1878, we ascended the
Eggischorn, from the Hotel Jungfrau (which is 7000
feet above the sea). We reached the wooden cross
on the summit (9640 feet) at 4.15. The day was dull,
and the clouds were too thick to enable us to see
clearly the glorious view of the Alps ; the Aletsch
Glacier and Mergelen See alone being plainly visible.
Having stayed there about an hour, we were on the
point of descending, when one of our party ex-
claimed, "Look, there is a rainbow!" and turning
round I quickly added, "It is a spectre!" for gra-
dually the phenomenon became visible, showing our-
selves on the clouds facing us (in the east), surrounded
by a double rainbow. To make sure that we were
not imagining this beautiful vision, we waved our
alpenstocks and hats, which were clearly discernible.
Our height appeared somewhat elongated, so that the
bar of the cross was lost in the rainbow. One
apparent difference between this phenomenon and
the so-called Spectre of the Brocken, was that we
were not magnified, only lengthened, and that the
bow was more arched than is usual. There were two
guides and an Alpine traveller with us, none of whom
had seen it before. — //. J Taylor.
Dog and Kitten. — I have a high-bred pet blue
terrier, who has hitherto appeared to live entirely for
his master, and was at any rate a terror to cats, &c.
In our house we have made several attempts to keep
a cat, but our dog Charlie would not consent. About
a week ago, a poor, weak, nearly starved to death
kitten, about two months old, walked into the house,
and was taken by our domestic quietly into the
kitchen. Some food and milk was given to it, and
pussy was placed snug in the corner of the fireplace,
out of sight of the dog ; but it was not many minutes
before he discovered there was a cat in the house,
and instantly went in the direction where she was
lying, in a great state of excitement and ready for
fight. The kitten was alarmed, and stood up. To
our surprise the dog, instead of attacking it, ap-
peared to be instantly struck with its miserable
appearance, and made no attempt to molest it. On
the other hand, it showed evident signs of satisfac-
tion, which soon convinced us that between the two
there was a mutual understanding, for shortly after
they were lying on the rug together. The same
evening the usual saucer of milk was given to the
dog, the cat followed the dog to the milk, and both
lapped out of the saucer together. The cat-worrier
and the kitten are now great friends. If this is not
reason on the part of the dog, what is it ? If it is at
least sympathy, it is of a kind not often enough
shown by those who claim the sole exclusive right to
possess the higher quality. — Alfred Tozer.
BOUGAINVILLEA OR BUGAINVILLEA ? — Having
read in "Nature" of November 14 that the original
use of catechisms was to give precision to oral reli-
gious instruction, I cannot think that there is any
harm in an attempt to give precision to the teaching
of science. Precision in the use of words is a quality
not to be claimed by any writer who applies the term
biennial to a cabbage. This is done in the first lesson
in a little book on Elementary Botany by W. Bland,
Master of the Endowed School, Duffield. It is
nevertheless a very carefully written book, and that,
nearly the only error which it contains, was probably
the result of its author being misled by a similar
statement in a Science primer by J. D. Hooker, C.B.,
P.R.S. The illustrious Director of the Royal Botanic
Gardens, Kew, may be excused for not knowing that
in my plebeian garden cabbages often live several
years, and flower every season, which entitles them
to be called perennial. Want of precision may be
found sometimes in the orthography of generic names.
One day last summer I saw and admired at a flower-
show a plant labelled Bougainvillea. Wishing to
know the Natural Order to which this plant belongs,
I consulted the Index to Lindley's "Vegetable King-
dom," but found no such word. Having, however,
by the kindness of a neighbouring gardener, gained
possession of an inflorescence of the plant, I guessed
from the examination of it that it might belong
to the Order Nyctaginacese. Turning to Lindley's
account of that Order, I found among its genera
Bugainvillea. It would be nothing wonderful for
a gardener's label to be inaccurate, but that on the
plant in question could not be said to be so, as the
name on it was identical with what is given in the
"Official Guide to the Royal Botanic Gardens," by
D. Oliver, F.R.S., F.L.S., Keeper of the Herbarium
at the Royal Gardens, and Professor of Botany in
University College, London. Of this authoritative
Guide I happen to possess the twenty-sixth edition.
I dare not presume to say it is inaccurate, but I
should like to know whether the Bougainvillea men-
tioned in it be the same genus as in Lindley's
"Vegetable Kingdom" is called Bugainvillea, and if
so, whether in spelling the word I ought to follow
Professor Lindley or Professor Oliver? So long as it
remains uncertain, there can be no cause for appre-
hension that any catechism which may be written
will give the precision of religious teaching to that of
science. — John Gibbs.
The House-Fly and its Parasite. — In the
January number of Science-Gossip is an article on
" The Development of the House-fly and its Parasite."
Having given a good deal of attention to the house-fly,
I am able to affirm that Mr. Robson has fallen into an
error. The figure given is not Musca domestica.
The antennae are different, the eye is wrongly placed,
the body is not the right shape, and the abdomen is
UARDJVICRE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
47
quite wrong. Moreover, the maggot figured is not
the maggot of Musca domestica, neither is the chrysalis.
Again, Musca domestica never lays its eggs on meat,
nor will they, when hatched, feed on it, as far as I ever
observed. The egg is much too large if only mag-
nified 30 times, as the egg of M. domestica scarcely
ever exceeds ^ inch, which x 30 would be only I J inch,
while the figure is 2\ inches full. In fact, Mr. Robson
has been examining one of the flesh-flies under an error.
If confirmation of my correction be required, I refer to
Samuelson and Hicks, or, in fact, any work on the
subject. — E. Hoi vies.
Double Orange. — In opening an orange by
"peeling" it, I have just come across what, to me, is
a novelty amongst the many oranges in the dissection
of which I have assisted, aided by my little household
of seven or eight persons, but probably is well known
amongst your botanical friends. However, as it may
interest some of your readers, I send you a few
remarks on it. On turning back a portion of the
peel I found to my astonishment, instead of the usual
orange pulp with its thin cuticle, the yellow peel of a
miniature orange, of a conical form, having on one
side a very distinct seam or opening reaching from
the base to the apex of the cone. That the infant
orange was easily separated from the giant, that had
buried it alive within its own body was shown by the
nature of the union between the two, gaps occurring
between the woolly substance of the larger orange,
and the similar covering of the base of the cone. On
carefully inserting a penknife between the two I
found that the complete form of the embryo, if I am
right in using that term, was that of two cones base
to base ; but whilst that end which I have described
as lying just under the peel of its consumer was
covered with a peel of the same nature and colour,
but more delicate in texture and of a lighter hue, the
end which joined the body of the orange was im-
bedded in the usual white woolly substance but of a
finer grain, but no yellow peel, except that it had a
decided yellow tinge at its apex. I have said that
the embryo separated easily from its matrix. There
was, however, on one side a small tough aggrega-
tion of fibres, forming a sort of hinge, after all the
rest of the looser fibrous matter was separated. Per-
haps some of your botanical friends will be good
enough to tell me if they would consider this to be
the undeveloped fruit stalk. By the help of a pocket
glass on removing the embryo entire, I found that the
under part, by which I mean the cone-like end which
touched the body of the orange, was covered with
the usual vein-like fibres, only, of course, very
minute ; and most interesting of all the folding in
process of the fruit leaf's development was very
clearly shown. Dissecting the embryo the centre
was found to consist of a small sac containing a few
cells of the same shape as the orange pip, but they
were pulpy and yellow. — M. A. S.
Intelligence in Man and Animals.— The
anecdotes of animals which have from time to time
appeared in Science-Gossip and other publications,
and a little personal observation and reflection, would,
I should have thought, have suggested to your
correspondent, Mr. H. D. Barclay, that what is called
instinct in animals often passes under the name of
reason in man, and that the difference which exists is
chiefly one of development. Mr. Barclay says : " The
great difficulty in the investigation of the minds of
animals appears to be that man instinctively and
unconsciously, unless checked by reflection, explains
their actions, especially in extraordinary cases, by
his own modes and laws of thought." Perhaps Mr.
Barclay will kindly inform us how else we are to
explain their actions if we are not to use our "own
modes and laws of thought." If an animal does pre-
cisely the same thing that a man would do under
certain circumstances, are we not justified in con-
cluding that animal and man are moved by the same
power ? Is not memory an act of reasoning ? Is it
simply instinct that induces a dog to starve itself to
death on the grave of its master ; or risk its life
unbidden to save that of a helpless child? The
wonderful feats that animals have been taught to
perform, contrary to their natural habits, and the
marvellous memory exhibited by many, are proofs, I
think, that they are endowed with something more
than mere instinct. The impression that the intelli-
gence of animals differs from man's only in degree is
founded on good evidence, and the difference between
the intelligence of the beggar and the prince would in
all probability be far greater than that between the
beggar and his dog. —A. C. Rogers, Red Lodge,
Southampton.
Glyciphagus plumiger.— In the July number of
Science-Gossip, Mr. A. D. Michael announced the
capture of a single specimen of this acarus, and after
remarking on one in the possession of Mr. George of
Kirton Lindsay, says, "we may, I think, fairly claim
this as a British species, although only a single indi-
vidual has been detected in each instance." I have
been fortunate in capturing a large number, male and
female, of this interesting mite, and as in the former
case, they were found among the fodder in a stable in
this city. As there is a considerable quantity of
foreign hay used in this place, it is quite probable it
may have been introduced, but the fact of its being
alive and active, in the middle of December, during a
very severe frost, shows that it is hardy enough for
our northern climate. — J. Lambert, Edinburgh.
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS.
To Correspondents and Exchangers. — As we now
publish Science-Gossip a week earlier than heretofore, we
cannot possibly insert in the following number any communi-
cations which reach us later than the 9th of the~ previous
month.
John Lambert (Edinburgh). — Many thanks for your excel-
lently mounted slide of Glyciphagus plumiger.
T. R. Jones (Flint). — The fossils are: — 1. Producta Llan-
gollietisis, very abundant in the Carboniferous limestone rocks
near Llangollen, North Wales ; and 2. Fragment of fossil coral
from same strata, called Lousdaliajlori/oriiiis.
H. L. Smith. — You will find the best account of our British
newts in Cooke's " British Reptiles," published by Hardwicke &
Bogue, 192 Piccadilly, at 6s. Itgives a full account of Lissotriton
punctatus.
H. Bangham. — We cannot undertake to give the name of a
moth from a magnified drawing of one of the antennae, although
the structure much resembles that of the antennae of the fox-
moth.
W. Bennett (Hereford). — Your bat cannot be without ears.
Perhaps they are very small, and, if so, it may be the whiskered
bat or the barbastelle. You should show the specimen to some
competent naturalist, as it is desirable to know more about our
British bats than we do.
Tracy Apfleton. — A good and cheap popular work on
ornithology is that on "Birds" by Adam White, published by
Routledge, at 7s. 6d. The same firm have also issued the
" British Ornithology," by P. H. Gosse, at the same price.
J. N. D. (Tuxford). — We quite agree with you in your
remarks as to Wood's work. The best book we know as a
calendar is the Rev. Leonard Jenyn's " Observations in Natural
History, with an Introduction on the Habit of Observing as
connected with the Study of that Science, also a Calendar of
Periodic Phenomena in Natural History." It is published by
Van Voorst, at 10s. 6d.
New Cross Microscopical Society. — C. W. L. enquires
for the place of meeting and name of the secretary of the above
society. Perhaps some of our readers will answer him.
4 8
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
J. R. N. — Your little fish is the black goby {Gobius nigcr).
J. A. Wheldon. — Stark's " History of British Mosses,"
price js. 6d., published by Routledge ; and Cooke's "British
Fungi," price 6s., published by Hardwicke & Bogue, 192 Picca-
dilly.
Any Cheltenham coleopterist who would be willing to assist
a beginner in naming some specimens is requested to forward
his name and address to the Editor.
Perca. — Mr. Frank Buckland's "British Fishes," published
by the Society for the Diffusion of Christian Knowledge, is a
good introduction to the fishes of the British Islands. The
volume on Fishes, published in Jardine's " Naturalists' Library"
(Hardwicke & Bogue), is another good volume.
S. B. A. — Both jellyfish and sea-anemones may be preserved
in a solution of picric acid.
W. G. Pearce. — There is a microscopical society at Bath,
and if there is not already a natural history society there, it is
not for lack of workers and others interested in the study. We
should think it would require little effort to found a society
there.
R. H. W.— You will find full instructions for making artificial
sea-water, &c. in Taylor's "Aquarium : its History, Structure,
and Management," published at 6s. by Hardwicke & Bogue.
T. S. P. — The fossils are : — 1. Head of Phacops, a silurian
trilobite ; 2. Portion of a cystidean, a peculiar form of sea-lily
or encrinite ; 3. Atrypa reticularis.
J. A. Kay. — In the answer to your question last month the
words, " having the outline of your sketch," should have followed
after the words, " more than fifty species of Navicula." There
are more than one thousand species of Navicula known alto-
gether.
J. Finnemore. — Mr. G. M. Gowan, of 2oBeauchamp Square,
Leamington, writes as follows : — " I see by Science-Gossip for
January that Mr. Finnemore (of Truro) wishes for Smith's
' Synopsis of the British Diatomaceae.' I have a copy of it, two
volumes, in boards, one or two plates, loose, but quite complete.
I am willing to part with it, should it be worth Mr. F.'s while to
offer a fair price for so rare a work."
EXCHANGES.
First-class human physiological and pathological microscopic
slides, mounted by Hunter, in exchange for good British lepi-
doptera. — E. H. Jones, Rosslyn House, The Park, Ealing.
Acme lineata, Vertigo substriata, Helix lamellata, H.
aculeata, H. pygmcra, H.fusca, for any I'ertigo Moulitisiana,
Testacella ka/iotidea, or Geomalar.us maciilosics, or any other
good shells. — J. Whitwham, Cross Lane Marsh, Huddersfield.
Anatomical sections wanted for well-mounted slides. — F. \V.
Edwards, 32 Hunslet Lane, Leeds.
Foraminiferous sand from Barmouth, containing mvMy rare
forms, in exchange for slides, material, or minerals.— J., W.
Cotton, F.G.S., Barmouth.
Will forward to anyone interested a copy of my new private
exchange list for skins and eggs, compiled to facilitate exchanges
and other useful purposes. — "Author," n Priory Road, Sheffield.
Will give a collection of shells for any volume of Science-
Gossip ; want all years since commencement. Also want
Turton's "Land and Fresh-water Shells." — Musson, 68 Gold-
smith Street, Nottingham.
In duplicate about 100 different species of the British land
and fresh-water shells, including well-authenticated examples of
I'ertigo minutissima, V. alpestris, V. pusilla, V. substriata,
V. a?igustior, L. involuta, L. Bur net ti, Succinea oblonga.
Desiderata : good (named) foreign land shells, or numerous
species of British birds' eggs, many by no means rare. — W.
Sutton, Upper Claremont, Newcastle-on-Tyne.
Crystals of salicine or potassic chlorate, in exchange for other
well-mounted slides. — Thomas Shipton, The Terrace, Chester-
field.
Wanted, a good 5-inch object-glass. Offered geological,
physiological, and other slides, many su'table for polariscope. —
M. Fowler, Burn Row, Slamannan, N.B.
Offered, Nos. 3, 38, 116, 173, 192, 206, 217, 355, 358, 384,
515, 548, 557, 667, 709, nog, 1607, 1614, 1626, for other species. —
D. J. Powrie, 3 Greenbank Street, Galashiels, N.B.
H. pygh^a, C. minimum, A . tridens, and many other species
from North Wales, offered for good specimens of Zonites cella-
rius, nitidulus, nitidus, glaber, altiarius, or excavattts. — George
Taylor, Mold, North Wales.
Science-Gossip, 1874, 1875, bound; having duplicates of
these, will exchange for other books, pocket microscope, or
natural history objects. — 3 Belmont Villas, New Brompton,
Kent.
British coleoptera, complete collection, male and female
specimens of nearly every British species ; 8000 specimens,
mounted on cardboard, without pins (new style) ; correctly named.
Particulars sent. Also collection of British birds' eggs, side-
blown, labelled ; well-marked specimens, 100 varieties. Also
South African and American collections. Wanted, any foreign
eggs. Send list. — Henry Sissons, Westbourne Road, Sheffield.
Rare European, British, and African eggs and skins. Fuji
lists upon application. Wanted eggs and skins in exchange.—
Sissons, Sharrow, Sheffield.
Wanted, specimens of Ophiocoma and Coryne pusilla ; ex-
change. — 3 Belmont Villas, New Brompton, Kent.
Foraminifera from several localities, also zoophytes and
mosses named and localised, well-mounted in balsam or damar ;
plant hairs, &c, for other slides or unmounted sections, &c, or
offers in shells, &c. — Mrs. Skilton, London Road, Brentford.
Wanted, unmounted animal parasites, fleas, and ixodes, those
from exotic animals preferred. — W. A. Hyslop, 22 Palmerston
Place, Edinburgh.
In exchange for good fronds of Fenestella from Silurian,
Devonian, or Permian ; offer carboniferous or Bala fossils. —
G. W. Shrubsole, Chester.
Offered, American lepidoptera. Wanted, pupas of silk-
worm, death's-head, swallow-tail, emperor ; eggs of Bombyx
Zamanii and Cintliya.—T. Stock, 16 Colville Place, Edinburgh.
Well-mounted slides in exchange for good diatoms, mounted
or unmounted. — Jas. Blackshaw, 78 Lozells Road, Birmingham.
Wanted, a good second-hand copy of Gosse's " Marine
Zoology of the British Isles," in exchange for other works on
natural history, or for cash.— G. N. W., 10 Edinburgh Place,
Weston-super-Mare.
Unio tumidus, U. pictorum, Anodonta cygnea, A. anatina,
Valvata cristata, L. peregra, var. maritima, L. auricularia,
var. acuta, L. glutinosa, A. Grayana, L. agrestis, L. mar-
ginatus, H. pomatia, H. hispida, var. alba, H. hispida, var.
subru/a, A. acicula, C. myosotis, and many other British
species, for a copy of Rye's " British Beetles," or foreign shells.
— Address E. R. F., 82 Abbey Street, Faversham, Kent.
A fine series of trilobites (including the new Silurian forms,
in exchange for microscopic rock sections. — Dr. Callaway,
Wellington, Salop.
I have several slides of interest to exchange for well-mounted
objects. Lists if required. — T. Comlidge, 5 Norfolk Street,
Brighton.
Unmounted micro material in greatvariety, including highly
interesting and beautiful marine objects, such as Foraminifera,
zoophytes, sertularians, Echinideae, Crustaceae, Holothuria
plates, diatoms, and in situ on Algae in splendid condition ; fruited
Algae, named, some prepared for balsam ; marine Entomostraceae
and larva, &c. ; and some very good slides of same. Wanted,
first class micro and lantern slides. Particulars on receipt of
stamped address. — T. McGann, Burren, Ireland.
A good 24-inch four-draw telescope in exchange. Wanted,
good slides, Slack's " Marvels of Pond Life," or other books on
microscopic subjects. — S. C. Hincks, Runfold, Farnham, Surrey.
Wanted, transparent unmounted material in exchange for
others, or Chinese natural curiosities, including insect archi-
tecture. — Tylar, 165 Well Street, Birmingham.
Coleoptera. — Necrobia rnjicollis, IHmarcha coriaria,
Agelastica hyalensis, Donacia sericea, Coccinella i^-punc-
tata, &c. for other species. Desiderata numerous. — Address,
J. Wilcock, 85 Northgate, Wakefield.
L. C. 7th ed. Nos. 291, 334, 353, 556, 710, 841b, gir, 858,
958, 1059, I2 7°. '3 2 3. !43°. H4 1 . I 446, 1447. '47 1 . I S l6 . '537.
1614, 1019, and others, for 5. 10, 44, 135, 174, 191, 215, 228, 235,
348, 351, 360, and others. — T. Rogers, 27 Oldham Road, Man-
chester.
BOOKS, ETC. RECEIVED.
"Geological Stories." Fourth edition. By J. E. Taylor,
F.G.S., &c. London : Hardwicke & Bogue.
"A Monograph of the Silurian Fossils of the Girvan District
in Ayrshire." By Professor H. A. Nicholson and R. Etheridge,
jun., F.G.S. London: W. Blackwood & Sons.J
" Popular Science Review." January.
"Midland Naturalist." January.
" Land and Water." January.
"American Naturalist." December.
"Canadian Entomologist." December.
" Botanische Zeitung." December.
" Science pour Tous."
" Science News." (Salem, Mass.)
" Scottish Naturalist." January.
"Journal of Applied Science." January.
&c. &c. &c.
Communications received up to 12TH ult. from : —
W. B. H.— A. S.— C. R.-J. P. T.— Colonel B.— J. D.— G. C.
— E. H. J.— J. S.— J. F. R.— M. W— H. B.— H. N. B.—
J. M. W.— R. W. W.— J. A. W.— F. H. A.— W. C. T.— F. W. S.
—A. T— C. F. W.— H. J. T.— H. H.— B. K.— J. I.— J. C—
G. O. P. C— J. W.— M. A. S.— T. B. W.— E. W. M.— W. H. S.
—A. J. J. B.— W. N. C— K. D— F. A.L.— D.J. P.— J. W. H.
— S. B. A.— C. A. G.— H. U. J— J. W. C— F. L— W. W.—
W. G. W— R. M. M— G. H. L.— Ci O. W— M. F.— T. S.—
E. B. F.— E. D.— J. H. G.— E. H.-W. B.— J. P.— W. S.—
H. P. M.— J. B.— D. H. P.— F. L. St. A.— J. A. W.— T. S.—
H. P. S.— G. W. S.— H. C. W— H. M. P.— W. A. H.— M. S.
—J. W. S.— A. G. R.— G. T. M.— H. S.— Dr. M. A. M. B.—
J. A— F. W. E.— G. D. S.— M. D.— J. W. D. K.— E. L. F.—
G. T— G. E. M.— J. W. C— G. R.— T. L.— T. C— W. G. P.
—Dr. C. C.-S. C. H .— G. P.— D. D— B. S. D— E. D. M.—
T. McG— T. W.— W. TV- J. W. S.— G. M. G— R. H. W.—
T. R.— W. W.— &c.
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
49
NOTE ON PREPARING AND PRESERVING DELICATE
ORGANISMS.*
T will not do to rely
on the chemists
and druggists of
the south of France
or the Italian coast
for the chemicals
requisite for re-
searches in the
natural history of
those parts. If you
go to these worthy
folk and ask for
what you want, .
they will stare at
you and ask if you
are a doctor, or
what you intend
to do. If you ex-
plain, they will
gaze at you in as-
tonishment, and
perhaps ask to see your papers, and you will be lucky
if they do not denounce you to the police ! It is
therefore necessary to carry all requisites with one.
But liquid chemicals are bulky, and leaky bottles
may stain the contents of the portmanteau ; besides
which the stock is soon exhausted. Crystalline sub-
stances, on the other hand, are easily conveyed, and
contain in small bulk enough material to prepare and
preserve a large number of objects.
The beautiful orange crystals of bichromate of
potash form a very suitable solution for histological
researches and for the preservation of delicate organ-
isms. A few grammes of this salt, portable in any
box, will meet all requirements. It dissolves in fresh
or salt water, a few crystals saturating a large bulk.
In this solution all the lower gelatinous animals, such
as polypes, Hydromedusce, Medusae, Salpae, cteno-
phora, &c, can be perfectly preserved. The shell-
less mollusca and annelids, and all worms with tough
skin can be kept in it. Small Crustacea and bryozoa
give also excellent results. We have kept a splendid
Jl r cdusa aarita in this way for a whole year, and its
No. 171.
beauty and transparency leave nothing to be desired.
But this solution has one inconvenience, it permits
the development of mould ; but this can be prevented
by the addition of a few drops of phenic acid or
phenic alcohol.
For histological purposes it is as good as, but acts
more delicately than chromic acid. It hardens the
tissues, brings out the outlines of the cellules, shows
their nuclei, and coagulates the sarcode. It is also
a valuable agent in maceration, dissolving in most
cases the intercellular cement and separating the parts.
On this account only tough-skinned organisms can be
preserved in it, lest the tissues fall to pieces. Still
the most delicate parts of the vibratile cilia and
infusoria are well preserved.
Another convenient and portable salt is perman-
ganate of potash, a little of which goes a long way.
It is especially good in histological researches, as it
acts like osmic acid, burning up the protoplasm,
bringing out the minutiae, and showing the nuclei
outlines of cells, &c. It is used as a saturated solution
in distilled or very pure spring water. Sea- water also
dissolves it. The concentrated solution, of a lovely
violet colour, kills small organisms at once, and then
burns them. They are left in it from thirty minutes
to an hour, then withdrawn and placed in alcohol,
after which they can be made transparent with essence
of terebinth and mounted in Canada balsam. Beau-
tiful results are thus obtained with echinoderms,
zoophytes, worms, and marine arthropoda. For
delicate researches, especially in the ciliated infusoria,
it is better than osmic acid) without its great cost,
and is everywhere easily obtained. G. du P.
Note by Translator. — Permanganate being deli-
quescent, and both salts highly coloured, wide-mouthed
bottles will be found the best mode of conveyance ;
the corks being coated inside with beeswax or other
protecting substance. The prices of the salts are,
bichromate, is. tyi. per lb., and permanganate, S</.
per oz. W. H. D.
* By G. du Flessis, in " Bulletin de la Societe Vaudoise des
Sciences Naturelles," ser. 2, vol. xv. pp. 278-280, April 1878.
Translated by W. H. Dalton.
D
5°
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
NOTES OF AN AMATEUR ON SOME
CANADIAN PLANTS.
THE pitcher-plant, Sarracenia purpurea, which
grows in great abundance in our swamps and
marshes, is said to be possessed of very valuable
medicinal properties, as a mitigator of the severer
symptoms of smallpox. I am not prepared to
hazard an opinion respecting the properties thus
claimed for it, but I think it probabk that there are
many plants, wild plants especially, whose virtues
are still undeveloped ; nor is it unlikely that it may
have pleased the God of Nature to provide that our
discovery of those virtues should be gradual and pro-
gressive, for the purpose of inciting us to persevere
in our endeavours to increase our stores of know-
ledge, and thus to be constantly adding to the fresh
disclosures ever coming to light of His wisdom and
His goodness.
The pitcher-plant, belonging to the Order Sarra-
ceniaceae, is a semi-aquatic plant, belonging to the
water-pitcher family, and luxuriates in moist situa-
tions ; but I have grown it, although without signal
success, in my garden, and, with better effect, in
large pots or boxes filled partly with rough peat-soil
and partly with sphagnum moss. I never found the
leaves of the plant without cold water in them, even
in the hottest weather, floating on which are in-
variably discovered a number of minute drowned or
drowning insects.
There is a swamp, in the neighbourhood of this
town, in which, in addition to pitcher-plants, are
found many other interesting specimens of our flora,
e.g. Ledum palustre, Ledum latifolium, Kalmia an-
gustifolia, &c, plants known in England by the con-
ventional term, "American Plants," and cultivated
"at home" with great care and at considerable cost.
The milkweed, Asclepias. — This family is variously
divided, by different botanists, into, 51, 36, and 22
species. The last is the American limit.
The spring-shoots of one of these plants, A. Syriaca,
are used by the habitans of the Province of Quebec
as an esculent ; and the cotton, soft as down, con-
cealed within its pods, forms, in some cases, the
stuffing of their beds. This cotton is of peculiarly
soft texture, and has, in consequence, been called
" Virginian silk."
Another of the milkweeds, A. iuberosa, is a com-
mon plant in the county of Peterborough. It is a very
showy plant, with bright orange umbellate blossoms.
The English name of this species is the pleurisy-root.
The family, as we are informed by Gray, derives its
name from ^Esculapius.
I do not think there would be much difficulty in
cultivating the milkweeds with beneficial commercial
results. The requisites would be a very light soil
and abundant space.
New Jersey Tea, Ceanothus Americanus. — This is
an ornamental shrub, growing to the height of from
three to four feet, and embellished, in summer, with
clusters of elegant white flowers possessing a faintly
sweet perfume. The shrub dies down to the roots
every winter. It has, not unfrequently, been used as
a substitute for the Chinese leaves ; but although by
no means unpalatable, we Canadians cannot flatter
ourselves that it will ever prove a formidable rival to
either Hyson or Bohea.
It is, however, satisfactory to know that in the
event of our supply from the Celestial Empire being
at any time cut off, we may still indulge, —furnished
by our own soil, for I have tasted the infusion, — in
the "cups that cheer but not inebriate."
Vincent Clementi, B.A.
Peterborough, Cauda.
PHYSIOLOGICAL CHARACTER OF
FENESTELLA.
By G. R. Vine.
{Continued from page 276, vol. 187S.)
IN the study of the polyzoa — whether recent or
fossil — two distinct characters are presented to
our view : A true morphological, and a true physio-
logical character. The morphology of the fossil
polyzoa seems to come more fully within the de-
scriptive range of the palaeontologist than the other ;
but if the biologist is allowed.to speculate when dealing
with living forms, surely when dealing with the
more ancient forms, sound physiological knowledge
will be an advantage rather than a disparagement.
Hence, in applying the results of modern investi-
gation into the biology of the polyzoa, I have been
guided in my selection more by the necessity on
the part of the reader of the accurate appreciation
of these results, than by the many and varied cha-
racter of the investigations ; some of which are too
elaborate for general appreciation.
It seems to me then to be an axiom by no means
inappreciable that the life history of the palaeozoic
polyzoa can form no exception to the life history of
polyzoa generally. The definite forms of the one are
as truly characteristic as the definite forms of the other.
Among recent polyzoa no type exists bearing the
close affinities with the palaeozoic types, the nearest
approach to the Fenestella being the Retihornera of
Kirchenpaur. These, however, differ in many parti-
culars — especially so in the mode of development of
the cells along the sides of the fenestrules, and of
the non-existence of a central keel. But the vital
actions of the individual animals of the Retihornera
were essentially of the same character as the vital
actions of the animals of Fenestella. It will be well,
therefore, to devote a few paragraphs to the record of
the ordinary modes of propagation noticeable among
the polyzoa, so that we may be able to appreciate
more fully the value and the bearing of the facts which
will follow.
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
5i
According to Dr. Allman, the polyzoa have three
distinct modes of reproduction. By buds or gemma?,
by true ova, and by free locomotive embryos.
The gemmoe or buds are developed on the body of
the polypides : this always happens whenever the
cells are in mutual apposition. If the cells are dis-
tinct they are developed from the connecting stem or
stolon, as in the recent Laguncula reptans.
"The best examples" of the former mode "are
furnished by the Flustra and their allies. From a
single cell of the Flustra five such buds may be sent
off, which develop themselves into new polypides
around it ; and these in their turn produce buds from
their unattached margins, so as rapidly to augment
the number of cells to a very large amount. To this
extension there seems no definite limit, and it often
happens that the cells in the central portion of the leaf-
like expansion of a Flustra are devoid of contents and
have lost their vitality whilst their edges are in a state
of active growth."*
Since this was written the " dead cells " have formed
the subject of many an excellent paper by Claparede,
Smitt, Nitsche, and Hincks. The cells are not dead
in a true and literal sense, for they often contain black
or brown spots, supposed by Ellis (1755) " to be the
remains of the animals once inhabiting these cells."
These dark bodies are supposed — and their history
has been accurately traced by Hincks — to be "germ
capsules," and these may be characterised, if not as a
fourth, at least as a very peculiar method of repro-
duction. This view, however, is opposed to that of
Claparede who considered the " dark bodies to be the
result of retrogressive metamorphosis of the original
polypides which, under certain circumstances shrink
back into this rudimentary condition, passing through
the same stages in their decline as in their progress
towards maturity, but in an inverse order." t
Reproduction by ova is the result of impregnation
of the ova with the spermatozoa. Both the male and
the female particles are developed within the same
polypides, only situated in different parts of the body.J
The embryo is first a hollow sphere, a layer is then
thrown off from the surface at the same time that an
opening is made in the wall of the sphere ; a second
sort of little sphere is thus formed within the first, and
here little polypides are gradually developed. § This
development often takes place within the body of the
parent, and their final discharge is by an opening
situated beneath the tentacular circle.
I do not take into this account all the facts that
have been promulgated respecting the reproduction of
polyzoa by buds and by fertilised ova. A good paper
by Nitsche, on the mode of reproduction of Flustra
membranacea, is to be found in the " Quarterly Journal
* Dr. Carpenter, 1868.
t Hincks's " Contribution to the History of Polyzoa."
% See Dr. Carpenter, p. 578-9, "Quarterly Journal of the
Microscopical Society." vol. xiii.
$ Dr. Ord, M.D.
of the Microscopical Society," vol. ii. It is true, how-
ever, that not all the polypes are equally reproductive.
In recent polyzoa, and in all probability in the fossil
also, there were distinct centres of reproductive energy.
These are the oocecia or the ovicells of Busk and
others. In some of the polyzoa the ovicells are
separated from the ordinary cell structure and are
developed in the axils of the zoocecia, or else by an
inflation of the ordinary cell. Among the cyclosto-
matous polyzoa, the ovicells of Crisia and Crisidia
are thus formed in the axils. The observations made
on the ovicells of Idmoneidse are scanty — but in the
species called Idmonea gracillima, brought to light
during the Porcupine soundings from a depth in the
Atlantic at from 286 to 322 fathoms, the ovicells are
pyriform like Crisia.
In Hornera frondiculata the ovicells are oblon j
and keeled— and in this and in several other species
they are dorsal : while in H. violacea the ovicells are
anterior either wholly or in part. They are unknown
in Retihornera, but in Pustulopora they are tumid.
In the Tubuliporidce (Alecto and Tubulipora) the
ovicells are represented by an uniform inflation of a
part of the zoarium.
The ovarian cells of many of the Cheilostomata are
cells situated among the ordinary cells of the polyzoary.
They are known by certain characters and are easily
distinguished by those who are in any way acquainted
with the polyzoa. In the Salicornaria either a
conical tooth or an elongated slit marks the ovarian
cell. In the Membranipora, they are either triangu-
larly marked, deeply immersed, or large and con-
spicuous. In Lepralia some are peculiarly punctured,
or else globose. In Cellepora and Eschara they are
either globose or else subglobose — except in E. mom~
lifera, here there are no ovicells but what answers
the same purpose^/?;-///*? cells, large, depressed, and
irregularly placed. In Melicerita the ovicells are im-
mersed, opening with a cresentic within the summit
of the cell ; while in Retepora there is either a vertical
slit, or a large opening in front.
To the living polyzoa two very remarkable, but
minute appendages are attached. One is the avicu-
laria, or bird's head process ; the other is the vibri-
cula or whip-like spines. Much doubt exists as to
the real function of either of the appendages. They
are present in nearly all the Cheilostomatous polyzoa.
In the Cyclostomata these appendages are rare —
probably the vibricula are only found among the
Crisia and the Crisidea — and as the carboniferous
polyzoa are generally placed among the Cyclostomata
it would be useless therefore to seek for these appen-
dages. But there is strong presumptive evidence that
in some at least of the Fenestella and Glauconome
we may discover— either by inflations of the cells, or
by gibbous masses clustering round the cell mouths,
indications of one of the modes of reproduction
prevalent among the carboniferous polyzoa. For
specimens of these gibbous masses I have sought
D 2
5 2
HARDJVICRE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
very earnestly amongst my material, and I have been
rewarded by finding some surrounding the cell
mouths — others attached to the spiniferous processes
of Fenestella, and some few attached to the spiniferous
and infertile branches of Fenestella and Polypora.
To the Fenestella other small processes were at-
tached, and wherever they exist they are generally
developed, but not always, on the margins of the frond.
Some of these are of a spine-like, or rather of a hook-
like character : and these hooks are always turned
towards the margin whence the processes are de-
veloped. On other parts of the polyzoary — some-
of recent polyzoa — as was served by Pala;oeoryne in
the ancient group.
The reproductive history of Fenestella generally
seem to me to follow any co-ordinate type of the
genus. The same character in the cell, the same idea
prevalent in the Palseocoryne and in the spiniferous
and infertile branches, and the same character of the
bifurcations exist in one species as in the others ; but
there are certain peculiarities about F. plebeia that
are apparently absent in other forms.
The corallum (or polyzoary), says M'Coy, was
flat, expanded, and fan - shape ; thickly carinated
Fig. 42. — Vertical and horizontal s:ctlon of shale containing F. p'.e'xict, M'Coy. Natural size.
*"'£• 43- — The broken edge of Fig. 1, reversed ; the \ refers to the continuation on the same
plane of the polyzoon — slightly different at c.
U fes^
Fig. 45. — Spiniferous branch
of Polypora tubcrcitlata.
(Hairmyres.)
v^-"
Fig. 44. — Enlargement of infertile roots and branches as at a in both
figures, at X, Pakeocoryne, and infertile processes are developed,
pointing upwards. Branches and root-like process slightly exagge-
rated.
times in the front, sometimes on the back, other
processes are developed, of a character altogether
different from these spiniferous branches. These are
the Pal&ocoryne both radiata and Scotica of Duncan.
Singularly enough these have been placed among the
Hydrozoa, and characters given by him to separate
parts altogether at variance with the facts. Palaso-
coryne, however, are unique appendages, and they
indicate another method of reproduction — peculiar to
the fenestrate forms of polyzoa found in the palaeo-
zoic rocks. Neither the appendages of Bicellaria
tuba, nor the anomalous ones of Bimeria in any way
resemble — or serve similar purposes in the life-history
OOOOOC3Q
O O O O O » Op O q O O
OOOOOQc
Fig. 47. — Diagram of Palaeo-
coryne, showing that the
Fenestella cells are con-
tinued along the base of
the processes, and are not
covered up by them. (By
Mr. John Young.)
Fig. 46. — Sketch of branch-
ing spiniferous process on
frond of Fenestella, from
Cragenglen- Campsie,
Scotland (four times natural
size). By Mr. John Young.
interstices, with thin and regular dissepiments. The
fenestrules were equal and rectangular, from two to
three times as long as wide, with a width equal to
that of the interstices. There are four or five cell
pores to length of fenestrule, with slight prominent
margins, about the diameter of the cell apart. The
reverse of the interstices are minutely granulated, and
very coarsely sulcate longitudinally.
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
53
I have before me the fragments of a slab of car-
boniferous shale from the polyzoa beds of North Wales
(fig. 42). It is about four inches square, and the
average thickness is about one inch. The specimen
was sent to me by my friend, G. W. Shrubsole,
character. On breaking my own across the middle
and otherwise mutilating it, I was let into the secret
of Fenestella growth, for I found on the broken sides
evidence that I have long sought for, and much more
than I ever expected to obtain.
/ffi 9 1
Fig. 48.— Infertile branch of Paly-
J>ora tuberculata. (Prout, Hair-
myres.)
Fig. 49.— Infertile branches of Messrs. Young,
peculiarly developed on the margin of a Fenes-
tella, from Hairmyres. (My own cabinet.)
F.G.S., and he had in his possession a slab even
larger still, but unfortunately he has failed in other
visits to the district of obtaining more of the same
mwg.
( .%%,
v 7
t&J®
i ®,
&
?
prtrJUk.
Fig. 50. — Palseocoryne attached
to Fig. 51.
I V- I.. //,
:, &\
Vo 1 Vi
Fig- Si- — Fenestella plebeia ; showing the interrupted development
of the fenestrules ; the entire absence of fenestrules at a, on
face on the back are partially developed fenestrules of the
character shown at b. Previous to being slightly rubbed down,
PalKOCoryne were attached of the shape and character of c. (In
my own cabinet.)
Fig. 52.— Processes from side of Fenestella. (Mr. Shrubsole-'s '
collection.)
The general idea of Fenestella growth is, that it
was either cup-shape or flabelliform, springing from a
rooted base similar to the recent Retepora or the
Gorgonia. My belief is that this species at least was
recumbent in habit, and that it began life on some
fixed spot, and that from this point it gradually spread
over the soft muddy bottom. Its development in
one continuous plane, in either large or small frondsy
was dependent upon the quantity of sediment held in
solution by the waters above. It the water was
tolerably fine and free from much sedimentary matter,
54
HARD WICKE'S SCIENCE- G OS SIP.
the fronds of F. plebeia would be correspondingly
large ; but if the waters were surcharged with fine
mud-like particles, like the Welsh shales, then these,
falling upon the recumbent life form would soon
bury itself out of sight. In the one case the frond
would be perhaps from three to five inches square, in
the other perhaps not more than one inch. The
mystery of development is apparent in this recum-
bency, and we have no better example of the battle
of life in the whole palaeontology of the older rocks
than is to be found in the life history of these
palaeozoic polyzoa.
During the last twelve months I have examined a
vast number of the fronds of F. plebeia, and I find
everywhere that the inequalities of the surface add to
the grace of the Fenestella. Here there is a dead
Productus,* there some fallen encrinal stems, im-
bedded in the mud. Over these the delicate polyzoa
weave their beautiful polyzoary, adapting themselves
gradually to all the undulations of the surface. Not,
however, passing over the shell or the stem with
that sharpness or splint-like character which would
exist had the polyzoary been developed in an upright
position— but delicately weaving their network even
into the angles formed by the rounded stem as it lay
in contact with the bottom. In no place is the poly-
zoary doubled upon itself so far as I am aware.
In figures 42 and 43, I have given an outline of
the fractured shale of the natural size of my specimens.
The continuous outlines are the shape of the block,
while the dotted ones represent the exposed edges
of the Fenestella. The marks in both figures are
parts of the same polyzoary on the same plane, only
one represents the right-hand fragment, while the
other is the left-hand fragment reversed. There is a
slight difference in the one that is not found in the
other (c, fig. 43). At a in the two figures there are in-
fertile processes of a root-like character, enlarged in fig.
44 to show their connection with layers of the polyzoary
on certain planes. The character of these root-like
processes will be considered further on. At the upper
surface at point a, fig. 44, Palaeocoryne is developed
on the under part of the frond, and the poriferous face
just at this particular point is much confused in cha-
racter ; portions of the branches, with several bi-
furcations, turning towards each other and meeting
in a rounded form at the top. This, however is a
peculiarity at this one point only, otherwise the frond
is amply and admirably developed on other parts of
the same plane. Here, at least, Palaeocoryne serves
the purpose, not only of the supporting of the poly-
zoary, but actually of passing over the reproductive
power from one stage to another higher up, producing
the uppermost dotted portion of the frond at a in
figs. 42 and 43. From the peculiar character of F.
plcbcia at this point, I am inclined to the belief that
this is only one of many points where this energy
* Longispinus.
exists on this particular plane. There was a dis-
turbing cause, and this too has left its stamp upon
the shale. A large productus ^settled down upon the
polyzoary, burying a portion of the frond and forcing
by its unpleasant presence either death or new
development upon the polyzoa.
By the possession of these singular appendages,
Palaeocoryne, the colony was saved from destruction
and development was carried on a stage higher up.
In another piece of shale I have specimens of
F. plebeia, on two planes. Here Productus longispinus
is the original tenant, and where Palaeocoryne passes
over the life form from the lower to the higher, no
confusion whatever takes place in development of the
polyzoary ; and in another specimen where there is no
disturbing influence the frond, or rather the polyzoary,
is beautifully developed, with that flat, expanded fan-
like character noticed by M'Coy in his description
of the species.
By the careful measurement of the exposed sections
of Fenestella by the compass, on fig. 42, I obtain a -
length of about fourteen inches, and this multiplied
by three, which is considerably less than the average,
gives a surface of about forty-two superficial inches —
an idea of Fenestella growth altogether different from
that generally entertained as to the capacity of the
genus.
Many of the earlier of Mr. Shrubsole's Welsh
Fenestella plebeia I was inclined to place under the
descriptive character of Phillips' sp. F. flabellicla ; but
as specimen after specimen began to show characters
altogether different from Phillips' diagnosis, I declined
to place any more with that species. After breaking
up my shale, I forwarded a small portion of it to
Mr. John Young, F.G.S., of the Hunterian Museum,
Glasgow, and he kindly identified the specimen as
a fragment of F. plebeia (M'Coy). He also stated
in his letter (July 7, 1878), that "It would be an
interesting point to prove, in a satisfactory manner,
that Fenestella and other kindred forms of fenestrated
polyzoa grew in a recumbent method over the car-
boniferous old sea bottoms. One would be inclined
to think, that from the small size of the roots com-
pared with the large size of the fronds in many of the
species, that the recumbent method was their natural
way of growth." So far as I am acquainted with the
subject there is no literature extant respecting this
idea, and I believe Mr. Young is equally ignorant of
any. The description and the figures of my slab will
be, I believe, sufficient to prove the habit of the species,
and any doubt respecting the true interpretations of
the facts can be satisfactorily corrected by a reference
to the fossils which I shall continue to keep in my
possession.
I shall now take Palaeocoryne in all its stages, and
endeavour to identify the whole as generative processes
of the fenestrate polyzoa.
Attercliffe, Sheffield.
( To be continued.)
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
55
ON THE MARKINGS AND OTHER
CHARACTERS OF BRITISH RAPTORES.
AN inquiry at p. 281 in Science-Gossip for De-
cember suggests that a few remarks grounded
on observation of several species of hawks may not
be unacceptable to young ornithologists. These
birds being now rare in most districts, opportunities
for inspecting recent specimens are not common.
The first description, referred to, seems to relate
to a kestrel ; the second — wanting an important item,
viz., size, may concern a sparrow-hawk — but is too
vague to support a reliable opinion.
Peregrines, hobbies, kestrels and merlins have
long and pointed wings, the first or second quill
being longer than others ; they have also " the falcon's
tooth," a process jutting downwards from either edge
of the upper mandible.
Sparrow-hawks, which Markham and the 7 M eligieuse
of St. Alban's would have included with the goshawk
as short-winged, have the fourth primary longer than
the fifth, which exceeds the third, giving together
rounder outline of wing and more lapwing or partridge-
like flight. Sparrow-hawks, and the long-winged
harriers, have a waved side edge to the upper mandible,
the convexity being downwards and placed nearer the
base than is the tooth of the Falconidre, that forms
their substitute for it.
Most hawks have increasing tendency to exchange
dark shades for lighter tints, and the males of several
species to assume a distinctly grey colour instead.
Not only do individuals of the same species differ from
Others of like age, but do so themselves at different
ages, and much confusion has thus been caused.
The female kestrel, and, if I remember, the young
of both sexes, at first, exhibit a warm foxy brown of
back, head and tail, the first part being freely sprinkled
with black triangles. A long tail projecting more
than an inch beyond the folded wings is barred all
down ; the halves of such dark traverses are not,
however, exactly continuous with their fellows on the
opposite web. The ground colour, in front, varies
from a dirty white or yellowish grey to a rufous tinge ;
the breast markings on this are narrow, vertical,
light reddish-brown splashes or streakings ; below,
these sometimes run together and expand, after the
semblance of knotted cords, like the markings on the
blue butterfly's scale.
The kestrel's head is elongated and flattened on the
vertex ; the beak is blue with black tip ; the base
being wide with yellow cere across it ; behind this
are many bristles. The eyes are large, dark and soft,
with yellow edges to the lids. The slightly larger
female after moulting retains her peculiarities, but
the male gradually acquires a pretty lavender of head
and pole finely streaked with vertical black lines ; the
back is then a richer cinnamon and with fewer black
patches ; the tail grey, with often only one bar ;
broad, terminal, and edged below with white. If,
however, the tail feathers be spread, remains of barr-
ing may, perhaps, be found distributed irregularly and
chiefly, or entirely on the inner webs — one single spot
in several may be seen. A very fine female, in the
writer's possession, has the ground colour of the tail
approaching a faded grey, the marks much paler than
usual, and the back cinnamon almost as brilliant as
that usually seen in males. Well-padded, strong,
feet are shorter proportionately than those of other
falcons, the sparrow-hawk or harriers ; and so are
the tarsi, except those of the peregrine.; the talons
are straighter and shorter than in the species just
mentioned ; weight, male about 65 ounces, length
13-15 inches, spread 27 inches. The much heavier
female sparrow-hawk is, at least, an inch longer from
beak to tail, but little wider of wing.
Young peregrines show a warmish but less red
brown, and their breast markings, at this age, are
mostly vertical and of the same hue ; subsequently
these are replaced by much darker, horizontal, chevron-
like, traverses on breast, abdomen, and on under
wing coverts — but quite the upper streakings pass
into flask or tear-shaped spots, both becoming fewer
and lighter with advancing age, until the breast shows
nearly snow-white, a prong of which partly encircles
the throat, gorget fashion — above the ends is a
dark patch streaming back from either angle of the
mouth ; this peculiarity is more or less observable in
other falcons. The mature, but still young, peregrine
has the head, back and short tail of deep slate colour,
closely blotched with bluish black, which at a short
distance masks the general colour ; both become
lighter. The closed wings reach almost to the end
of the tail, which is so folded that a sort of channel
down it appears anteriorly. A fine female weighed
2 lb. 9 oz., measured 19 in., and spread 42 in. The
flesh was hard and very red, the heart large and
thick, the ligaments, aponeuroses, and tendons were
tough ; the feet very long, tarsi short and strong ; the
back toe and claw terrible. This bird was shot
stooping at pigeons near a harbour mill ; White's
description and Morris's illustration tally closely
with it. The only supposed Iceland falcon I recollect
to have seen was higher, with longer neck, legs and
tail, the latter extending much beyond the wings ;
the beak was carried further out and pinched in at
the setting on, whereas that of the peregrine, expands
widely there. The feet of the hobby and merlin
have the relative length of a peregrine, but not the
stoutness. The hobby's wings reach quite to the
extremity of the tail ; the facial patch is well marked ;
the breast streakings are bolder, broader, and darker
than those of the kestrel or merlin ; the tail of the
latter is long, passing an inch or an inch and a half
beyond the wings, and is barred freely with light-
coloured traverses, they and the interspaces being
nearly of equal width. The female is larger than the
male ; the brown colour is lighter than that of the
sparrow-hawk, but less red than the kestrel ; the
56
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
male, like that of the hobby and sparrow-hawk,
becomes dark grey above and behind, with reddish
sides of neck and breast. The merlin may be known
in the air by exceedingly rapid, unswerving, pigeon-
like, headlong flight, and by small size, and, when
seen more closely by the falcon tooth, warm but not
red brown and long tail, with numerous orange-
brown traverses. There is greater difference of size
between the sexes of sparrow-hawks than is the case
with kestrels or merlins.
The sparrow-hawk's shanks are long, and the toes
also ; the former being, in the female, 2| inches long,
the middle toe if, the back one fth, and far stouter
it is wanting in the falcon tooth, and somewhat in
strength of foot and leg. The young marsh harrier,
or moor buzzard of Bewick, who gives an excellent
representation of it, is of a deep brown, the colour
of a dark brown red game pullet, but with some
feathers laced at the edges by a lighter shade. The
head alone differs in colour, and with a dirty yellowish-
white cap. The beak is carried out and long, the
feet strong, and the general aspect ferocious. The
hen harrier has a slyer and more perky, softer look,
with a distinct owl-like facial fringe or whisker ; tall,
long-legged, and upstanding, it has a long tail reach-
ing far below the closed wings ; the plumage is rusty
Fig. S3.— The Kite (Milvus rcgalis).
.than the others. The long tail has a few dark bars
carried straight across both webs, or meeting with a
slight angle that looks upwards. The breast mark-
ing, and those of the abdomen and under wing
coverts, are very similar to the peregrine's chevron,
but lighter in colour. As the male gradually becomes
greyish, with a reddish breast, the female adopts a
softer brown and paler traverses ; she has always a
sufficient scowl, very different from the haughty
aspect of the peregrine, hobby or merlin, or the
wistful pensive look of the kestrel. Of three harriers
one approaches the buzzard in appearance ; another,
owls ; the third, in some respects perhaps, more nearly
the kestrel, that is in lightness and length of wing, but
Fig. 54. — Sparrow-Hawk (Accipiter
fri>i g ilia riits) .
and mealy, reddish or darkish brown,
broken or streaked ; the breast has vertical
splashings ; tail traverses, and interspaces
are pretty equal, and perhaps mingled with
white ; a show of this on the tail coverts
has procured the name of ringtail, assigned
by Bishop Stanley to the goshawk. The
vertex is round, and the head wanting in the length
and breadth and over-hanging brows of the peregrine
or kestrel. The spread of harriers is very consider-
able ; I regret to have mislaid my own measurements.
Colonel Montague's harrier, presumably the blue-
hawk, with which the observant old naturalist of Sel-
borne was acquainted (for he separately describes the
peregrine sometimes thus styled), is an altogether
lighter and more elegant bird ; long with weaker feet
and beak than those just spoken of j two Montague's
harriers in the writer's collection differ much in
colour ; one has a decidedly rufous breast and dark
plumage, richer and warmer than that of the female
sparrow-hawk, and having here and there bright
orange lacing to feathers ; the other is larger and
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
57
paler with dirty white breast and sparsely covered
with long and wide tongue-shaped light red splashes,
base upwards ; this bird had, when spread, a very
mottled appearance of wings underneath, caused by
external marking showing through and barring the
silver grey beneath.
The talons of harriers or sparrow-hawks, who are
rather snatchers and pouncers, than swoopers and
strikers, are proportionately longer, sharper, and more
curved than those of most genera, but not so stout.
The beaks of harriers, like those of buzzards, do not
at once bend downwards, gradually forming a curve,
but at first project outwards. They are narrower at
was represented in the wholesale massacre at Glen-
garry which Colonel Knox records — and may yet be
found in Scotland and Ireland as well as in France
and Germany. I have never met with it.
The three species of buzzards, also of large size and
far less active than falcons, are occasionally seen ; the
honey-buzzard in dense woods. Two specimens of
the rough-legged buzzard have come under my notice
in three years, one at Arundel, and the other twenty
miles west in the extreme south-west angle of Sussex.
Feathered tarsi mark the species ; one was much
greyer on the back, and altogether lighter-coloured
as well as smaller than the other, killed in October,
'/ /a *
Fig- 55- — Pair of Kestrels (Falco Hnnunculus).
the setting on than those of true falcons, but make
up for this by greater depth — bristles and feathers at
the base somewhat hide this part, but a side view
reveals the true proportions. The harriers I have
seen were chiefly obtained from uninhabited marshes
of the shore line. The males of two species, at least,
turn to a bluish grey, with much white underneath
and in front. I have seen one such example, and
heard of two ; but in England this condition is now
very rare. The goshawk formerly used for hawking
in wooded places is still, it is said, much employed
in India and China, &c. This large bird appears to
have breast traverses, with dark brown back, &c. It
^PC%
Fig. 56. — The Buzzard (Butco vulgaris).
1876. The latter measured twenty-four inches,
was dark brown upon a lighter shade, giving
large dark splashings on back and wings ; tail
whole brown, except at the sides towards the
base ; wings length of tail ; head and neck
showed lighter vertical streakings, and the breast
more ; dark upon a light reddish dove ground ;
much vulture-hocked, with light brown feathers
having fine dark streaks, legs closely feathered, with
the same pattern ; beak and claws large, dark brown
feet.
The common buzzard, it is stated, is rarer than
the others. The Rev. H. D. Gordon, of Harting,
has recently published a most interesting history of
that neighbourhood, associated with many historical
events, and Mr. Weaver, a resident gentleman, has
added a very complete flora and fauna of a wild and
beautiful district. This informs us that the common
58
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
buzzard is more often seen there than other species.
Several specimens killed at that spot, within a score
or two of years, are powerful, ragged, savage-looking
birds, with broken, grey and white plumage, and
tails considerably longer than the wings ; no two
"were alike. The long forked-tailed kite has dis-
appeared from the South of England, to the great
satisfaction of all concerned in rearing young poultry,
game, or pigs ; these never being safe when once
discovered by that audacious thief.
M. O. H.
ON MOUNTING AND PRESERVING THE
LARV.E OF BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS.
WILL you allow me to describe my method of
mounting and preserving the forms of the
various moth and butterfly larvre ? What I have to
say may perhaps be a help to some ; or induce others
who know a better plan to communicate it in return.
For the last three or four years I have been
working out my own in my leisure hours ; and, con-
sidering that I have been totally unaided, I think I
may say that I have been tolerably successful. After
seeing Lord Walsingham's fine collection of mounted
larvse at the Entomological Show held in the Royal
Aquarium last March, I made up my mind to write to
Science-Gossip on the subject. For I have long
felt that our collections would be greatly increased
in value and attractiveness by the addition of a nicely-
mounted larva to each specimen of the perfect insect.
The apparatus required is very simple, consisting only
of a glass retort holding about about a quart, a foot
length of india-rubber tubing about the size used for
babies' bottles, a small piece of glass piping, and some
dry straws of different sizes. Into one end of the
india-rubber tubing fit a portion of glass pipe so as to
make a mouthpiece : this we will call our blow-pipe.
Then secure a well-grown caterpillar ; which must be
at least a week off the stage of becoming a pupa, for
when that change is about to take place an amount of
white fatty matter adheres to the skin, which it is
almost impossible to get rid of, and which, if left
there, spoils the preparation. Place this larva in a
box and some chloroform or benzole with it ; but
take care neither of them touch it ; having first
covered the inside of the box with blotting-paper all
round to absorb any of the dark green matter which
often exudes from the mouth of larva; when irritated
or alarmed. When the grub is quite dead and slightly
relaxed, take it out of the box and place it upon a
sheet of blotting-paper, and gently pass a roller, made
of a common pencil covered with blotting-paper,
down from the head to the tail. By this means the
entire contents of the creature may be expelled per
anum without any damage to the skin. Next select
a straw about the size of the opening through which
the contents were discharged, and pass it into the
body a short distance, and there fix it. This may be
done by passing two small pins at right angles to
each other through the extremity of the tail of the
larva and the inserted straw, and then adding a little
gum or glue round the skin of the caterpillar where
it touches the straw on the outside which will make
the whole air-tight. Now that you have your cater-
pillar fairly fastened on one end of the straw, pass
the other end into the india-rubber extremity of your
blow-pipe, and fix it there by a slight ligature. Put-
ting the glass end to your mouth, blow gently into it,
and you will inflate your larva, which will at once
assume its natural shape, provided only it is not dis-
tended too much. Then light your Bunsen burner,
and having moderately heated the retort, hold the
larva thus inflated in the hot air of the retort till it is
perfectly dry. Especial care must be taken that it is
neither over-heated nor imperfectly dried, or before
long the skin will become wrinkled or pitted. Now
clip your pins off close to the straw and cut away the
straw at the end of the caterpillar's tail : and your
work is done. And if you have gone through all
these stages carefully, it will be done very satisfactorily
too, for the larva will be found to have lost little or
no colour and to be in a very natural position. There
is no need to trouble oneself at all on this last point,
for each will assume that which is most natural in its
own state of rest. The greatest difficulty I have
experienced has been the preservation of the colour
in the case of the light green ones, and I believe it to
be impossible without the aid of some colouring
matter or dye. For their colour is not in the skin, as
appears from the fact that, as soon as they cleared
out by our roller, the skin is no longer green but of a
whitish hue. It had always been a great object with
me to preserve their colour, and I looked upon its
reproduction by means of paints as an illegitimate
process, but I have been at last compelled to think it
indispensable.
In the case of hairy sorts the utmost care is required
to avoid destroying the hairs. But provided the
grub is not too near casting its skin you may
generally manage this by proper precaution.
I now think I have stated all that is necessary to.
the perfect carrying-out of my process.
I may, however, mention in conclusion one other
way of securing the colours of the light green speci-
mens ; and that is by filling the emptied skins with
strong alcohol coloured by dyes. The alcohol hardens
the skin and colours it from the inside, which is more
natural than if the colour were laid on externally.
William Brewster.
Natural History Clubs. — If any of your readers
should have experience in connection with village
Natural History clubs, or Botanical clubs, they would
confer a benefit upon certain persons desirous to form
such a club if they would kindly send a brief state-
ment of the most advisable method of conducting
them to W. L. B., The Rectory, Pulborough, Sussex^
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
59
THE POLECAT (Mustek putorius).
ONE morning during the past summer, I was
taking a stroll before breakfast, when, going
down a "shady lane," I was amused by one of our
sturdy villagers shouting out as loud as his famous
lungs would permit him. " A fitchett," " a fitchett,"
" a fitchett just gone down the marsh." Thought I,
what can the man mean ? Acting upon the thought, I
stopped him to inquire, when. I was roughly answered,
"A fitchett dunno' ye know ; well, then, I canna' tell
ye." Of course, all this was excused, for my friend
was quite wild with excitement. Scarcely knowing
for the moment what to do, I did what I conceived
to be the best, joined in the eager pursuit, along with
a score of lads and men, as fast as our legs could
carry us. At length panting, and out of breath, I
jumped with the rest over a five-barred gate, and
entered a meadow to find my fellow villagers pursuing
V7 s*&
Fig. 57. — Polecat (Muste'.a putorius).
a dark looking animal along a thick edge. Before
proceeding further in my description of this Cheshire
hunt (you know we are noted for hunting in the
cheese-making country), permit me to add by way of
excusing my conduct, in joining in the chase, that I
was really anxious to know what a fitchett was. It
might be a large animal, just escaped from a strolling
menagerie, so it was important that the village should
be speedily free from its presence.
However, I at length caught a glimpse of this
intruder on the peace of our quiet village. It was a
long and elegantly shaped animal, of a rich black
colour along the back. The chase continued with
considerable excitement for almost half an hour. The
animal had the advantage over its opponents, by being
sheltered with the thick hedge bottom— it dodged
first to one side, then to the other, until it was
evidently weary ; then making a spring for liberty
and life, it was most humiliatingly held fast with a
large shovel tightly laid over its loins. The next
question was, should it be at once killed or preserved
alive ? The majority voted for a kind treatment, so a
boy was despatched to the nearest farmhouse for a bag,
in which to carry it safely. To make a long story
short, we soon had our captive in a large barrel,
where it was kept for a few weeks, until it was pur-
chased by an exhibitor.
I learned what I wished to know when I ' leg or
nothing ' joined heartily in the hunt. The fitchett was
a polecat, an animal not at all common in this county,
and I gained my knowledge, not by hearsay evidence,
but by my olfactory nerves, for no sooner was the
captive held tightly under the labourer's spade than
we were regaled by a most horrible stench. Talk
about bone-works in active operation, it is a pleasant
perfume when compared to the polecat ! Another
point was learned. The habits of this animal in
captivity were so similar to the ferret that I
have now no doubts the latter animal is a
domesticated polecat. Of course, by con-
tinued breeding in-and-in, to use a live-stock
phrase, it is now weakened, as well as puny,
compared with its original parents from the
"wild wood."
I account for the common or local name
"fitchett" from the fact that the long shining
hairs are used to manufacture the brushes
used by artists,^ under the name of fitch, or
fitchet ; we thus perceive the name is not far-
fetched. The colour of the polecat is a
deep blackish-brown ; the head, tail, and
feet almost black ; the under parts yellowish,
the ears are edged with white, with a whitish
space round the muzzle. The hair is of two
kinds, — a short woolly fur which is pale
yellow, or somewhat tawny, and long shining
hairs of a rich black, or a brownish-black
colour, which are most numerous on the
darkest parts.
For the unpleasant odour exuded from the animal,
we find a pouch, or follicle just under the tail, which
emits a yellowish, cream-like substance, of a very fetid
odour ; this is particularly strong when the polecat is
excited or irritated. It is an active little animal,
scarcely ever idle, and never still, except when it is
asleep, and it is one of the best friends a farmer can
have about his premises, if he can keep it away from
the hen-roost, for it is very partial to poultry, and
commits great destruction if the game is plentiful.
It destroys the latter solely for the brains and blood,
for the birds are never torn or mangled. It is how-
ever, indefatigable in its pursuit of rats, and its
presence in the rickyard is quite sufficient to drive
away all the vermin.
Another local name for the polecat is te foumart"
by many supposed to be a corruption of foul marten,
in allusion to the odour it leaves behind. From its
6o
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
long, agile body and bushy tail, it bears a close re-
semblance to the weasel and stoat ; thus it is some-
times referred to the same genus.
It also has the same pugnacious disposition as the
weasel, for we have a record from Delamere Forest
of a fierce encounter betwixt a female and a game-
keeper. It appears the man had taken its young to
destroy them, when the mother came too quickly on
the scene, and attacked the keeper. The fight con-
tinued nearly an hour : the polecat came off victorious,
for it escaped with its young, but the man was led
home blinded, and with his features lacerated in a
dreadful manner. Our hunt ended
far more happily, for we secured
the poor " fitchettj\ which has
furnished us with the text of the
present narrative.
R.
process of fertilisation ; but it was difficult to see
how this could be so, and moreover the great di-
versity of form in the irregularities seemed to nega-
tive such a supposition. On a closer examination,
however, and on sketching the stamens, I am inclined
to think that this is a case of abortion accompanied
by an extra formation in consequence of such abor-
tion ; that is to say, that the anther being in many
cases absent or imperfect, the energy of the stamen,
diverted from its usual object, has spent itself instead
in this unusual manner. To this conclusion I have
been led by observing that the extent of the malfor-
ON THE STAMENS OF
SPARMANNIA AFRICANA.
O PARMA NNIA AFRI-
w_) CANA belongs to the
Tiliaceae, or Lime-tree order, this
genus being a native of Southern
Africa. It grows there as a small
shrub, one foot or eighteen inches
high, with coarsely serrate, downy,
heart-shaped leaves, and umbels
of handsome white blossoms.
Each flower consists of an inferior
polysepalous calyx of four white
silky sepals, a hypogynous poly-
petalous corolla of four . white
petals, numerous hypogynous red
and yellow stamens, forming a
globular bunch, in the midst of
which is the style, rising from a
superior many-celled pistil. The
carpels are studded with tuber-
culated hairs, very much like the
glandular hairs of the stinging
nettle, but without the curved tip.
The pedicels exhibit a peculiarity
which I do not remember to have
seen elsewhere. About one-third of an inch from
each flower there is a joint, not very conspicuous,
but still easily seen, where the flower-stalk gives
way on being pulled.
But the stamens form the most interesting part of
the plant. I have figured a few in order to convey
a better idea of their structure, by which it will be
seen that their filaments are more or less enlarged by
growths which sometimes take very fantastic shapes.
Puzzled at first to know what could be the use of
these formations, I not unnaturally expected to find
that they were in some way connected with the
Fig- 58. — Flowers of S/ar»ianm'a Africana (natural size\
mations varies in the different stamens just in propor-
tion, roughly speaking, to the abortion of the anther ;.
and also that the outgrowths are largest at the end
of the stamen where the anther would have been,
and diminish in the other direction. That this is
the case will appear from the specimens figured,
which are fair examples of the rest. The antheriferous
stamens occupy by far the larger portion of the group,
being found in the centre around the style ; while the
abortive stamens are found towards the edge of the
group, forming a ring around the others. The latter
are comparatively short and are entirely yellow, while
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
61
the former are longer and bright red for the upper
two-thirds of their length ; the two kinds merging
gradually into one another. This position of the
abortive stamens is just that in which they would be
of least use to the pistil even if they had anthers,
A Novel Air-pump for removing Air Bubbles
in Slides. — A is a frame made of wood or metal ; B
is an india-rubber pipe ; C is a valve made^ by
closing one end of a piece of glass tube, and then
drilling a small hole as shown in D, then slipping
Fig. 59. — Stamens of Spartnannia Africana (magnified 15 diameters).
supposing the flower to be self-fertilising ; while it is
also here that the stamens would be most likely to
undergo metamorphosis into petals.
As one might expect a flower with so many stamens
to have a tendency to become double, it would be
interesting to know what would be the effect of
cultivation, and whether the malformation would
advance inwards as the outer stamens were converted
into petals. It may be that instead of becoming
petals, the outer stamens would produce still more
extraordinary forms.
I am indebted for the specimen I have figured to
J. W. Morris, Esq., of Bath.
New-Ki7igswood, Bath. John W. Buck.
MICROSCOPY.
Cavities in Quartz.— The observations made
upon the liquid-cavities in the quartz-bearing rocks
of the Lake District were made from thin slices of
the rocks prepared for me by Mr. Cuttell, under the
superintendence of Mr. Jordan, of the Museum,
Jermyn Street. Mr. Jordan has invented a special
form of machine for the purpose. I would refer readers
of Science-Gossip to my paper in the "Quarterly
Journal of the Geological Society," vol. xxxi. p. 568,
1875. — J. Clifton Ward.
over it a small piece of india-rubber tubing as showro
at C. The top of frame A should be made perfectly
true, and then coated with tallow and a piece of glass-
Fig. 60. — Air-pump for removing air-bubbles.
laid upon it. The air is exhausted with the mouth
at C. I find with this handy little instrument I
can get sufficient vacuum to remove any air bubbles
that might have formed in my slide. Mr. Atkins,
of 200 Essex Road, Islington, made my instrument,
and I think he is now making them for sale. —
A. Smith.
How tq remove Canada Balsam from Slides.
— I know that microscopists sometimes find it difficult
to remove Canada balsam from old slides, or un-
successfully mounted ones. I have always found the
following plan a very good one : Place the slides in
62
HARD WICKE ' S 5 CIENCE- G O SSIP.
Fig. 61. — The Hofmann Camera
Lucida.
an oven for two or three days, the Canada Balsam
will then easily chip off with a knife, then wash them
in soda water. — S. C. Hinchs.
New Forms of Camera Lucida. — In the
December number of the "Bulletin de la Societe
Beige de Microscopie," Dr. Henry van Heurck
describes a new form of camera lucida, invented by
D. T. Hofmann (29 Rue Bernard, Paris), the well-
known optician. This camera lucida not only shows
the pencil with great distinctness, but every detail of
the image. Every one who uses the camera lucida is
annoyed at the uncertainty that accompanies the
ordinary apparatus, particularly when it is necessary
to reproduce delicate details, as, for example, the
markings on diatoms. With this new instrument
these fatiguing adjustments are avoided, and we feel
■ sure that it will be cordially welcomed by the micro-
grapher. The construction of the Hofmann camera
lucida will be under-
stood by the sub-
joined diagram. It
will be seen that it
consists of c, a com-
bination of lenses.
The image is received
by a silvered glass,
a, and is reflected
upon the second
glass, b. « is a small aperture, through which not
only the image in the mirror can be seen, but also
the pencil and paper, d are two very slightly convex
lenses, which may be used together or separately;
they serve the same purpose as those on the ordi-
nary forms of camera lucida. The Hofmann camera
lucida is really a "camera lucida ocular," the in-
ventor intending it to replace the ordinary ocular. —
F. Kitton.
Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society.
— Some twelve months since the Society was informed
by the publishers of the "Monthly Microscopical
Journal" that in consequence of that work not being
, a pecuniary success, the arrangement existing between
them must terminate. The Society thereupon de-
termined to follow the example of other societies and
publish their own Transactions. In accordance with
this resolution, the first part made its appearance in
March, 1878, a part being published every alternate
month. We have now before us the first volume and
part i. of the second. Volume i. contains 402 pp.
of letter-press, 1 7 plates and many woodcuts. The
names of the contributors of original papers guarantee
their value.
The following gentlemen have already sent papers :
H. Sorby, F.R.S., &c. (Presidential Address) ; Carl
Zeiss, Jena; Adolph Schulze, Glasgow ; J. W. Stephen-
son, F.R.A.S. ; G. G. Stokes, M.A., D.C.L. Oxon.,
LL.D. Dublin, &c. ; Professor R. Keith ; F. H.
Ward, M.R.C.S. ; F. H. Wenham, F.R.M.S. ; F.
Crisp, LL.B., B.A. &c. ; Professor Owen, F.R.S-
&c. ; Dr. R. Pigott, M.A., F.R.S. &c. ; H. J. Slack,
F.G.S. ; Dr. H. D. Schmidt, New Orleans, La.;
M. P. Petit, Paris ; Rev. W. H. Dallinger.
Amongst the important original articles we would
especially direct attention to the following, ' ' On the
Measurement of the Flagella of Bacterium, a Con-
tribution to the Question of the Ultimate Limit of
Vision," by the Rev. W. H. Dallinger (2 plates). It
has been asserted that any object whose dimensions
were less than a half- wave length of white light, was
incapable of being seen, however much our objectives
were improved in their revolution or definition. In
fact, that light was too coarse a medium for objects
less than m hi mcn m breadth, that being the length
of half a wave of white light ; supposing the blue
rays were used, the dimensions might be reduced to
about the m ' 6 Q inch without becoming invisible.
The Rev. W. H. Dallinger, with the careful manipu-
lation for which he is so justly celebrated, has not only
been able to see the flagella on Bacterium termo, but
has succeeded in accurately measuring their diameters,
and he finds that the mean of two hundred measure-
ments is nearly jj-^ro inch, being much less than
a quarter -wave length of white light. Mr. Slack,
F.G.S. , the present president, communicates some
interesting observations " On the visibility and optical
aspects of Hairs viewed from a distance." He
finds that a hair j§^ inch in diameter when stretched
on a pane of plate glass and viewed against a white
sky, was seen by several persons at a distance of thirty-
four feet, and under special conditions at a much greater
distance. In the February number Dr. Royston
Pigott, M.A., F.R.S. &c, has a learned and valuable
paper on a similar subject, viz., " The Limits of
Microscopic Vision." In this paper he very much
increases the limits of visibility, but we must refer our
readers to the paper itself, our space only permitting
this brief notice of it. Professor Owen in his article on
the microscopic structure of the fossils called "grani-
cones" (2 plates), shows with great probability that these
bodies are the dermal scutes of some Lacertian reptile
resembling the recent Moloch horridus of Australia.
Associated with these remains are the bones of mar-
supials. The "granicones" occur in the "Feather-
bed " stratum, Middle Purbeck, Dorsetshire. Those
interested in the study of the Diatomacea; will read
with pleasure M. P. Petit's description of new diatoms
from New Zealand and Campbell Island (translated
by permission of the author, with notes by F. Kitton).
It is illustrated with two plates of figures. The notes
and memoranda form an important part of each number.
They are selected (and where necessary translated)
from the current literature, English and foreign ; the
ordinary microscopist is therefore kept "posted up"
in the most recent labour of foreign observers. In
the bibliographical division we have first a list of
microscopical works recently published (English and
foreign) ; second, an index to the contents of the various
HARD WJCKE ' S S CIENCE- G SSI P.
63
scientific serials, English, French, German, and Ameri-
can, in so far as they relate to microscopical matters ;
as this division occupies eight closely-printed pages,
our readers well understand that it contains no ordinary
amount of information. The editorship has been
undertaken (as an honorary office) by one of the
secretaries, Frank Crisp, LL.B., B.A. &c.
ZOOLOGY.
The Weather and the Birds.— Under the
above heading, a paragraph appeared in Science-
Gossip for February (p. 40), in which it is stated that
a golden eagle was shot at Fritton, and another seen
at the same time which escaped. The bird in question
was wounded and taken alive, and is now in the
Yarmouth aquarium, where I saw it a short time since.
It certainly is not a golden, but an immature white-
tailed eagle. Individuals in the same stage of plumage
occur along the east coast almost every autumn or
early winter, and are as invariably recorded as golden
eagles. The only authentic instance of the occurrence
of the latter species is that recorded by Mr. Stevenson
in the "Zoologist" for 1869, but the white-tailed
eagle, as before stated, although in the mature
plumage excessively rare, is in the immature dress by
no means a rarity. In order to distinguish between
the two species in any stage of plumage, it is only
necessary to remember that the tarsi in the golden
eagle are feathered to the toes, and the first joint
only of each toe is covered with broad scales, whereas
in the white-tailed eagle the whole length of each
toe is covered with broad scales and the tarsi are bare.
— T. Southwell, Norivich.
Killing and Preserving Reptiles.— In reply
to Mr. Alfred Wheldon's inquiry, I beg to say that
the best way to kill a small reptilian or batrachian is
to put the animal into a phial which is of just suffi-
cient size, together with a piece of folded blotting-
paper, saturated with chloroform, and then place the
bottle for a few minutes out of the sight of ladies
and children. Death will speedily result from
asphyxia. The specimen should then be preserved
in methylated spirit, which may be diluted to the
extent of, say, 25 per cent, with water. The addition
of the water will very likely make the liquid thick
with air-bubbles, but these will disappear in a few
hours. The most convenient and inexpensive bottles
are "boxwood-topped kali bottles," or, for rather
larger specimens, "one pound wide-mouthed stoppered
rounds." Both may be obtained of Messrs. S. Maw,
Son, & Thompson, 10, II, and 12 Aldersgate Street,
E.C., or through any obliging chemist. It is not
usually necessary to secure the specimen with a
thread. Lizards and newts should be preserved head
downwards. — R. Morton Middkton, Jim.
The Nightingale in Yorkshire, — As Mr.
Ingleby has indicated the nidification of the nightin-
gale, Philomela Luscinia having taken place in
Yorkshire, the following facts may prove interesting
both to him and other readers of Science-Gossip.
In the summer of 1877, a pair of nightingales built
their nest in the shrubbery of a gentleman residing
near Beverley. Of course the occurrence attracted
considerable attention, and it was freely discussed in
the local papers. I am glad to say, however, that,
notwithstanding the general publicity thus given to
this remarkable fact, the young were hatched and
reared without any further disturbance than that
occasioned by the pardonable curiosity of onlookers.
In this they seem to have been more fortunate than
the pair described by Mr. Ingleby. I may add that
no further instance of this kind has occurred since in
the neighbourhood, and indeed had not done so for
some time previously. — Major Lawson.
Glyciphagus plumiger. — When I announced,
the capture of this acarus in the July number, I had
only found one specimen ; subsequent search, how-
ever, enabled me to find many more of both sexes.
I scarcely thought this worth mentioning, but as
my silence may have misled Mr. Lambert, it is ■
perhaps as well to do so. For the purposes of obser-
vation, I endeavoured to breed them in confinement,
and have been fairly successful. I have several
thriving families at this moment. I may take this
opportunity of stating that although, when I first
announced the capture in England of the kindred
species, Glyciphagus palmifer, I doubted its being
truly indigenous, I believe now that it is, as I have
since found it where its introduction on any foreign
material would be highly improbable. — A. D. Michael.
Division of the Pteropoda. — At a recent
meeting of the San Francisco Microscopical Society,
Dr. G. Eisen stated that the class of Pteropoda had
hitherto been divided in two orders, viz., Thecosomata
and Gymnosomata, the animals belonging to the
former being covered by a hard shell, those of the
latter being perfectly naked. He thought a better
characteristic would be the presence or absence of a
silicate radula in the palate. The two genera ex-
hibited were very likely new, but seemingly related
to Tiedemannia and Pneumodermon. The wings of
the former genus were drawn more minutely, and
especially their anterior margin was seen in a highly
magnified scale. The author had here found some
new organs of sense, consisting of an agglomeration
of larger cells situated on a pear-shaped body of
minute granulated cells. In the middle of the larger
cells was to be seen a small opaque, pearl-shaped body
immediately connected with a nerve ganglion. Such
peculiar organs were distributed over only a small
surface of the hyaline wing. The masticatory organs
of this genus were situated in the stomach, and con-
sisted chiefly of four pyramidal chitinous teeth. The
same organ of Pneumodermon was seen to consist of
a radula full of silicate teeth. On both sides of this
6 4
HARD WICKE ' S S CIE NCE-GO SSI P.
radula, and also in fiont of the same, were large
round, or triangular bodies, covered with chitinous
teeth, between which the food apparently was ground
before entering between the teeth of the more delicate
xadula. The animals of both genera being her-
maphrodites, their male and female generative organs
were found to be connected in the same individual.
In both genera they seemed to resemble each other to
some extent, but, as could be seen by the drawings,
-those of Pneumodermon were the most complicated,
as having near to the exterior porus an additional
large prostate gland.
Birds in North Wales. — It may be interesting
to naturalists to know that several species of birds,
which I believe to be uncommon, have been shot up
the estuary of the river Mawddack, at Barmouth,
during the winter, viz., shoveller {A. clypeata) ; golden
eye (A. clanguld) ; red breasted merganser (Mergus
serrator), chough, &c. I should like to call the
attention of your readers to a rather striking incident
which came under my notice on Saturday, January II,
whilst walking past Aberamffra Harbour. Between
twenty to thirty wrens {Troglodytes Europeans) flew
from the rigging of the "Mary Jones" (a small
schooner) to the branch of an oak-tree close by. There
they remained for some time, until the approach of
evening compelled them to seek shelter elsewhere.
Will any of your readers kindly tell whether this
is a common occurrence or not ? — Joseph J. Cotton,
Barmouth.
BOTANY.
The Cultivation of Mistletoe.— As an old
and successful grower of mistletoe, I would inform
Mr. Bonar that its seeds vary, commonly contain
two, and sometimes three embryos. It would have
been found, long ago, that nothing is easier than to
cultivate this plant, had not two erroneous statements
been circulated in books, viz. : (i) that the berry, not
the seed must be rubbed on the branch destined for
its growth ; and (2) that a tioteh is to be made in the
bark to receive it. Take the seed out of the berry,
and smear it on a smooth part of the bark, and it will
adhere and grow. Where the radicle comes into
contact with the bark, the latter swells. No further
change occurs till the next year, when the tiny plants
rise on end, open their cotyledons, and emit a minute
shoot. They grow the length of one internode,
annually ; so that the age of a bough of mistletoe is
readily known. — Martin M. Bull, Jersey.
Symphytum tuberosum, near Edinburgh. —
May I venture to point out a mistake into which
Mr. King has fallen, when he says with regard to
*S'. tuberosum, "a somewhat local plant in the neigh-
bourhood of Edinburgh," a larger acquaintance with
our flora will convince him that, instead of being
"local," it is exceedingly common in the neighbour-
hood. It is very abundant on both banks of the
Braid Burn, and also on the banks of the Water of
Leith through many miles of its course. On the
other hand, S. officinale is certainly "beal" in this
part of Scotland, its place being filled up by S.
tuberosum. I have not had so much field work in the
south, as in the north, but, while in England I have
been struck by the absence of what with us is a
" common plant." For one station for " officinale " I
can give twenty for " tuberosum." — A. Craig- Christie.
Plurality of Petals in the Genus Ranun-
culus.— I have repeatedly found, not only Ranun-
culus Ficaria, as Mr. J. A. Weldon mentions it in the
last number of Science-Gossip, but also R. bulbosus
and acris with more petals than they should have,
owing to a certain number of stamens having turned
into that state. Several times have I looked in
meadows, where R. bulbosus and acris grow abun-
dantly, and found specimens with from five, six, seven
and so on, up to twenty. This is generally the case
when the ground is of good quality. I have also met
R. Jlatnmula reptans and sccleratus with more than
their usual number of petals, six or seven for instance.
Once I met a specimen of R. confusus with six petals.
— T. Temper e, Manchester.
GEOLOGY.
Fossil Reptiles related to Mammals. — There
has lately been disclosed a large series of remains of
American reptiles which appear to have been ex-
tremely abundant during the Permian age over the
whole continent. This was one of the most remark-
able faunas known in the history of the earth —
distinct from what went before and what followed it.
The structure of all the species is very complicated,
but all agree in certain characters. The scapular
arch, by the presence of an epicoracoid and certain
other bones, forms a circle like the pelvis ; and this
gives significance to the name Pelicosauria, which
Professor Cope proposed to give to the group. The
specialised shape of the tarsus, the perforated ver-
tebrae surmounted by tall knotted spines, and various
other anatomical features have been dwelt upon at
length by him. A series of skeletons of very similar
structure have been discovered in the Permian beds
of South Africa ; but they differ from all American
examples in their long sacrums, and in not having
the vertebrae perforated. Owen had called these
fossils therodonts, intending that the name should
cover the American permian reptiles as well : but
this Professor Cope considers impossible, since the
American fossils are of a type distinct from the
African. The two types together form an order of
very high rank in the classification of vertebrates,
which presents the nearest approach of any group of
reptiles to the mammalia. Hence Professor Cope
has designated, them theromorphous. The presence
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
65
of the epicoracoid bone, the as innominatutn and the
form of the tarsus and humerus, all show the remark-
able affinity of these reptiles to the Monotremata, and
convinced Professor Cope that they ought to be con- 1
sidered the ancestors of the mammals. Yet there is
no question but that they should be classed on the
reptilian side of the dividing line.
Preserving Bones. — In answer to your corres-
pondent, " W. G.," I beg to state that a very simple
method of preserving post-tertiary bones, is to paint
them with thin gum, which should be as clear and
colourless as possible. This is an easy and inexpensive,
and, as I know from experience, an effectual way of
preserving them. It makes them very strong, and
enables them to bear any reasonable amount of
handling. The gum must be thin, or it will give the
bones a shiny, varnished appearance. All fossils
which are liable to crumble and fall to pieces, maybe
preserved in the same way. — J. W. Carr, Cambridge.
New Carnivorous Reptiles. — Professor Owen
has just identified the remains of a new and gigantic
kind of carnivorous reptile among the collection of
South African fossils collected by Mr. T. Bain. The
name of Titanosanriis ferox has been given to this
creature, which Professor Owen regards as of a more
carnassial type than any existing carnivorous mammal.
The Geology of Arran. — At a meeting of the
Glasgow Geological Society on January 16, James
Thomson, F.G.S., read a paper on the " Geology of the
North End of Arran." He first gave a description of
the brecciated conglomerate of the Carriegills shore,
and round Brodick Bay, extending eastwards to the
shore below Masldon, pointing out that the views ad-
vanced by Sedgwick, Murchison, Ramsay, and Bryce,
could, as regards these rocks, no longer be adhered to.
He showed that the basement rocks of the carboniferous
system rested upon the underlying breccias, and
referred to sections exposed in Glencoly, Glensharg,
and Cnocken Burn, &c, where the order of succession
of these beds may be studied, and stated that beds of
the same stratigraphical position could be examined in
the following localities, viz. : Askoig, Bute ; Millport,
Cumbrae ; the valley of the Griom ; the Garple and
Greenock waters, Muirkirk, Ayrshire ; Logan Water,
Lesmahagow ; Lanarkshire ; and Todholes, near Stir-
ling, Stirlingshire. He then described the stratified
rocks of the shore eastwards to Corrie, and referred to
the limestone of that locality being charged with
Productus giganteus and found with the ventral
valve downwards, the reverse being the case in other
localities for this fossil shell.
Mr. Thomson then reviewed the old red sandstone
beds from Corrie to the Fallen Rocks, and described
the nature of the fragments of rocks found in the
breccias, near Corrie, which all were agreed was of un-
doubted upper old red sandstone age, and referred to the
similarity of these beds to those found on the Corriegills
shore. He referred to the desirability of further in-
vestigation of the Fallen Rocks before a satisfactory
explanation of that extraordinary mass could be given.
About fifty yards to the north of the Fallen Rocks
he had some years ago discovered remains of fossil
fish in great abundance in volcanic ash beds, and there
also, in company with Sir Charles Lyell, discovered
a tooth of Cladodus. The coast line was [next traced
to the section where Mr. E. A. Wimsch, F.G.S.,
made his discovery of fossil trees in the volcanic ash
beds, and described in the Society's " Transactions."
Proceeding northwards, a great fault is seen, produced
by a broad igneous dyke, which can be traced up the
hillside to the chasms seen in the breccias, on the top of
the hill above the Cock of Arran. Mr. Thomson then
referred to the physical features, and the fossil remains
of the limestone found on the north-east shore, lists of
which he had prepared to accompany his communica-
tion. Mr. Thomson then dwelt on the correlation
of these marine deposits with the rocks of the same
stratigraphical position throughout the central valley
of Scotland. He also referred to the breccias at the
Cock of Arran, and stated that they resembled those
he had examined at St. Bees Head, Northumberland,
and at Ballochmyle, on the banks of the Water of
Ayr. Mr. Thomson then described his hunt through-
out the range of rocks in the hills above the shore for
fossil evidence of their age ; and in these breccias he
was at last rewarded by the discovery of no less than
twenty-seven species of characteristic carboniferous
fossils, a list of which he had prepared to accompany
his paper. He was thus able definitely to confirm
the conclusions of Sedgwick, Murchison, and Ramsay,
as to the age of these rocks, at least to the extent
that they are posterior to the carboniferous age ; and
at the same time to show clearly that the classification
of these rocks adopted by Professor Geikie in his last
published "Geological Map of Scotland" was er-
roneous, while the same may be said as to that of
Professor von Lasaula in his work upon his studies
and sketches of the Geology of Ireland and Scotland
lately published.
NOTES AND QUERIES.
Fermentation. — Professor F. R. Eaton Lowe, in
an article entitled "A Glass of Wine" in " Science
for All," says, the operations connected with wine-
making differ from those connected with beer-making
in so far as it is necessary for the beer-maker to in-
troduce a ferment into his wort, while the wine-maker
has not to do this, because the grapes "contain suf-
ficient nitrogenous matter in the shape of gluten,
which speedily undergoes decomposition, and com-
municates its state of change to the associated sugar."
It is certainly unnecessary for the wine-maker to
introduce a ferment; but does fermentation take
place in the way Professor Lowe says ? I am under
the impression that the wine-maker introduces his
ferment unconsciously, just as sure as the beer-maker
introduces his consciously. How does the Professor
account for the presence in the liquid of the living
66
HARD WICKE ' £ S CLE NCE-GO SSI P.
plant concerned in alcoholic fermentation ? I thought
M. Pasteur proved that the pure juice of the grape
has no power to ferment of itself ; and when he saw
this he set to look for the cause of the fermentation,
and found it in the small microscopic particles which
stick to the outside of the berries, and even on the
twigs of the vine. I shall feel greatly obliged to any
of the readers of Science-Gossip who can tell me
whether Professor Lowe or M. Pasteur is correct. —
D. M. D.
Anemones in Aquaria. — Some of your readers
may be interested in the following facts. I have
a small bell glass aquarium which as a marine
aquarium has been very successful, there having been
no deaths for upwards of two years, and the anemones
throughout have maintained a high standard of
vitality, attributable, I consider, to regular feeding,
aerations, and scrupulous cleanliness. Numerous
young have been cast off and one stone is closely
covered with what are apparently the larval form of
the star fish. During this winter the anemones have
been of an unusually errant disposition, and I have
three times on different occasions observed what
seem to be conjugations. In each case the first sign
was the appearance round the base of the animal of
spermatic cords, and these in some cases reach an
inch and a half in length. They float in the water
and that they are perceived by other anemones is
proved by the animals moving up, and with their
base partially covering the extended base of the first.
They remain in this state for about twelve hours,
the emission of the spermatic cords is increased till
both are enveloped in the coils and these are per-
fectly visible, and between thirty and forty in number,
at least I have counted as many. After some interval
— about twenty-four hours from the first contact — the
one that has moved up moves away, each closes and
remains in a state of quiescence from which they do
not emerge for some days, no matter how tempted by
food or aeration. I shall be glad to learn if any of
your readers have noticed similar occurrences. —
G. L. B., Denmark Hill.
Mistletoe on the Pear. — A writer in Science-
Gossip, page 43, 1877, asks for further evidence that
the mistletoe grows on the pear. Kittel, in "Bota-
nisches Taschenbuch" and Dr. F. M. Bechstein, in
"Forstbotanik," page 679, both state that in Ger-
many Viscnm album is found on the pear. P.S. —
Withering, in "British Plants," states that Viscnm
album occurs on the Pear.-r-y. A. Sandford.
Mandrake (?) (Science-Gossip, page 166, 1878).
— Throughout the United States Podophyllum pettatum
of the natural order Berberidaceae is known as man-
drake. The fruit, when fully ripe, is sweet and edible,
and weighs from 1 to 4 oz. — J. A. Sandford.
Hempseed and Bullfinches. — With reference
to my letter on the effects of hempseed causing the
plumage of bullfinches to become black, and which
was inserted in Science-Gossip of November 1, it
would appear that under the head of " Cage Birds,"
in a paper contributed to the "Times" of February I,
Norwich canaries fed on cayenne pepper (a teaspoon-
ful to one egg) have their plumage under such diet
changed into a bright metallic flush — which pales at
every moult. I must confess that if I possessed any
pet birds, whether bullfinches or canaries, I should
pause ere I continued giving either hempseed or
cayenne pepper on the ground of both being too
stimulating for any lengthened period. It would be
interesting to know what the opinion may be of
extensive bird fanciers upon this subject. — John
Colebrookc.
Hyalophora Cecropia at Clapham. — In
Science-Gossip, at page 46, Jas. Ives records the
capture last July of a specimen of Hyalophora Cecropia
at Clapham. He adds the rather extraordinary query,,
"Is it not likely to have escaped from some entomo-
logical cabinet ?" Live insects are not usually placed
in cabinets, nor do pinned and probably dead ones
generally escape. The explanation, however, is very
simple. Mr. A. Wailly, an importer and dealer in
silk-producing bombyces of the Clapham Road,
records in the "Entomologist," vol. xii. p. 9, that in
December, 1877, he received from America an ex-
traordinary number of live cocoons of this moth, and
that a number of impregnated females which had
emerged therefrom, he let loose in his garden. Some
were also taken to a wood near London. — W. L.
Distant.
Curious Sites for Birds' Nests. — From time
to time, notices of birds' nests being found in strange
and unlooked-for situations, have appeared in
Science-Gossip. In the belief that a number of
instances which have come under my own observation
during my experience as a " birds'-nester," may not
be uninteresting, I have been induced to write a
short account of a few of the more remarkable
deviations from the ordinary rules followed by most
species of birds in their choice of a nesting-place, and
which I have jotted down in my note-book whenever
observed. Several years ago, I found a nest of the
common thrush, on the ground, in a large clover-
field, quite a hundred yards from the nearest fence.
The nest was merely an apology for one, being but a
few straws, collected together in a slight depression
of the ground, without any attempt at lining, indeed
I have seen plenty of lapwings' nests with far more
materials collected about them. It was partially
concealed by the young clover, which was about six
inches high, but otherwise there was nothing to
screen it from view. My attention was first drawn to
the nest — which contained five eggs — by seeing the
old bird fly off. I watched the nest closely, until the
eggs were hatched, and the young ones nearly
fledged ; but one morning, I found that some
prowling weasel or hedgehog had discovered and
made a dainty breakfast of the unfortunate ' ' throstles "
as the mangled bodies of two, and the scattered
feathers of the rest, plainly showed. This is the
only instance I have noticed of a thrush nesting on
the bare ground, away from any cover. Another
thrush's nest was in an old milking-can which had
been kicked about by the school lads, and finally
lodged in a large thorn bush, about two yards from
a much-frequented footpath, close by the village
church. I chanced to throw a stone at the can
when, greatly to my surprise, out flew a thrush. I
lost little time in jumping over the fence, and found
the nest snugly ensconced within the can, the mouth
of which, being turned away from the path, pre-
vented the nest from being seen by any of the numerous
passers-by, and, as I only divulged the secret to a
few trusted friends, I am pleased to say the mother
bird safely reared her brood. I have found a nest of
the blackbird on the branch of a tree quite thirty feet
from the ground, and several nests of" missel-thrush
on the shelves of an old shed once used for the
manufacture of drain pipes. I have also seen a nest
of this species built on one of the stone walls used as
fences in moorland districts. As in this case there
were neither trees nor bushes within a considerable
distance, I suppose the birds had ' been obliged to
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
67
adapt themselves to circumstances. Last year I
found two robins' nests on the top of a large haystack,
but they were destroyed by the stack being cut for
sale. A pair of robins have, for several years, built
their nest in the end of a pipe, formerly used to a
stove in our schoolroom, flying in at either an open
window, or a broken pane, and have generally
succeeded in rearing their young. The partiality of
the robin for curious nesting-places is well known,
but it is surpassed in eccentricity by some members
of the tit tribe, which seem to have a fancy for
"camping" in the most unlikely and outlandish
places ; one hears of their nests being found in such
places as the hat of an effigy, got up as a scarecrow ; in
a pump ; in a flower pot ; in a bottle ; or in a box
hung up against a wall, and I have myself found them
in all these strange situations. One day, when crossing
the orchard, I was rather startled at seeing a bird fly
from between my legs, apparently out of the ground,
and upon close search amongst the herbage, I found
what seemed to be a mouse-hole. Procuring a spade
I soon solved the mystery ; a nest of the great tit,
containing eight callow young, was built amidst the
ruins of what had the year before been a wasp's nest,
the inmates of which had, as I well remembered,
given our household no slight trouble during the
previous autumn. In the cavity formed by the wasps,
and amongst the remains of their combs, the tomtit
had found a snug nesting-place. I carefully covered
up the hole, and believe the little bird brought up its
family in peace. I have on two occasions found
nests of the blue tit built amongst the honeycombs
of a deserted beehive. Did space permit, I could
cite many other instances of singularity shown by
birds in their choice of nesting-places, but will
conclude with the hope that what I have already
narrated will not be totally devoid of interest to
many, who, like myself, are fond of studying the
manners and habits of our feathered friends. —
R. Standen, Goosnargk, Lancashire.
Blackbirds' Nests and Thrushes' Eggs.— It
may interest some of my fellow-readers of Science-
Gossip to know that I have found a blackbird's nest
with four thrushes' eggs and five blackbirds' in it ;
also a wren's nest in the roof of a thatched shed, in-
side, containing several eggs of the common wren as
well as three eggs of the house sparrow ; I have also
several times found pheasants' and partridges' eggs in
the same nest, but in none of these cases have I dis-
covered which bird ultimately brought up the brood,
as I regret to say in those days I used to take all the
€ ggs I found. — J. T. Green.
The Cuckoo's Eggs. — In last month's number
of Science-Gossip, Mr. James Ingleby states that
the eggs of the cuckoo "vary very much in colour, and
very much resemble the eggs of the birds in whose
nests they are deposited." That this is only partially
correct, despite the very high authorities by which it
is backed, I am assured. I have in my collection no
less than eleven specimens of these birds' eggs. Four
of these were taken from the nests of hedge sparrows ;
all these four are of various shades of grey, mottled
with darker spots, whilst those of the hedge-sparrow
where of a bluish-green. One of the specimens I
found in a wren's nest, along with nine wren's eggs.
Here again the difference was very great, both as
regards size and colour ; the cuckoo's egg being
brownish-grey, whilst the wren's were white and dotted
with red spots near the larger end. Of the rest, two
were taken from the nests of common wagtails ; one
situated in a pear-tree trained against a garden wall,
and the other in a grape-vine in a similar situa-
tion. Two more were found in sedge-warblers' nests
about three feet from the ground. One was taken
from a white-throat's nest, and the last in May, 1878,
from a tree pipit's nest built in a bank at the side of
the high road. In these last cases the difference was
of course, not so clearly defined, but all the cuckoos'
eggs in my collection are some shade of grey. In
fact I have never seen but one cuckoo's egg that was
not, and this was of a decidedly brown tinge. Of
course, when the cuckoo lays her egg in the nest
of a skylark, tree pipit, wagtail, or whitethroat, the
difference is not so very great from those of the other
bird. In reply to Mr. Kerr's queries, he will see that
I have taken a cuckoo's egg from the nest of the
common wren, which was only about eighteen inches
from the ground. With the exception of the tree
pipit, I found all my cuckoo's eggs in nests placed
several feet above the ground. In the edition of
" White's Natural History of Selbourne," edited by
Mr. Jesse, the editor states in a note, page 108, " It
is now known, by examination of the ovarium, that
the cuckoo lays several eggs." In conclusion, I
would refer both gentlemen to Volume XII. of
Science-Gossip, where the subject of the cuckoo
and its habits is discussed. — B. E. S.
Woodpeckers and their Nests. — In the middle
of February, 1878, I was deeply interested in a small
woodpecker {Piacs minor) which daily kept up its
busy tapping on the dead boughs of some twenty
poplar-trees at the end of my garden. I watched it
whenever I could get close enough to see it clearly.
At one time I saw a larger species fly from the top of
the same tree that the smaller species was tapping on.
On March 3, I observed that it had a mate with it.
I watched the pair until the middle of April, when I
lost sight of them until, on June 20, I saw one
flying in a direct line towards the poplars, they being
just within sight. I saw it a second time three days
after in the same place just come from the direction
of the poplars ; it went over^a wall ; my appearance
above the wall frightened it from some ivy growing
on a house about ten yards distant, I believed at the
time that it was searching for food, and had young
up in the poplars ; and on July 6 I was surprised to
find that it had successfully reared its young in a
hole that it had made in the under side of a dead arm
of an apple-tree, only ten feet from the ground (when
I had supposed it was fifty feet high in the poplars).
The entrance was perfectly and smoothly made, very
small, and arched over into the centre of the touch-
wood ; the arm was only fifteen inches round ; the
hole was about fifteen inches deep, and recently made.
The touchwood being quite clean, I carefully let a
spoon down into the hole, but all was gone. On the
12th instant I paid a visit to the hole, and found it
neivly and very much enlarged in the same perfect
manner, this could not have been done more than
eight weeks, most probably had only been done a
few days. A minute after this I heard the tapping
up in the poplars, and searching, found my acquaint-
ance of last year at his usual occupation ; and watch-
ing it, saw it disturbed by passers-by and fly on to
the apple-tree. My reason for inserting this interest-
ing account is : can any of the readers of Science-
Gossip inform me whether the larger species {Picus
major) has enlarged the hole, and intends breeding
in the apple-tree this season, or is it the same pair as
last year? If so, why they should require a larger
hole than last year, and at what date I may expect to
find eggs (being a collector) ? I should like to know
more clearly what their tapping is for, I believe it is
for two purposes. — H. B., St. Ives.
Colour of Birds' Eggs. — I am afraid Mr. J.
Ingleby will find it difficult to procure anything that
68
HARD WICKE ' S S CIE NCE - G OSS J P.
will answer his purpose. Varnish, of which I have
tried many kinds, does not give a satisfactory result ;
and besides, destroys the natural appearance of the
egg. I never use varnish now, but find that I can
preserve the colours of nearly all eggs by taking care,
when blowing them, not to allow any moisture to
touch the outside of the shell ; and when drying,
before placing them in the cabinet, I carefully keep
them from the light, for most eggs when newly blown,
more especially those of a blue or greenish colour,
and many of the hawk's fade more during a few days'
exposure to the light, than they would in as many
months when placed in the cabinet. Light should
also be carefully excluded from the specimens in
the collection. I have had few "faded" eggs since
I adopted the above plan, six or seven years ago. —
P. Standen, Goosnargh, Preston.
Intelligence in Man and Animals. — The
settlement of the question raised by Mr. H. D. Bar-
clay in the January number as to intelligence in men
and animals, depends very much on what we consider
to be the precise nature or manner of the reasoning
process. As to this point there is a dispute amongst
philosophers. One school holds that all deductive
reasoning is from general propositions to particular
ones, whereas J. S. Mill and his followers maintain
that "all inference is from particulars to particulars,"
and on that account, "the lower animals profit by
experience, and avoid what they have found to cause
them pain in the same manner, though not always
with the same skill, as a human creature. Not only
the burnt child, but the burnt dog dreads the fire."
As we have no evidence that animals can form general
propositions, if we adopt the latter view, then it must
be admitted that animals can reason as competently
as man can. If, on the other hand, the former
doctrine be adopted, then the seeming reasoning of
the lower animals can be explained as a simple pro-
cess of association. "Animals are led, not by a
concatenated train of discovered relations, but by
mere impulse, i.e., by the suggestion which comes up
according to the law of co-existence." Mr. H. C.
Rogers asks, "If an animal does precisely the same
thing that a man would do under certain circum-
stances,' are we not justified in concluding that animal
and man are moved by the same power ? " If
"power " here means motive, then I do not think we
should be justified in forming any such conclusion.
Besides, it is impossible for us to know the full and
precise "circumstances" under which any animal
acts. Again, memory is an act of intellect, but cer-
tainly not an act of reasoning in the sense of inferring
one proposition from another. As regards the affec-
tion of the dog, it is very probable that there is more
of selfishness therein than is commonly supposed.
That the dog likes his master for the latter's own
sake can scarcely be supposed. The fact seems to
be, that this animal is possessed of an irrepressible
prodigality of life-energy, and any source of the
gratification or exercise of that liveliness is of course
exceedingly prized by him ; and hence when the
master dies, the fountain of this life and energy is
stopped ; " the very source of it is stopped," a
circumstance amply sufficient to induce a serious
revulsion of feeling, and an unwonted peculiarity of
action. With regard to the wonderful feats per-
formed by animals, Dr. Carpenter has, it seems to
me, conclusively shown that these are merely me-
chanical, the result of the animal organism "growing
to the way in which it has been habitually exercised."
Finally, the view that the reason of man is only
developed instinct, has been seriously disputed by
men of the highest culture, ability, and sanity. Man
seems to have the faculty of forming certain notions,
(such as moral good, the fair, the sublime, God, &c),
and a power of anticipating the future, &c, which it
would be difficult to prove were ever acquired, or
could possibly be acquired by a mere process of
development. The average cranial capacity of an-
thropoid apes and of man, savage or civilized (viz.
10 to 26 or 32), exhibits a proportion which is alto-
gether inexplicable on the supposition that man's
brain is a lineal descendant of that of some pre-his-
toric ape, monkey, or baboon. — P. Q. Keegan, LL.D,
Intelligence in Animals. — Your 'correspondent,.
Mr. A. C. Rogers, quotes my words correctly, viz. : —
"The great difficulty in the investigation of the
minds of animals appears to be that man instinctively
and unconsciously, unless checked by reflection, ex-
plains their actions, especially in extraordinary cases,
by his own modes and laws of thought," but when
he asks "will Mr. Barclay kindly inform us how else
we are to explain their actions if we are not to use
our own modes and laws of thought," he appears to
have misunderstood my meaning. Certainly we must
use our own laws of thought ; most of us do not use
them sufficiently. I will illustrate my meaning by
considering the questions he puts. Is it simply instinct
that induces a dog to starve itself to death on the
grave of its master ? or risk its life unbidden to save
that of a helpless child 1 In my last letter I defined
reason as the power to draw a conclusion from pre-
mises. Now, touching as the death of a dog on the
grave of its master is, I can see in it no act of reason,
but should rather conclude it indicated the absence
of the faculty, neither can I perceive any act of
reason in a dog leaping into the water unbidden to
save a child, which he may do precisely in the same
manner as he would jump after a stick which I have
also seen a dog do unbidden. A man who could
swim and declined to rescue a child from the water
would be justly blamed, but who could blame a dog
if it remained barking on the bank ? It is beyond
dispute that animals have some intelligence and
memory, but what I question is their power of
reasoning, which is the root of man's civilisation and
makes him a responsible being. It is a distinct
faculty, and unless animals were originally endowed
with it, that it should be developed by training as
some maintain, appears to me simply incredible, and
I have never yet read an anecdote that convinced me
they are possessed of it. Since writing my first letter
I have seen a book, "Thirty Years among Wild
Beasts in India ; " the author's remark on the intelli-
gence of elephant and the popular opinions thereon
confirm my view of the question. — H. D. Barclay.
A Curious Crustacean. — Some years ago I was-
passing by a large stagnant pool, when my attention
was arrested by a curious creature just beneath the
surface of the water, which after some trouble I suc-
ceeded in capturing. As I have never read of any
fresh-water inhabitant resembling it, I thought some
of your correspondents might be able to inform me
what it was. As nearly as I can recollect, it closely
resembled the common green crab of the seashore,,
excepting that its " legs " were longer and thinner,
and the carapace was circular and serrated at the
edges. I brought it home in safety, but whilst I
went for the necessary appliances for the examination,
it mysteriously disappeared. Subsequently I dis-
covered another and smaller one, which was also>
lost by an accident before I could study it. The
locality whese these crustaceans (?) were found, was
in the middle of Berkshire, in a large pond close to>
a wood. The month was July. The creatures were
IIARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
69
both apparently basking in the sun at the surface of
the water ; neither made any effort to escape. They
appeared to have no power of swimming nor diving.
I hope some of your correspondents may be able to
inform me what they were. — Junior.
Hydrophilus piceus. — Can any of the readers of
Science-Gossip inform me whether the above-men-
iioned insect can be reared in captivity ; if it can, is
Jthere any locality near London where I can look for
the beetle or eggs with any chance of success ; or
can I buy a supply of the eggs of any aquarium
•dealer? The Rev. J. G. Wood, in his "Fresh and
Salt Water Aquarium," gives some information about
this beetle, but he neither mentions the time of year
when the egg is to be found, nor the food of the larva.
On Plate x. he depicts two specimens, one twice the
size of the other ; are these the different sexes, or
(extreme variations of size ? — F. Crosbie, Bar net.
The Doubleday Collection. — I was very
pleased to see the note in your last number from Mr.
James English stating that the above collection is in
such good condition, it would however have been of
far greater use if published earlier. When Mr.
Farn's letter appeared in the " Entomologist," I
waited for a month to see if any one would contradict
it, but as no one seemed to trouble about it I took
the matter up myself — my letter was published in the
■"Entomologists' Monthly Magazine" for December,
and drew from Mr. Farn (the gentleman who had
alleged the collection to be in such bad condition) a
reply evidently intended to cast ridicule upon myself.
I again wrote to the editors of the " Entomologists'
Monthly Magazine " with a reply to Mr. Farn, fully
refuting all his accusations and remarks, but had my
letter returned, with a note from the editors to the
effect that as they were then satisfied that the collec-
tion was in good condition the correspondence would
he stopped. I certainly thought that a short note
from the editors to that effect would have appeared
in the next number, but this was not done, thus
entomologists are left to believe that I am totally
disconcerted by Mr. Farn's letter, which is by no
means the case. I think under these circumstances
I am fully justified in making these remarks to correct
so great a misconception with regard to myself.
Mr. English's note in last month's Science-Gossip
settles the matter in a most satisfactory manner. —
W. J. Vandenbergh, Jan., Hornsey, Middlesex.
Glyciphagus Plumiger. — In the July number of
Science-Gossip, Mr. A. D. Michael announced the
capture of a single specimen of this acarus, and after
remarking on one in the possession of Mr. George, of
Kirton Lindsay, says, "We may, I think, fairly
claim this as a British species, although only a single
individual has been detected in each instance." I
have been fortunate in capturing a large number,
male and female, of this interesting mite : and as in
the former case, they were found among the fodder
in a stable in this city. As there is a considerable
quantity of foreign hay used in this place, it is quite
probable it may have been introduced ; but the fact
of its being alive and active, in the middle of De-
cember, during a very severe frost, shows that it is
hardy enough for our northern climate. — J. Lambert,
Edinburgh.
Yews in Churchyards.— In reply to E. Straker's
desire to obtain information respecting the various
traditions relative to the planting of the yew in
churchyards, &c, the following extracts may not be
uninteresting to him, or other readers of " Science-
■Gossip ; " they have been carefully searched out by
a friend living in North Wales, and are well authen-
ticated. The yew (Taxus baccata), so celebrated in
our own country for its churchyard associations, and
for its being employed in the manufacture of bows,
the weapon principally used by our warrior ancestors
before the introduction of fire-arms, has fewer
legends connected with it than might be supposed.
The custom of planting yew-trees in churchyards has
never been satisfactorily explained. Some have sup-
posed that these trees were placed near the churches,
for the purpose of affording branches on Palm Sun-
day ; others, that they might be safe there from
cattle, on account of their value for making bows ;
others, that they were emblematical of silence and
death ; some, that they were useful for the purpose
of affording shade or shelter to those places of wor-
ship when in their primitive form. Different writers
have entered more philosophically into this question,
and presume that the yew was one of those evergreens
which, from its shade and shelter, was especially
cultivated by the Druids in their sacred groves, and
around their sacrificial circles ; that when Christianity
superseded Druidism, the same places were chosen as
the sites of the new worship, and that in this arose
the association of the yew-tree with our churches and
churchyards. It was also employed in funerals,
("by shroud of white, stuck all with yew;") in
some parts of England dead bodies were rubbed over
with an infusion of its leaves, to preserve them from
putrefaction ; and many of our poets allude to its
connection with ideas of death. According to
Pennant's Scotland, vol. iii., page 25,' 4th edition,
the yew, by our ancestors, for a classical reason,
seems to have been planted among the repositories
of the dead ; and they had also a political one, for
placing them about their houses : in the first instance
they were the substitutes of the Incisa Cupressns ; in
the other, they were the designed provision of
materials for the sturdy bows of our warlike an-
cestors. Nature, who speaks to our eye as well as
to our ear, paints the yew with gloom ; and we see
at a glance, the propriety of planting it in church-
yards, with respect to poetic sentiments, as well as to
its former warlike utility. Tennyson imagines man's
last foe, death, as "walking all alone beneath a yew."
The "In Memoriam " of Tennyson describes the
yew at the " lychgate : "
" Old yew, which graspest at the stones
That name the under-lying dead,
Thy fibres net the dreamless head,
Thy roots are wrapt about the bones," &c.
Various other poetical allusions might be mentioned,
from Wordsworth and others, in reference to these
dismal trees, which are very beautiful, but perhaps
others may contribute further remarks on the interest-
ing subject of the yew-tree.— ii. Edzvards.
Yew-Trees in Churchyards. — As to the reason
why yew-trees are so often found in churchyards. I
was walking with a clergyman three or four years
ago in a churchyard in Kent, and he pointed out to
me the four yew-trees which grew, one at each corner
of the sacred inclosure. He told me that the reason
why these trees are so often found in old churchyards
is that there used to be a law that every parish was to
grow yew to be made into bows for the use of the
parishioners. As the foliage is very injurious to
cattle (cows which have eaten of it frequently die)
the yew-trees were planted in the churchyards, in
order that there might be no danger of the cattle
having access to it. —C.
Tasmanian Land Shells. — Mr. Pettes, in an ar-
ticle on "Sea Goings," gives me credit for having
7o
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
published a catalogue of Tasmanian Land Shells
containing a list of all discovered up to date of
publication, 1871. He, however, omits to say that
this catalogue, as he terms it, contains over forty
descriptions of species nowhere else to be found. In
my humble opinion this is something more than a
catalogue. I regret that the book lias been long out
of print, so am unable to send you a copy. Mr. P.
is in error when he states that If. vitrinaformis was
described from a specimen found by him on Mount
Wellington. That shell came from a place forty or
fifty miles further south, and the type shell is in my
possession. It was found by a Mr. Longley. — IV.
Lcgrand.
The Birds and the Weather. — We have been
diligently feeding the poor little birds here as usual,
as in duty bound, during this most trying winter, and
a very constant and amusing clientele we have had,
furnishing us with a few incidents which may interest
your readers. Amongst other provisions for them,
we have been in the habit of tying up lumps of fat
on a neighbouring bough. At first the tom-tits were
left in sole and undisputed possession of this appetising
morsel. The robins, however, soon began to cast a
longing eye upon it ; and, for some time, could not
succeed in reaching it, save by a rapid series of hops
and flying bites, which must have been very tedious,
and anything but satisfying. At last, by astounding
perseverance, they mastered the difficulty, and became
almost as expert as the tits themselves in perching
upon or near their prey and making a meal from it.
We did not observe any other birds that arrived so
completely at this result ; though certain blackbirds
and sparrows made many attempts in that direction.
On one occasion the lump of fat was disengaged and
fell to the ground, but an astute tit managed to
restore it to its place, and to impale it upon a
thorn, by way of larder. The visitors to our ban-
quet were not altogether confined to bipeds. For a
few days a wretched, scrubby-looking half-starved rat
made his appearance on the scene, from which we
had not the heart to banish him. Blackbirds, thrushes,
house and hedge-sparrows, chaffinches, tits in abund-
ance, robins, etc. ; one starling and one wagtail were
our ordinary company. — C. IV. Bingham, Bingham' s
Melcombe.
The Water Shrew a Destroyer of the
Spawn OF Fish. — It may not be generally known
that the water shrew is a great enemy to the
preservers of fish. My cousin, Mr. Masefield, of
Ellerton Hall, Salop, annually rears a large number
of trout by artificial hatching. For some time it was
observed that depredations were committed by some :
unknown visitor on the troughs containing the j
spawn ; traps were set, and while I was visiting my i
cousin the culprit was discovered by the capture of
Sorex fodiens. If this fact has not been observed
before, it adds one more to the numerous obstacles
which the spawn of fish has to contend against in
arriving at maturity in its natural state. — W. B.
Masefield, Tittenson Parsonage, Stoke-npon-Trent.
Holes in Oolitic Rocks. — The explanation
given by your correspondent H. P. M., in Science-
Gossip for January, to F. N. D.'s question, asked in
Science-Gossip for November, 1878, "Why holes
are found in oolite beneath sand," I think cannot be
the correct one, because "water percolating through a
superstructure of sand " could not, from the super-
incumbent mass, move these sand particles about, and
if there is no motion there can be no friction, conse-
quently no wearing away. May not these holes have
been made by the Lithodomi, or boring mollusca,
previous to, or about the time of, the upheaval of,,
(or receding of the sea from) the formation in which
these holes are found? for it is well known these
delicate little creatures have the power of perforating
this and similar kinds of rocks. — J. W., Rotherham.
Folk Lore. — Have we a saying in England,
similar to the one frequently made use of in Rome,
viz.: "St. Catherine's (November 25) weather is
Christmas weather." There the peasants look for the
same weather on Christmas Day as on November 25.
— C. F.
Interesting Plants in the Royal Gardens,
Kew. — On the shelf devoted to Asiatic plants in the
Palm House we notice Carica papaya, the Papaw,
introduced into this country from India in 1690.
Linnreus supposed it to be a native of Caria, but
although now cultivated generally through the tropics,
it is considered as originally a native of South
America. It has been lately assigned to the natural
order Passiflorere, tribe Papayacea?. A dioecious
tree with a soft unbranched stem about twenty feet
high, slightly swollen at the base, the palmatifid
leaves with long petioles being clustered at the sum-
mit. The fruit, when ripe, is yellow, and somewhat
resembles a melon, it contains an acrid, milky juice,
in which Vauquelin found by analysis the albuminoid
fibrine, a substance until then believed to be peculiar
to the animal kingdom. The whole plant has the
remarkable quality of rendering fresh or tough meat
tender, by causing a separation of the muscular fibres,
and the same effect is said to be produced by merely
suspending it among the leaves. At the corner of
the central path we find Strychnos potatorum, the
" clearing nut," which abounds in the forests of
India. Natural order Loganiaceae. It forms a small
tree bearing opposite ovate leaves, with two in-
teraxillary spines. The hard wood is applied to a
variety of domestic uses. The fruit is black, about
the size of a cherry, and contains one seed. The
natives of India employ the dried seeds to clarify
muddy or impure water, and as they will never drink
spring water if they can obtain any from ponds or
rivers, the "clearing nut" must be simply invaluable..
The inside of the vessel is rubbed round with a seed,
for a short time, the water to be cleared is poured in
and all its impurities quickly sink to the bottom..
Dr. Pereira states that this result is due to the fining
action of the albumen and casein, and that many
other seeds might be used for the same purpose. On
the African shelf is Tang/iinia vene?iiflua, the
tanghin or ordeal-tree. This is an apocynaceous-
tree, with alternate elliptical leaves, and long ter-
minal cymes of pale pink flowers. There is a double
ovary, but only one usually comes to perfection,
forming an ellipsoid fruit about the size of a plum
containing a hard stone which incloses the seed. It
is this seed which once had so great a reputation
among the natives of Madagascar as a detector of
guilt ; but whatever doubt we might feel concerning
its efficacy in that respect, it certainly possesses such
extremely virulent qualities that it has been described
as " the most poisonous of plants." A kernel no
larger than an almond would be, if equally divided,
sufficient to destroy twenty persons in less than half
an hour. In the year 1830 the Queen of Madagascar
determined to rid the country of sorcerers and decided
upon a trial by ordeal as the most effectual means of
doing so. Great numbers of persons were tried, and
it is recorded that while the "unknown plebeians"
succumbed to its deadly influence all the "nobility"
recovered. Happily such trials are now things of the
past. A short distance from the last plant on the
HARD WI CKE 'S S CIE NCE - G OS. SI P.
7i
same side is another ordeal-tree, not quite so well
known, but included in the same order, Texicaphlaa
Thtinbe?-gi a native of South Africa. Its leaves are
opposite, elliptical, and of a very dark green colour ;
it is now showing an abundance of small white flowers
in axillary clusters. A decoction of the bark is used
by the Hottentots as an ordeal.— Lewis Castle, West
Kensington Park.
Metropolitan Association. — At the monthly
meeting held on January 28, the following papers
were read — " On the Dissection of the Cockroach,"
by T. J. Briant. The main object of this paper was
to show the proper method to be adopted in micro-
scopic dissection, more especially by those who could
not afford time for technical investigations. — "On
Micro-photography," by C. W. Stidstone. Examples
of the author's work were shown upon the screen,
some of them being very creditable. — "The Cuticles
•of Flowers," by Sidney Ireland. — " On Reproduction
in the Lesser Celandine," by Henry T. Vivian. The
author remarked that in the spring of last year he
brought for examination from the neighbourhood of
Isleworth a few flowers of this plant ; they were
placed in water exposed to the light, and he was
enabled to observe the very interesting mode in which
the young plants of this species were produced. The
flowers, to the stalks of which one or two leaves were
attached, soon decayed, but singularly enough there
were produced what appeared white grains at the
axils of the leaves which increased in size as the
plant decayed and then fell off and remained at the
bottom of the jar. At the end of the year .they
appeared to be budding and at present had become
the tuberous roots of young plants, such as were then
exhibited on the table. This circumstance did not
appear to be noticed in the botanical works to which
the author had access, but he found the process
described in a book just published by Shirley Hibbert.
It appeared this plant never produced seeds in this
climate, though perfectly fitted to do so, as all the
organs of fructification were complete. The fact of
the plant flowering in the wet weather might perhaps
account for the non-production of seed, but it was
interesting to note that another form of reproduction
took place when it could not be accomplished in the
usual mode.— "On the Horse-Bot," by J. W.
Goodinge, F.R.M.S. This paper was simply a
general introduction to the noble series of slides
which were exhibited under several microscopes.
Bougainvilleaz>. Bugainvillea. — The apparent
inconsistency in the orthography of the above word,
observed by Mr. John Gibbs, admits of an easy ex-
planation. The latter was adopted by Lindley as the
best Latin rendering of the French name. The long
ii nearly represents the sound of the French diphthong
ou, pronounced 00, which does not occur in the
Latin language. As regards the first and generally
accepted orthography, we find in ' ' Laws of Nomen-
clature," by M. Alphonse de Candolle, received by
the International Botanical Congress, 1867, as "the
best guide for nomenclature in the vegetable king-
dom," that article 27 states, "when the name of a
genus and sub-genus or section is taken from the
name of a person the spelling of the syllables is pre-
served without alteration even with letters or diphthongs
now employed in certain languages, but not in Latin."
Mr. Gibbs will find some excellent remarks on this
subject in Science-Gossip, 1877, page 193. — L.
Castle.
Curious effect with the Microphone. — I do
not know whether any one has observed the following
curious effect with the microphone. Placing the
receiving telephone on the stand of the microphone,
so that the vibrating disk is near the carbon pencil,
I find that a slight touch on the microphone produces
a continuous musical note, which sounds on till stopped
by a rougher touch, or by tapping the table. I used
an upright carbon microphone. — F. R.
Laburnum. — In this town there is a laburnum
which flowers regularly twice a year, at the usual
time and again in the autumn ; the flower pendants
are shorter, and the flowers closer together than in
the ordinary laburnum, a specimen of which grows in
the same garden. Would B. H. Nesbit Browne state
whether the same peculiarity exists or not in the
specimen he has seen ? — IV. G. Tuxford.
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS.
To Correspondents and Exchangers. — As we now
publish Science-Gossip a week earlier than heretofore, we
cannot possibly insert in the following number any communi-
cations which reach us later than the 9th of the previous
month.
To Anonymous Querists. — We receive so many queries
which do not bear the writers' names that we are forced to
adhere to our rule of not noticing them.
R. Beer. — The stories of vipers swallowing their young, are
to be found in every work on natural history. In years past,
our Notes and Queries columns have chronicled many such.
J. W. T. — Your papers will certainly appear on the first
opportunity. We should be glad to accept that you now refer to.
K. E. Gamp.—" Blue John" is a fluate of lime, not manga-
nese. Oxide of manganese is the violet colouring matter of it.
The mineral is very soft, and can be easily polished after cutting
and rubbing down. The method of polishing fossil wood depends
on how the latter is mineralised. If silicified, it is first cut and
ground down, and then polished with emery, the finest kind
being used last.
C. R. S. — We cannot tell you how to get an assistant-curator-
ship in a colonial or other museum, except by advertising for
such a situation.
B. C. J. (Leeds). — See the Rev. J. C. Crombie's article on
lichens, in " Collecting and Preserving Natural History Objects,"
price is. 6d. Hardwicke & Bogue, 192 Piccadilly, London, W.
R. Ratcliife. — The brown objects found underneath the
beetle are the beetle-mite [Gamasus coieoptratonnti).
Micro. — The anchor-shaped spicules mounted on slides are
undoubtedly those of sponges. The coloured spicules appear
to belong to some Alcyonidium. Please send us one or two
other slides when you mount them, that we may investigate
them further.
J. A. Sanford (Toledo, Ohio, U.S.) — Wishes botanists who
are desirous of exchanging rare British for American plants, to
communicate with him as per above address.
H. J. Livett. — The grubs which attacked your celery were
evidently the larva? of some beetle, but they reached us in such
a dried-up and shrivelled condition, that it was quite impossible
to make out the species. Watering growing celery with chamber
lye is a capital stimulant to the plant, and an equally bad one
for grubs of all kinds.
W. E. M. — The article on "Collecting and Preserving " is
the best one we know of on the subject of cleaning and preparing
bones. There is a great dearth of information on the subject,
and we should be glad if some of our readers who have worked
at it would contribute a good practical paper on the subject.
J. C. Raye. — The articles on ".Our Common British Fossils,
and where to find them," will be resumed in our May number,
and continued. Press of literary work has delayed their issue.
Dr. M. — The objects on the piece of sea-weed were a colony
of polyzoa. called M ' embranifiora membranacea.
C. W. L. — The New Cross Microscopical and Natural
History Society, meets at the New Public Hall, Lewisham
High Road.
R. Humphrey. — Our correspondence is too extensive to
permit us acknowledging by letter the receipt and acceptance
of every MS. sent. If accepted, we insert it in the order of its
date, as far as we possibly can. No apology is needed on your
part.
J. E. M.— Wishes to know if " Heywood's Register of Facts
and Occurrences relating to Literature, Science and Art" is still
in existence. Perhaps some of our correspondents can answer
him.
H. Sissons. — We are obliged, in the general interests of other
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
" exchangers," whose advertisements are crushed out, not to
allow an " exchange " to exceed three lines, unless it is paid for
as an advertisement. Yours would make eight lines.
B. — A good specimen of Euplectella might be purchased at
any natural history dealer's in London, say Henson's in the
Strand ; T. D. Russell, or Bryce Wright, for about js. 6d. or
10s. (2) As to preserving crustaceans, see note on this subject
by a capital authority, Mr. T. D. Russell, in September number
of Science-Gossip for 1877. (3) There is no book or even
exhaustive article on the latter subject. One is much needed.
Gregorius. — The occurrence of starlings in flocks, especially
in the southern counties, is very common during hard winters.
Many of them leave the northern parts of Britain. The starling
has a sweet, twittering kind of note, but we should hardly rank
it among our song-birds.
W. Bennet. — Bat received. Will examine it and let you
know.
J. E. Stephens. — The object is part of the cluster of eggs
laid by the common whelk ( Buccinum undatum). See "Half
Hours by the Sea-side," by J. E. Taylor (page 203), published
by Hardwicke & Bogue, price 4s.
H. G. Wheeler. — We believe the diatom you found in the
mussel is undescribed. It is a Cocconeis, and might be called
Cocconeis umbonata, or Cocconeis crucifera. — K.
EXCHANGES.
Wanted to exchange lichens for some desiderata in Parmeliae,
Ramalinae, Stictse, &c— J. McAndrew, New Galloway, N.B.
Rissoa lactea, H omalagyra rota, and other rare British
shells, offered for minerals. Lists exchanged. — E. Duprey,
Jersey.
Wanted, in exchange for good typical specimens of Cornish
rocks, and some minerals, a good collection of fossils represent-
ing the new red sandstone, or the permian or the old red for-
mations. — S. Tressider, Jun., Marlborough Road, Falmouth.
I have a quantity of shells, mostly small, from east and west
coasts of Africa, which I should be glad to exchange for micro
slides or good material. — G.W.Brady, Carrow Works, Norwich.
Duplicates of forty species of British marine shells for others
or birds' eggs. — Thomas H. Hedworth, Dunston, Gateshead.
Wanted, named algae, zoophytes, &c., exchange. — 3 Belmont
Villas, New Brompton, Kent.
For a fine spray of Plumularia falcata or Seriularia abic-
tina, each loaded with Crisa cbttrnen, and Cellepora pumicosa,
send well-mounted slides to E. W. Burgess, 35 Langham Street,
London. Pollens and rock sections preferred.
Wanted, tooth of labyrinthodon, for microscopical purposes ;
will give interesting slide or material in exchange. W. H. Harris,
44 Partridge Road, Cardiff.
Wanted, a copy of the last edition of the " Micrographic
Dictionary"; anyone having one for disposal, at a reasonable
price, will oblige by addressing H. G. Wheeler, 24 Knowsley
Street, Bury.
Good British shells given in exchange for the shell stoppers
of foreign shells (Operculums) of various sorts. Also slabs
of polish of madrepores for good Silurian fossils. Will also
exchange thin down specimens of corals for the microscope for
good foreign Pinna;, Mediterranean sorts preferred. — A. J. R.
Sclater, 4 Bank Street, Teignmouth, Devon.
"Conchology," by W. Wood, vol. i., 59 hand-coloured
plates, in good condition. Wanted, Nicholson's " Palaeontology,"
or offers. — J. Carpenter, Cheshunt, Herts.
Wanted, a few amateurs to join an ever-circulator, devoted
to botany, which has been in^ circulation since 1877. For
further particulars, address "Conductor," 233 Upper Brook
Street, Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester.
Wanted, " L. C." 7th edition, Nos. 5, 13b, 18c and d, 23, 25,
3 2 . 37> 6 5> 9°. io 3» Io6 » H 8 , 153 CO. 214, 215, 221, 309, 367b, 395,
for others. Send lists. Also 100 named mosses, offered for
same number from another locality, or for an equivalent. —
R. V. Tellam, Bore Street, Bodmin.
"L. C," 7th edition, Nos. 41, 45, 107, 124, 172, 209, 366,667,
814, 822, 824, 831, 858, 875, 906, 932, 1040, 1135, 1264, 1271,
1401, 1447. Send lists to H. R. Moiser, F.G.S., 2 South View,
Haworth, near York.
Wanted, objects of marine zoology. Agates, minerals, &c.
offered in exchange. — J. P. Wright, Sunnybank Terrace,
Undercliffe Lane. Bradford, Yorkshire.
Wanted, a good second-hand microscope ; write, stating
full particulars, to C. Mcintosh, no Dalling Road, Hammer-
smith, W.
Well-mounted slides of portions of pigeon post, used during
siege of Paris, in exchange for two slides of interest, also well-
mounted. — L. Hawkins, Hillside, Hastings.
Three skulls, lemur, porcupine, and another, also a good
scorpion, and a small flying-fish, to exchange for British birds'
eggs, side-blown, named fossils, or offers in natural history
objects. Science-Gossip for 1877, wanted, unbound preferred.
— W. B. R., 165 White Ladies Road, Bristol.
Authenticated, side-blown eggs, 300 species, including
European, British, and African, clutches, broad-billed sandpipers,
parrot crossbills, hawk, owl, red-foot falcons, and most of the
birds of prey, collected 1878 ; exchange arranged by letter. —
Sissons, Sharrow, Sheffield.
Wanted, living specimens of Doris, Trochus, Nassa, &c. in
exchange for good micro slides, all well-mounted. — Apply Henry
Insley, 1 Back of Chester Place, Gerrard Street, Birmingham.
To exchange, sixteen three-shilling parts of " British Wild
Flowers," by J. E. Sowerby, for Cox's "British Coleoptera "
and natural history specimens ; also, British plants for fossils. —
G. Robson, 92 Cranbourne Street, Leicester.
Duplicates, pairs of fine well-set local Lepidoptera from
cabinet. Desiderata, skins of birds, squirrels, &c.
" Nature "for 1876 (fournumbers missing), offered for foreign
or British Algae. — E. C. J., Monson Nursery, Red Hill, Surrey.
One hundred silkworms' eggs {Bombyx Yama Mori), on.
receipt of stamped envelope or object of interest. — Mrs. Skilton,
London Road, Brentford, Middlesex.
Cassell's " Wild Flowers," 24 numbers ; " European Butter-
flies and Moths," 12 numbers; a West Indian centipede and
two lizards in spirits. Will exchange all or any of these for
"Popular Science Review," geological works, or fossils. —
J. A. Floyd, Mission House, Alcester, Warwickshire.
Slide of Glyciphagus plumiger, in exchange for other acarus
(rare) or animal parasite. — J. Lambert, 12 Glen Street, Edin-
burgh.
Foraminiferous SAND from Barmouth, very rich, contain'ng
many rare forms, in exchange for slides, material, or shells. —
J. J. Colton, Barmouth.
Duplicates of British land and fresh-water shells offered,
and the localities of each recorded. Succinea oblonga, Li>n*
Burnetii, Lim. involuta, V. pusilla, T. antivertigo, V. sub-
striata, V. alpestris, V. minutisshna, V . angustior, Fupa
ringctis. Desiderata, named foreign land and marine shells,,
which, if not in stock of any collector, are readily obtainable
from dealers. — W. Sutton, High Claremont, Newcastle-on-Tyne.
Wanted, to borrow for a short time a flora of South Devon.
Address, with terms, A. D. Melvin, North Malvern.
For well-mounted flea from mole, hedgehog, rabbit or hare,
also cattle tick, send good slides, marine diatoms, diatomaceous
earth, or good micro-fungi particularly wanted. — George Turvill,
East Worldham, Alton, Hants.
Well-rooted plants of exotic ferns, blooming, greenhouse
plants (not bedd'ng) and many species of the Cacti tribe, several
producing magnificent flowers, in exchange for rare British
shells, foreign shells, polished stones, books on natural history,
or offers. — E. R. F., 82 Abbey Street, Faversham.
Crystals of Zeolite from the Giant's Causeway, good polari-
scopic object ; also Foraminifera from Antrim and Down beach
floatings, and diatomaceous earth from Toome bridge, for any-
good slides. Lists exchanged. — William Gray, Mount Charles,
Belfast.
BOOKS, ETC. RECEIVED.
" Notes by a Naturalist on the ' Challenger.' " By H. N.
Moseley, F.R.S. London: Macmillan & Co.
"The Study of Rocks." By F. Rutley, F.G.S. London:
Longman & Co.
"Practical Geology." By W. J. Harrison, F.G.S. London:
W. Stewart & Co.
" Geological and Geographical Survey of Colorado, &c,"
1878. Washington: Government Printing Office.
' ' Birds of the Colorado Valley." By Dr. Coues : Washington :
Government Printing Office.
"Journal of-the Royal Microscopical Society." February.
"American Quarterly Microscopical Journal." January.
"Journal de Micrographie." January.
" Feuilles des Jeunes Naturalistes." February.
"LesMondes." February.
"Revue Mycologique." January.
" Midland Naturalist." February.
" Land and Water." February.
" Brierley's Journal." February.
&c. &c. &c.
Communications received up to 12TH ult. from: —
F. K.— T. S— C P. O.— J. McG.— E. D.— W. B.— W. H. D.
_ j c W — S. T — T. P — F. T. F.-T. W.— W. L. B.— H. B.
— E. E.— G. W. B.— W. E. M.— C. W. B.— A. J. R. S—
W. L. G.-F. M.-C. R. S.-H. G. W.— J. C.-H. D. B.—
W. L. D.— E. W. B.— I. C. T.-Dr. M.-T. H. H.-J. A. S.
D. M. D.— G. L. B.— H. P. M.-H. W. L.-W. H. H.— R. R.
—J. O. Dr. P. Q. K.-M. M. B.-J. E. M.-R. S.— G. R.—
R. E.-J. W. S.-J. C. R--H. I.-J. S.-W. J. H.-A. B.-
F. C — W. B. R —J. S.-E. M.— Dr. De C— R. H.— A. D. M.
-C. Mcl.-J. P. W.-J. W. C-R. V. T.-R. B.-T. F. U.—
A. C. C.-W. J. V.-H. R. M.— F. I. W.-L. C— J. T.-G. N.
_j. r._v. W. M.-B. E. S.-C. F.— W. B. M— J. U.—
W . S.-J. J. C.-J. W. T.— H. E. G.-J. L.-J. A. F.-H. S.
-Professor T.-J. F. T. D.-S. C. H.-W. W.-G. R. G.—
M. S.-E. C. J.-W. H. H.-W. S.— E. R. F.-G. T.-R. P. P.
-C. R. L.-A. D. M.-W. B.— G. C D.— W. G.— W. E.;B.—
J. E. S.— &c.
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
I o
A GOSSIP ABOUT NEW BOOKS.
have not been so
much delighted
with a book since
we read Darwin's
' ' Journal of a
Naturalist," as we
have with Mr. H.
N. Moseley's
Notes by a Natura-
list on the " Chal-
lenger V (London :
Macmillan & Co.)
Si ngularly
enough, the book
is dedicated to
Darwin, in ac-
knowle d g e m e n t
of that authors'
"Journal." We
cannot forbear
quoting the
"Dedication," for although these literary vagaries
are " survivals " of a period, when they were unfortu-
nately necessary to a poor author, yet they afford
modern writers the opportunity of expressing their
genuine gratitude for services other than pecuniary
they have received. Mr. Moseley's dedication is
moreover representative, for it expresses the feel-
ings of many grateful naturalists who have not the
opportunity of so practically acknowledging it as
Mr. Moseley has. " To Charles Darwin, Esq., LL.D.,
F.R.S., &c. From the study of whose 'Journal of
Researches,' I mainly derived my desire to travel
round the world ; to the development of whose theory
I owe the principal pleasures and interests of my life,
and who has personally given me much kindly en-
couragement in the prosecution of my studies, this
book is, by permission, gratefully dedicated."
Mr. Moseley has long been regarded as one of our
most -promising young naturalists. He inherits the
scientific tendencies of his father, the distinguished and
lately deceased Rev. Canon Moseley. As a Fellow
of Exeter College, and the possessor of the Radcliffe
travelling fellowship, he has been fortunately enabled
to pursue studies for which he is so well fitted. His
No. 172.
researches in the natural history relations of the
Milleporidse and Stylasteridre, in which he has shown
that these abundant and so-called "Corals" are in
reality allied to the Hydroid polypes, rather than to
the Anthozoa, have opened out a new field of specula-
tion and classification. Although the " Challenger"
expedition has already furnished us with abundant
literature, it is not invidious, but simply a justice to
the talented author of this book to say that none will be
so warmly or satisfactorily welcomed and read. In a
pleasant confidential manner, Mr. Moseley makes his
readers the companions of his voyage. We gradually
feel as he does the necessity to examine every object,
mineral, vegetable, or animal, and we are delighted
by finding these objects assuming a new importance,
when regarded in the light of Evolutionism. For the
author is an ardent evolutionist, and makes frequent
use of that philosophy to speculate on derivations,
relationships, and general embryology. We can but
faintly indicate the fresh and delightfully new avenues
of thought which Mr. Moseley's book opens out.
Nothing is neglected — physics, physical geography,
geology, mineralogy, botany, zoology, anthropology ;
in each of these departments the reader will find
abundant reflections. The "Challenger" expedition
has not been so successful in results as its friends
desired it, and all confess to a disappointment. We
cannot but think, however, that Mr. Moseley's
"Notes" will do more than anything which has
yet publicly appeared to restore confidence in the
scientific results of the celebrated voyage.
Flowers and their unbidden Guests, by Dr. A.
Kerner ; translated by Dr. W. Ogle (London : C.
Kegan Paul & Co.), is a well-known work, recently
translated from the German. We are glad that
English readers have now the opportunity of studying
one of the most delightful books that have yet appeared
on the mechanism and morphology of flowers. It is
a veritable romance of natural history ; it throws
a new and poetic glamour about the simplest flower
of the roadside. We have already learned how
flowers have been coloured and perfumed and dif-
ferently shaped, in order to attract useful insects to
the necessary work of cross-fertilisation, but here we
are introduced to numberless devices, by means of
74
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
which flowers (like conscious agents) are enabled to
repel and refuse admission to insects, such as ants,
which would rob the nectaries whilst rendering no
useful services in return. The hairs and glands on
stems and calyx, the fibrils on petals like those of
the bog-bean [Menyanthes trifoliata), &c, are all
intended against " forbidden guests." No one could
have been better intrusted with the editing of an
English edition of this remarkably original work than
Dr. Ogle. It is illustrated by lithographed details of
flowers whose structures are intended to repel insect
pests, and we have thus rather too closely packed to-
gether no fewer than one hundred and eighteen figures.
The Physical Geology and Geography of Great
Britain, by Professor Ramsay (London : Edward
Stanford), is a good illustrative book of the doctrine
of evolution, and "The Survival of the Fittest."
This is the fifth edition, and it has gradually grown
to its present remarkable bulk from a thin revised
copy of " reporter's notes " of certain lectures on the
subject. It has now attained the dignity of a book,
after additions to each edition of new matter and
fresh illustrations ; and it warrants us in saying that
it is the best and most readable book on the subject
in the English language. When a work has reached
its fifth edition, it has proved its amenity to ordinary
criticism. But the numerous additions to, and the
general revision of the present work have virtually
made it a new book. We have read it through from
back to back with fresh pleasure, although we had
experienced much delight with the perusal of the
more meagre third edition. We take it as a good
sign when men of Professor Ramsay's position, as
head of the geological survey, and also examiner-in-
chief in geology at South Kensington, write books of
this broad and understandable character for geological
readers. We hardly need say, after the above remarks,
that we cordially and earnestly recommend the work
to all students.
IVildSports and Natural History of the Highlands,
by Charles St. John. (London : John Murray.) This
is a new and illustrated edition of a work which
sportsmen - naturalists have long placed on their
shelves, side by side with Gilbert White's " Selborne."
We are thankful that the publisher has issued such
an attractive edition as is likely to make this most
enjoyable book known to readers, who perhaps are
not aware of the treat in store for them on perusing
it. It is one of the "classics" of our zoological
works, full of mountain air, out-door adventures, and
observations, and in full sympathy with life of all kinds.
This edition is de luxe. Apart from the excellency
of the clear type, the woodcut illustrations are gems
of art, for among the artists are Harrison Weir,
Charles Whymper, A. C. Corbould, A. H. Collins,
A. T. Elwes, and J. W. Whymper. The reperusal
of this most delightsome book, under these advan-
tageous circumstances, has been as refreshingly
interesting as lovers' quarrels.
Six Months in Ascension, by Mrs. Gill (London :
John Murray), gives a popular and very readable
description of the islands of that name, and of the
expedition thither to determine the correct distance
of the earth to the sun. There is a capital preface by
the husband of the authoress, Mr. David Gill, giving
the history of solar measurements. Some people
have complained that astronomers should differ to the
extent of a million or two of miles as to the correct
distance of the sun from us, but Mr. Gill well puts
this, when he tells us that if any one desires to form
an adequate idea of the difficulties of measuring the
sun's distance to a million of miles, he can best do it
by trying to measure the thickness of a florin-piece
looked at, edge on, a mile off. We may regard Mrs.
Gill's book as the best account of the history of, and
the reason for, the recent Venus' Transit Expedition
yet published.
Geological students and others ought to be thankful
that the best man in England for such a task has
been selected to write an elementary text-book of
Petrology, a subject too [little studied by English
mineralogists. The Study of Rocks, by Frank Rutley,
F.G.S. (London : Longmans, Green, & Co.), is the
name of this new and cheap little manual. It supplies
a great want ; one attempted very successfully in
Mr. G. H. Kinahan's " Handy Book of Rock Names,"
but still not properly met before. Petrology has been
gaining ground in England, and this text-book comes
in the very nick of time. In it the student will find
full instructions as to how to collect and arrange rock
specimens, and to cut and prepare sections for micro-
scopical examination.
Practical Geology, by W. Jerome Harrison, F.G.S.
(London : W. Stewart & Co.), is a cheap little manual,
admirably adapted to teacher's classes, and to young
and earnest students. The author is a well-known
geologist, who has had sufficient experience in
geological teaching to know exactly what a student
wants, and how those wants are to be supplied.
This little book deals a good deal with field geology,
and thus enables the reader to sally forth and intel-
ligibly understand what he sees.;] Once a lad has
done this, he is a geologist henceforth. There are
few of the numerous elementary text - books of
geology, that we can commend more than this of
Mr. Harrison's.
Baths and Bathing, and Personal Appearance in
Health and Disease (London : Hardwicke & Bogue),
are two additional little volumes of the now well-
known " Health Primers." No family library ought
to be without these cheap, attractive, and well-
printed little volumes. Each is an authority on the
subject it treats upon, for the authors are among the
most eminent. We cannot wonder, therefore, at the
great success of this speculation. The price of each
" Primer " is only one shilling, and as they deal with
almost every subject affecting health and disease, and
are written in a plain and intelligible manner, there
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
75
is no longer any excuse for being ignorant of what
ought most to concern us.
The volumes issued by the United States Geological
Survey, under Dr. Hayden, indicate as great industry
as their subject-matter does diligence in the field.
The Tenth Annual Report is just to hand, in a bulky
volume, well stored with maps, sections, and other
illustrations, of the geological and geographical survey
of Colorado and the adjacent territories. It is in
reality a report of the progress made by the survey in
the year 1876. In it we have laborious details of the
various strata and their physical condition, as well as
interesting generalisations. Among the geologists
who contribute to the "Reports," are Dr. C. A.
White, Professor Endlich, Dr. A. C. Peale, W. H.
Holme, A. D. Wilson, H. Gaunett, Professor Les-
quereux, A. S. Packard, Dr. Hoffmann, and others.
The archaeology of the area surveyed is detailed, as
well as the geography, geology, botany, zoology, &c.
The Birds of the Colorado Valley, by Dr. Elliot
Coues, is another bulky volume of this survey series,
detailing the scientific and popular information con-
cerning North American ornithology, by the naturalist
best fitted for the task. Will the English govern-
ment ever learn to be less niggardly and mean with
the works published by the members of our own
geological survey? At present, by the high price
demanded for the volumes, and the stint with which
they are issued to scientific journals for review, they
appear to be doing their best to withhold the scientific
information from that public who have already been
taxed to pay for it.
ANOTHER FUNGUS RAMBLE IN EPPING
FOREST.
By Dr. De Crespigny, Author of "A New London
Flora," &c.
{Continued from page 6.]
WE find no fungus in our collection referable to
the family of Hydnei : some of the stemless
and resupinate forms are common enough on dead
wood and fallen branches, but Hydnum repandum, an
edible species with the habit of an agaric, has to the
best of our knowledge not been reported as occurring
in Epping forest ; but, as we gathered a specimen in
Highgate wood a year or two ago, it may not im-
probably be met with also in the forest ; it will be
recognised by the close-set series of spinous processes
over which the hymenium is spread out. The pileus,
usuallyjrregular (as in the figure), is of a~pale ochre
colour.
Of fungi belonging to the Auricularini we have
Stereum hirsutwn and purpureum, a Corticium,
and Thelephora laciniata. In this family there are
neither plates, tubes nor spinous processes : the
hymenium is spread over the smooth surface of the
hymenophorum, with which it is confluent. These
fungi are waxy or gelatinous or mostly coriaceous
expansions growing upon decayed wood or attached
to dead sticks, stems, &c, many of them resupinate.
Stereum hirsutum is very common and very variable ;
when young the hymenium is of a tawny yellow
colour; the pileus coriaceous, reflexed, strigoso-hirsutc.
S. purpureum when fresh, has the hymenium of a
pale violet hue ; (on stumps of felled trees). All the
many recorded species of Stereum, Corticium and the
like, resemble each other ; they differ merely in colour
and substance, and are consequently difficult to
distinguish.
Thelephora laciniata is a very singular-looking
fungus ; it grows upon sticks, heath stalks, and at the
roots of old trees ; also on leaves (or their stalks) ; it
is of a madder brown colour, with a lighter shaded or
greyish border when fresh gathered ; a fibroso-
squamose flat or foliaceous expansion without any
cuticle, the fibres projecting beyond the margin and
imparting that laciniated appearance to the plant to
which it owes its name ; the hymenium is inferior
flocculose and papillose : the spores, as we observed
them, were quaternate on sporophores.
Of the club-shaped fungi, Clavariei, are specimens
of three species : C. cristata, C. vermiculata, and
C. fusiformis ; the former in damp shady parts of the
forest ; the second on a grassy common at Woodford ;
the last mentioned in open parts of the forest behind
Loughton, — it has fascicled or subfascicled clavi of a
yellow colour, and resembles C. fastigiata or C. in- ,
cvqualis; maybe we have mistaken it for the latter species.
In this family the hymenium is scarcely distinct from
the hymenophorum, and covers the whole surface of
the plant from the base to the apex.
In the second order of the spore-bearing fungi, the
Gasteromycetes, the hymenium consisting of closely
packed cells, is rolled up, in some cases, as it were
into a sac or ball called peridium, and not until the
rupture of this by decay or otherwise, are the cells
exposed and the spores liberated. Of the Trichogastres,
which contain the typical forms of the family, we have
examples in three kinds of puffballs : Lycoperdon
gemmatum, Scleroderma cepa and S. vcrrucosum. The
peridium of the former genus is membranous ; that
of the latter is hard and coriaceous : both genera
occasionally exhibit a warty character in the integu-
ments, L. gemmatum especially so (see fig. 68). "The
hymenium occupies the surface of innumerable sinuses,
folds and cavities, all closely compacted into a
crumblike mass, the stem being a continuation of the
barren cells " (Berkeley). In Scleroderma the hymen-
ium is traversed by veins, and the spores are larger
than they are in Lycoperdon.
In the Phalloidera family, the hymenium is also
confined at first in a peridium which differs from that
of the preceding family in that there is an intermediate
gelatinous layer between its coats. The stipe in its
undeveloped condition has the large cells or cavities
of its parenchyma compressed ; but they are obvious
E 2
76
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
enough when bursting through the volva : it attains a
growth of from four to six inches. The hymenium is
deliquescent when mature : — Phallus impudicus ; fre-
quent, and when not visible to the eye, sensible, by
the sickening odour which it diffuses, to the smell.
On a hedge bank at Chingford Hatch, near Wood-
ford, some years ago, we gathered specimens of a
curious plant belonging to another family of the
Gasteromycetes, viz., Nidularia striata (may be
there now) ; the peridium, or rather the receptacle,
in this tribe is open and cyathiform when fully deve-
loped, and the spores though produced on sporophores,
are compacted into little globose bodies, of which
there are several in each receptacle, and each of them
65U XfL* <& v
Fig, 62, — Hydnum rejrandum ; a. spines
magnified.
1 % mm'^
Fig. 63. — Smooth hymenium and strigoso-hirsute
pileus of Stereum hirsutum.
Fig. 64.— Papillose hy-
menium and spores of
the same, quaternate
on sporophores.
Fig. 65. — ThelepJwra laciniata (upper and under surfaces).
attached by a
Fig. 68. — Spinulose warts on
the cuticle of Lycoperdon
gemmatum (enlarged).
Fig. 67. — Clavaria cristata.
Fig. 69. — Section of a Sclero-
k derma, showing the central
purplish-black mass of cells.
Fig. (6. — Clavaria fusiformis.
filament to its base. These
gregarious ; something of similar
plants are
growth may be observed on the fronds of certain
species of Marchantia.
Of the Ascomycetous order, also, we found
a few interesting fungi, viz., Xylaria hypoxylon,
from the base of an old gate-post ; Peziza
vesicularis, from a dunghill ; and a Sphseria or
two from the dead branches of trees. The
fructification in plants of this order consists of
sporidia (compound spores) enclosed in cases
called asci, either free or immersed in the
substance (stroma) of the fungus.*
Peziza vesicularis is common : the matrix is
rotten hay or straw haulms. The sporidia are
eight in number, and, closely packed with the
* Similar to what obtains in lichens, except that no
shields are developed for the purpose.
HARD WICKE'S S CIENCE- G O SSI P.
77
asci, which contains them, are barren or empty asci,
called paraphyses. * The cups are of a brownish
colour, not unlike very thin gutta percha, brittle, the
hymenium soft and velvety from the compact layer of
asci with which it is covered. Xylaria hypoxylon has
the habit of Clavaria ; it is black, greyish at the
summit, hairy below. The horny receptacles in which
the asci are contained are called perithecia.
Sphaeria is something of a lichen in its habit of
growth. The genus has been of late years split into
several sub-genera : the distinctions are difficult to
Sapedonium, yellow boletus mould as it is called ; an
agency by which one fungus is converted into a mass
of spores produced by another ; frequent : and Tuber-
cularia (fam. Stilbacei), little excrescences on dead
wood ; they are composed of compacted threads ; also
frequent. In conclusion we would refer those of our
readers who may be interested in microscopic mycology
to the splendid work of the brothers Tulasne on the
subject, in which the growth of the reproductive
agency from the tissue, and various forms it assumes
are most admirably figured and described, while
Fig. 71. — Peziza vesiculai'is.
Fig. 72. — Xylaria
hypoxylon.
Fig. 70. — Vertical section of rhallns impudkus,
in the young state, showing the hymenium,
gelatinous intermediate layer, and undeveloped Fig. 73
stipe.
make out ; we refrain therefore from naming our
specimens, and confine ourselves to remarking that
they are black excrescences usually found on the bark
of dead branches of trees, with carbonaceous perithecia,
pierced at the apex and mostly papillate. The higher
forms of these Ascomycetous fungi are represented by
the truffle and morel. The types of other families
belonging to the'order are Hypoxylon and Phacidium.
Specimens of Phacidium we found upon the leaves of
a sycamore tree at Woodford. We would also observe
that the "perithecia " of the Ascomycetes proper must
not be confounded with the " sporangia " of a section
of moulds which comprise the family of the Physco-
mycetes associated with them. These growths are
forms which should occupy a position intermediate
with the Hymenomycetes : the contents of these
" sporangia " are simple spores, not sporidia. Of the
rust, smut, mildew, mould (not physcomycetous) and
other microscopic growths found upon vegetable
matter of different kinds which compose the Conio-
mycetous and Hyphomycetous orders, we have also
two curious growths belonging to the latter, viz.,
-Asci of Peziza vesicularis ; b, sporidia :
all magnified.
Epping Forest, well explored,
will afford abundant material
for study.
P.S. — At page 254, No. 167,
errahcm. Pleiirotus : add, "
lateral or excentric."
t
Fig. 74. — Xylaria hypoxy-
lon; b vertical section
showing the perithecia ;
c an ascus of the same
containing sporidia.
Stem, when present,
* Besides these, simple cells, called gonidia, attached to simple
filaments, have been observed in these as in most kinds of fungi.
Note. — Pholiota aureus: said not to be the true
species known by this name and very rare, but an
allied form, P. spectabilis.
{Concluded.)
LIMESTONE AS AN INDEX OF GEO-
LOGICAL TIME.
THIS is the title of a paper recently read before
the Royal Society, by Mr. T. Mellard Reade,
C.E., F.G.S. The author showed that the geo-
logical history of the globe is written only in it--
sedimentary strata, but if we trace its history back-
wards, unless we assume absolute uniformity, wes
arrive at a time when the first sediments resulted
from the degradation of the original crust of the
idobe. There is no known rock to which a geologist
7S
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
could point and say " that is the material from which
all sedimentary rocks have been derived," but analogy
leads us to suppose that if the earth had an igneous
origin, the original materials upon which the elements
first began to work were of the nature of granite or
basalt. From a variety of considerations drawn from
borings, mines, faults, natural gorges and proved
thicknesses of the strata of certain mountain chains,
the author arrives at the conclusion that the sedimen-
tary crust of the earth is at least of an average actual
thickness of one mile, and infers from the propor-
tionate amount of carbonates and sulphates of lime to
materials in suspension in various river waters flowing
from a variety of formations, that one-tenth of the
thickness of this crust is calcareous. Limestone rocks
have been, geology tells us, in process of formation
from the earliest known ages, but the extensive series
of analyses of water made by Dr. Frankland for the
Rivers Pollution Commission, shows that the later
strata in Great Britain are much more calcareous than
the earlier. The same holds true of the continent of
Europe, and the balance of evidence seems in favour
of the supposition that there has been on the whole a
gradual progressive increase or evolution of lime.
The " Challenger " soundings show that carbonate of
lime in the form of tests of organisms is a general
deposit characterising the greater part of the ocean
bottoms, while the materials in suspension are,
excepting in the case of transport by ice, deposited
within a distance of 200 miles of land. This wider
distribution in space of lime, the author thinks, must
also profoundly influence its distribution in time, and
he shows this by example and illustration. It can
also be proved to demonstration that the greater part
of the ocean bottom must at one time or another have
been land, else the rocks of the continents would
have become gradually less, instead of more, cal-
careous. Thus the arguments drawn from the geo-
graphical distribution of animals are reinforced by
physical considerations. The author goes on to show
that the area of granite and volcanic rocks in Europe
and the part of Asia between the Caspian and the
Black Sea, as shown in Murchison's map of Europe,
is two-twenty-fifths (^) of the whole ; much of this
is probably remelted sediments and some of the
granites the product of metamorphism. From con-
siderations stated at length it is estimated that the
area of exposures of igneous to sedimentary rocks
would be for all geological time liberally averaged at
one-tenth (■}$) of the whole. These igneous rocks are
either the original materials of the globe protruded
upwards, or they are melted sediments] or a mixture
of the two. The only igneous rocks we know of are
of the nature of granites and traps. If these rocks do
not constitute the substratum of the earth, and all
known rocks, igneous as well as sedimentary, are
derivative, either geological time is infinite, or the
rock from which they are derived is, so far as we know,
annihilated geologically speaking, and we have no re-
cords of it left. If we assume the latter as true, the past
is immeasurable, but in order to arrive at a minimum
age of the earth, the author starts from the hypothesis
that the fundamental rocks were granitic and trappean.
From eighteen analyses by Dr. Frankland, it is shown
that the water flowing from granitic and igneous rock
districts in Great Britain contains on an average 373
parts per 100,000 of sulphates and carbonates of lime.
The amount of water that runs off the ground is
given for several of the great continental river basins
in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. The annual
depth of rain running off the granitic and igneous
rock areas, taking into consideration the greater
height at which they usually lie and the possibility of
greater rainfall in earlier ages, is averaged at twenty-
eight inches, and the annual contribution of lime in
solution in the forms of carbonates and sulphates at
seventy tons per square mile. With these elements,
and giving due weight to certain physical considera-
tions that have been urged in limitation of the earth's
age, the author proceeds to his calculations, arriving
at this result, that the elimination of the calcareous
matter contained in the sedimentary crust of the
earth must have occupied at least 600 millions of
years. The actual time occupied in the formation
of the groups of strata as divided into relative ages
by Professor Ramsay, is inferred as follows : —
Millions of years.
Laurentian, Cambrian, and Silurian . . . 200
Old Red, Carboniferous, Permian, and New-
Red 200
Jurassic, Wealden, Cretaceous, Eocene, Mi-
ocene, Pliocene, and Post-pliocene . . 200
600
The concluding part of the paper consists of
answers to objections. The author contends that
the facts adduced prove geological time to be
enormously in excess of the limits urged by some
physicists, and ample to allow on the hypothesis of
evolution for all the changes which have taken place
in the organic world.
ON ALTERNATION OF GENERATIONS.
THIS term — used in botanical works to express a
consecutive series of phases exhibited in a
marked manner by most flowerless plants before
reaching maturity- — is a very unfortunate one, imply-
ing that each form in the series is "an individual, which
is erroneous. The following description of the suc-
cessive stages in the growth of a fern shows what the
term "alternation of generations" is intended to
convey. The spore, under favourable conditions,
gives origin to a minute green leaf-like body called a
prothallium or proembryo, bearing antheridia and
archegonia (the former corresponding to the stamens,
the latter to the pistil in flowering plants), the last
containing a special cell, the oospore, which after
HARD WICKE ' S S CIENCE- G O S.SIP.
79
fertilisation with the antherozoids that have been
produced by the antheridia (corresponding functionally
with the pollen of flowering plants), germinates and
gives origin to a fern plant which produces spores,
each capable of giving origin to a similar cycle of
changes. In this case there are two so-called genera-
tions, the first commencing with the germination of
the spore and terminating with the production of the
fertilised oospore, at which period the prothallium
perishes, this is styled the sexual generation, because
the oospore — equivalent to the fertilised ovule in
flowering plants — is the direct result of fertilisation ;
the second generation commences with the germina-
tion of the oospore and ends with the production of
spores on the fern plant, this is the asexual generation,
because the spore is not the result of direct fertilisa-
tion, and when sown could not give origin to a fern
plant without previously producing the sexual pro-
thalloid form. In this instance we have clearly re-
presented only one generation, not two ; when once
growth has commenced with the spore it goes on un-
interruptedly until another spore is formed, the fer-
tilised oospore, which is said to terminate the first
generation, not possessing the power of remaining in
a state of dormant vitality, as is the case with the
seeds of flowering plants, and which marks the end
of the individual that gave origin to the seed, but
this property is possessed by the fern spore, therefore
one generation includes all the changes from the
germination of a spore until the production of another
similar one. The term "alternation of generations,"
so far as concerns the vegetable kingdom, simply
expresses the fact that when active life has commenced,
a series of changes in form and function must be
passed through before the starting-point can be again
reached, or in other words before a body capable of
giving origin to a similar cycle can be repeated. In
fungi the "generations" are frequently several in
number, but they do not always follow in the same
order, the appearance of any one appears to be deter-
mined by surrounding causes, so that the plant
possesses the property of repeating itself under widely
different conditions. In ferns we have seen that the
sexual generation is microscopic and disappears —
except the oosphere — before the appearance of the
large asexual form or fern proper ; in mosses, on the
contrary, the sexual generation — the leafy part of the
plant — is largest and frequently perennial, giving origin
to several asexual generations — the capsules. The terms
prothallus or pro-embryo are vaguely defined, the
latter signifying everything produced anterior to the
embryo, consequently when a bulbil of Liliitm bulbi-
fertim developes into a plant the whole represents
a pro-embryo, as would also a potato plant origina-
ting from a tuber, both would also be examples
of asexual generations, whereas plants produced
from seeds of the above "would constitute the sexual
generation.
G. E. Massee.
A CHAPTER ON FISH PARASITES.
By John Davies, F.R.M.S.
FISH parasites are a subdivision of the Entomo-
straca, and are divided into several species,
viz. : The Caligulus, having a sucking mouth and a
regular series of legs. They are sometimes called
"suctorial Crustacea." The Argulidre, which prin-
cipally infest fresh-water fish. The body is covered
with an oval shell, the abdomen is exposed. It has a
pair of sucking discs, or feet-jaws, and four pairs of
legs more or less articulated and generally plumose.
These parasites undergo a number of remarkable
changes and cast their shells at frequent intervals. If
a limb is lost it is replaced at the next moult, same as
crabs, lobsters, &c. These castings take place at
intervals of two or three days during some periods of
the year. The Argulidse are mostly found on fish in
a weakly state, or on those that have met with some
accident, which causes them to be more than usually
sluggish ; or on those that are by nature inert. The
carp offers a striking example of the latter class, and
the fact of its being more than usually infested has
given rise to a proverb. I do not think the fish suffer
in any way from the presence of these creatures — on the
contrary, if they feed on cutaneous secretions, it must
benefit their host, from a " hygienic point of view."
These parasitic Crustacea are very quick in their
movements over their hosts, being able to travel back-
wards and forwards with equal facility. Their peculiar
mode of swimming has been described as a "series of
tumblings over and over, and darts in a straight line
with great rapidity." The fish seem to have a great
aversion to these messmates as an article of food, for
if by chance one gets down the throat of a fish it
immediately ejects it again, and would rather starve
than eat it. The female has generally two long
oviferous tubes for depositing her eggs (see Article
in Science-Gossip, page 33, vol. 1878).
When the young animal comes forth it resembles
the Cyclops, and by successive moultings attains the
adult form. These metamorphoses do not apply to
the males, as they scarcely alter in form and only
slightly increase in size.
It is a curious fact that most of these animals when
first hatched bear a great resemblance to the creatures
immediately below them in point of organisation. Their
cast-off shells, after being cleaned by the myriads of
minute scavengers (Monads) form most beautiful
objects for the microscope. They should be examined
with the half-inch objective in conjunction with the
spot lens, and as permanent objects can be preserved
in a solution of chloride of calcium, or glycerine-jelly.
There is a great difficulty in examining these small
Crustacea as they soon perish after leaving their native
element, and in fact they seem bent on committing
self-destruction, as they generally climb out of the
vessel in which they are placed, and soon end their
existence. The Caligulus was first-mentioned by
So
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
Baldner, a self-taught naturalist (a fisherman) of
Strassburg, about 1700. In 1740, Frisch, in his
" Insecten in Deutschland," describes it as Fisch-laus.
Linnseus in his " Systema Naturse," mentions it as the
Monoculus foliaceus. The best description, however,
is given in " Ann. et Mus. d'Hist. Nat." for 1806, and
at the present time this article is largely quoted. The
Argulus was first noticed about fifty years after the
Caligulus, and several mistakes seem to have been
made, one author actually mistaking the tail for the
head. This was a pardonable blunder, as the use of
the microscope was little known in those days. It,
however, led to a great amount of confusion, as each
writer, copying the remarks of those before him,
six layers of bronchial lamellae finely marked, and are
used for sucking the juices of the fish, or from the
mucous products secreted by the skin. Between
these suckers is a round sinus, whose functions I do
not know ; from near this opening commences the
alimentary canal, which runs through the centre of the
parasite, throwing off "coecal prolongations," and
terminating between the caudal appendages, where is
situated the cloaca.
The primary canal contains the oesophagus, stomach,
and intestines. Below the sucking discs is a pair of
foot-jaws serrated in their inner edges, which are used
for masticating the food. In the centre of these jaws
is situated the mouth. Leydig describes the mouth
Fig. 75. — Parasite of wrasse (ventral view)
i inch.
Scale,
Fig. 76. — Sucker of
parasite of wrasse ;
X 310.
caused an accumulation of errors. Milne-Edwards'
" Hist. Nat. des Crus." gives a full and good descrip-
tion in 1840, and since that time several American
and Continental writers have greatly increased our
knowledge on the subject.
The following is a description of two minute para-
sitic Crustacea which were taken from living specimens,
and which differ in some particulars from any hitherto
recorded. They give but a vague idea of the wonder-
ful organisation and beauty of form of these minute
beings, which are so perfectly adapted to perform all
the functions designed by Providence for these lowly
creatures.
This parasite (fig. 75) is oval and slightly convexed.
It is divided into two parts, the thorax and the
abdomen ; the thorax coalesces with the hind part,
which is sometimes, but erroneously, called the tail.
The posterior part contains the swimming-legs. In
this individual the thorax is composed of a shelly
carapace strengthened by a series of bands diverging
from the centre. This shell extends to about three-
fourths of the length of the parasite. The remainder
consists of four segments of a soft sarcode interspersed
with small pink puncta.
The last pair of segments has a distinct band which
serves to divide it transversely. A pair of sternal
forks is placed at the termination of the abdomen.
The cephalo-thorax is composed of a shelly trans-
parent substance, and according to Pickering and
Dana, is formed of two layers or substances. The
head is blunted and contains a pair of antennae,
which in some individuals is at right-angles, and in
others is turned upwards. Between these antennae
and the centre of the head is a pair of lunules or
sucking-discs (see fig. 76) which are composed of about
Fig. 77.
-Parasite of bass (ventral
view) ; X 25.
in the Argulus foliaceus as follows : " The opening of
the mouth is placed in a club-shaped projection bent
downwards. It is divided posteriorly by a crescent-
shaped lower lip, anteriorly and laterally by two broad
gradually tapering plates, several disc-like pieces
inside representing the mandibles."* M. T. Thowell
observed " two small teeth."
A little below the gullet is a pair of thoracic feet
graduating from the carapace to the termination, and
curved so as almost to meet at their extremities.
These legs are covered with a series of triangular
scales, which gives them the appearance of being
irregularly segmentated. Under these locomotive
appendages is another pair, much thinner and turned
towards the posterior. Between the shell and the
abdominal part is a pair of fan-shaped fins composed
of six cartilaginous ossicles and covered with a fine
membrane. These parasites have two simple oval
eyes. This Caligulus was taken from the Green
Wrasse {Labrus lineatus). Colour, opal white, with
dark crimson markings. Fig. 77 is an individual of
the genus Argulidse ; there are only two or three
species known. It is of a pale green colour and
about -jL inch each way, being nearly round. The
membranous carapace is covered with a peculiar
V-shaped marking, and forms a shield over the whole
of the body. The fore-part is obtusely round, it has
a pair of perfect eyes, very dark and brilliant ;
* On the "Morphology of the Argulidae," 1866.
HARD WICKE'S SCIENCE- G OSS-IP.
81
antennae above the eyes, short and pointed, and
are scarcely seen. Between the eyes commences the
alimentary canal, which leads to a long oval dark
mass, which is supposed to contain the mouth,
oesophagus, &c.
Situated on either side of the optic nerves is a pair
of remarkable organs which are both legs and
suckers, according to Dr. Baird* they are: "The
anterior pair or second pair of foot-jaws, and of a
peculiar construction. They are in the form of short
hollow flexible cylinders .... having a membranous
margin and figured all round with membranous rays
.... by this organisation the animal can make use
of them as real suckers or cupping glasses and fasten
itself to the fish on which it lives, and also to walk
with when it wishes to change its position. By con-
tracting these muscles it can exhaust the cavity of the
sucking disc, producing a vacuum, and this enables
it to adhere firmly to the surface upon which it is
placed." By Dana and Herrick they are called
"prehensile feet." About midway are placed two
pairs of long and beautifully formed legs, and further
below are four more pairs also plumosed and carried
towards the posterior.
The abdomen consists of a pair of lobed oval
appendages, or perhaps egg-corpuscles, and are marked
with longitudinal lines about eight in number.
At the commencement of these ovate organs are
two bright crimson star-shaped markings which are
said not to be observable in the male. Between
these appendages terminates the intestine canal, and
here is situated the anal orifice.
This species was found on the gill of the Bass
\Labrax lupus).
ON THE MITE OF THE HUMBLE BEE
GAMASUS.
I SHOULD like to draw the attention of students
of the Arachnoida to a minute mite, which
I have frequently found parasitic on the Gamasi
infesting queen humble bees. I first noticed it, I
think, in the spring of 1877. I suppose it must be
the Hypopus (whatever that may be) of Gamasus, but
it differs so remarkably from all other Hypopi that
I have seen, or indeed from all other mites with
which I am acquainted, that I should like to know
more about it. I have found as many as seven
specimens on a single Gamasus. The humble bee
on which I first found it in 1878 was the Bombus
vh-ginalis of Kirby. It moves about on its host with
tolerable speed, giving one an idea of a pigmy tor-
toise ; it is covered with a shield of a brownish-yellow
colour, like some specimens of resin, shining, and very
evidently divided into an anterior or cephalic, and
posterior or dorsal portion. The legs are very re-
markable, the anterior pair being rather short, broad
and flattened, and each front leg is provided with a
peculiar and large single claw, like that found on the
three first pairs of legs of Trichodactylus Osmice, from
which mite it differs also, in having the chitinous
shield, instead of the corrugated skin so characteristic
of the Sarcoptidre. The second and third pair of
legs are much finer, rather longer, and furnished
with a double claw and large pad. The hind legs
terminate in a few long stiff hairs, somewhat like
Trichodactylus, only in that creature there is but a
single terminal hair to each hind leg. The mouth
Fig. 78. — Mite from Gamasus of Humble
bee ; X about 220.
Fig. 79. — Front leg (a) with claw, middle feet f^and pad, and
hind leg (c) of Gamasus.
' Natural History of British Entomostraca."
Fig. 80. — Scale, xitao inch.
parts I have not been able to make out satisfactorily,
but it appears to be furnished with two bristles, as in
Hypopus muscarum. The abdomen gives one an idea
of segmentation.
The readiest way of finding them, is, first to catch
the early queen humble bees when they frequent
the catkins of the sallow : these are almost invariably
invested with the desired Gamasus (which is exactly
like G. coleoptratorum). Place one of the bees
under a wine-glass, or tumbler, and introduce a
small piece of blotting paper moistened with hydro-
cyanic acid. This will speedily kill the bee, but
* Their structure is simple and fructification though various
in power, always sporiferous. _
82
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
before it is quite dead, the Gamasi will leave it, and
run about in all directions ; as soon as they are
stupified, examine them one by one under the
microscope, when the hypopi if present, will be
found attached to some portion of the Gamasus, and
may be removed, with care and some trouble, by using
a dissecting needle. On placing one or more on a
glass slip, and waiting a little while, it will be found
that they are not dead (unless they have been exposed
to the vapour of the acid for too long a time) and
when they come round, they will walk with tolerable
ease on the glass, although the front pair of legs are
of very little use to them under such circumstances ;
and this is the most favourable time for observing
the large claw, for in walking on glass it is protruded
a little way beyond the shield. When alive on the
Gamasus they cling to it by means of these large claws,
and in this state, the claw or fc leg will often be torn off
in trying to remove them with the needle.
I have not the works of Dujardin or Claparede
on this subject ; but if any reader of Science-Gossip
possesses them, and would kindly lend them to me
for a short time, I would take great care of them,
and gladly pay the carriage of them both ways.
Kirtoti Lindsey. C. F. George.
THE HISTORY OF RHUBARB {RHEUM).
By H. G. Glasspoole.
RHUBARB is a plant belonging to the Poly-
gonacese, the same order as the common dock
and buckwheat, to the latter family of which it belongs.
The use of the roots of this plant for medicinal pur-
poses is of great antiquity, and it is uncertain to
whom mankind are indebted for the discoveries of
its virtues. Its valuable properties appear to have
-been known to the Chinese long before the Christian
era, as it is stated in the Pharmacographic that this
drug is treated of in the herbal called Pen King,
which is attributed to the Emperor Shen-mung, the
father of Chinese agriculture and medicine, who
reigned about 2700 B.C. Dioscorides, physician to
Antony and Cleopatra, wrote on its qualities, and
recommended it against weakness of the stomach,
diseases of the liver ; and as an external remedy, he
mentions it as a cure for ringworm, if it be mixed
with vinegar and the place be anointed with it.
Dioscorides says the rha, by some called rheon, grows
in those countries which are beyond the Bosphorus,
and from which it is brought. It is a root which is
black externally, like the great centaury, but smaller,
redder, odourless, loose or spongy, and somewhat
smooth internally. The Greek physicians of a later
date, as Alexander of Tralles, and Paulus, of ^Egina,
have written upon its virtues ; and Pliny gives a
similar account as that of Dioscorides to a plant
which he calls rhacoma. The ancient Arabs were
acquainted with this plant ; one of their authors,
Mesne the younger, mentions three kinds — the Indian,
the Barbarian, and the Turkish. The recommenda-
tions of the medicinal virtues of this root by later
practitioners would fill many volumes ; as an article
of commerce it has been of considerable importance
for many centuries. All the species of rhubarb are
natives of Asia, and grow spontaneously on the
elevated lands of Tartary, Tibet, India, &c, and
also on the banks of the Volga. We have no account
of this plant being cultivated in England before 1629,
although it is stated in some of our old works on
gardening that the leaves of rhubarb were commonly
used as a pot-herb in the reign of Elizabeth, and
considered superior to spinach. Tusser also men-
tions it as a medicinal plant for the " Herbe garden ;"
this was no doubt monk's rhubarb, mentioned by
Gerard as grown in his garden and others in London and
elsewhere for the use of " phisick " and " chirurgerie."
He calls it " Rhubarbanim monachomm, Monks'
rhubarb. " f This plant did not belong to any species of
rheum, but appears to be Rumex alpinus, an Alpine
dock which grows in Switzerland and Germany, the
root being more astringent than purgative, is used by
the monks of the Alps to adulterate the true drug.
Although we have no account of the cultivation of
rhubarb before the date previously mentioned, the
seeds of the plant appear to have been sent to this
country as early as 1534, for in a postscript of a
letter of the above date, from that eccentric physician
Andrew Broide (or Brode) to Cromwell, secretary of
state to Henry VIII., he says, ' ' I have sent to your
Mastership the seeds of reuberbe, the which came out
of Barbary. In those parts it is considered a great
treasure." He also gives directions for sowing and
transplanting the roots, at least two hundred years
before the cultivation of it was known in England.*
Rheum rhaponticum, the common garden rhubarb,
was first grown in this country in 1629 by Parkinson,
who informs us that the seeds were sent him from
beyond the seas by a worthy gentleman named Dr.
Matt Lister, one of the king's physicians, and first
grew with him before it was ever seen or known
elsewhere in England, f but it was only grown as a
curiosity or for medicinal purposes, and was not
generally cultivated : as we find Professor Bradley, in
his " Husbandry and Gardening," published in 1724,
saying, " I could wish that we could get some of the
true rhubarb, if possible, for this has not yet been
grown in Europe as I could ever find, though once I
remember the late ingenious Mr. Jacob Robart thought
he had got it."
Rheum palmatum, another species grown in gardens,
was first introduced in 1763 by Dr. Mounsey, who
procured the seeds from Russia. The plants were
grown in the botanical gardens of Edinburgh and
Cambridge, from thence they were quickly dispersed
* Ellis, "Original Letters," 3 ser. vol. ii. p. 300.
t "Parad." 4 S 4 .
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
S3
over the island. Fennant, in his second tour in
Scotland, 1769, mentions having seen large quantities
of rhubarb being cultivated on the wild tracts of
that country by way of trial to see if it would succeed
as well there as in manured soils.
Mr. Charles Bryant, of Norwich, gives an interesting
paper in the "Gentleman's Magazine," 1766, p. 444,
on a plant of R. palmatum, grown in his garden in
Magdnlen Street. After giving a botanical description
of it, he proceeds to say that about the end of May
the flowers were almost all blown to the very top of
the flower-stem, and the whole consummated a
scene which not only merited the inspection of the
curious botanist, but gave delight to the delicate eye
of the most luxurious florist. The seed that pro-
duced this plant was sown in the open ground in the
botanic garden here (Norwich), April, 1763, where it
stood and flourished till November, 1765, when it
was taken up. A piece of its root came off, which
was copiously stored with a fine thickish saffron-
coloured juice of a very agreeable aroma to smell,
so volatile that it scented the whole garden. Half-
an-ounce of this fresh root, thinly sliced and steeped
twenty-four hours in half-a-pint of gin, made a most
agreeable sparkling saffron-coloured tincture, about
half a gill of which, taken upon an empty stomach,
was found a very good cordial.
R. rhaponticum was largely cultivated for me-
dicinal purposes at Banbury, Oxfordshire, in 1 777?
by Mr. Hayward, who was rewarded by the Society
of Arts in 1 789 with a silver, and in 1 794 with a gold,
medal for the excellency of the drug he produced.
The same society also presented Sir W. Fordyce a
gold medal for raising rhubarb from seeds in 1792.
It was not, however, until the beginning of the
present century that the stalks of rhubarb became an
article of commercial importance in the London and
other vegetable markets in the kingdom. About
1810, Mr. Myatt, of Deptford, sent two of his sons to
the Borough market with five bunches of rhubarb
stalks, of which they only sold three, people not
liking what they called physic pies. Notwithstanding,
Myatt continued its cultivation. As he predicted, it
soon became a favourite ; and now hundreds of tons'
weight of rhubarb are sold in Covent Garden in the
course of the year, and what amount in other markets
all over the country it is impossible to calculate.
The various uses of this plant in the kitchen de-
partment is well known. The petioles in the spring
and early summer are employed in tarts, &c, and
when the leaf stalks are too old for cooking, the
express juice from them is manufactured into a wine
closely resembling champagne ; indeed, much of the
common champagne drunk in this country is often
nothing more than a preparation from the stalks of
rhubarb and the fruit of the gooseberry. The large
globular pouch of unopened flowers when cooked as
rhubarb form a dish of great delicacy. Its chemical
composition is very complicated, and chemists have
failed to discover any peculiar principle in the drug
which fully accounts for its purgative properties.
The analyses of Schlossberger and Dbpping discovered
a variety of new principles in it, among which was
chrysophanic acid, a beautiful yellow substance emit-
ting yellow vapours when heated, soluble in alcohol,
its alkaline solution changing by evaporation to a
violet and then to a blue. Magnificent purples also
are obtained from the yellow colouring matter pro-
duced by heating rhubarb with nitric acid and then
with alkalies, and it has been proposed to apply
these, called ery those in the arts, as a dry stuff.*
Bryant tells us a decoction made from the fresh roots
of rhubarb is an excellent antiscorbutic, and in this
respect is no way excelled, if equalled, by a decoction
of the so much celebrated water dock, Rumex\hy-
drolapatJutm, which is still in the present day taken
for scorbutic diseases by the rustics in the Broad
districts of the eastern counties. The poor in some
parts of Scotland are said to apply heated rhubarb
leaves to parts affected by rheumatism, which they say
gives ease to the pain. The leaves are said to be used
in the fabrication of fictitious cigars and tobacco.
To the botanical microscopist the rhubarb supplies
excellent specimens of spiral fibrous structures, as
spiral annular and reticulated vessels and ducts, the
petioles, leaves, and roots contain bundles of stellate
raphides, oxalate of lime (which gives a grittiness to
the drug), which make beautiful objects for polarized
light. The original species of R. rhapouticum, un-
dulatum, and R. palmatum have now been super-
seded in our gardens by hybrid varieties possessing
the merits of larger size, delicacy in texture, and
coming earlier into use.
Rheum officinale, from which the drug is obtained,
was first grown in this country by the late Daniel
Ilanbury, F.R.S., who sent specimens to Mr. Usher,
of Banbury, where it is now being cultivated for
medicinal uses. This species is a native of the south-
east of Tibet. Some species of rhubarb are highly
ornamental in many situations in pleasure grounds,
&c, their luxuriant foliage and tall elegant spikes
and flowers contrasting so singularly with most of our
native plants. The generic name rheum is derived
from rha, the ancient name of the river Volga,
from which locality it is supposed the Greeks first
received it.
Field Mouse and Bees.— I keep several hives of
bees, and have placed pieces of perforated zinc about
three-quarters of an inch broad at the mouth or door of
each hive to prevent vermin, but the other day on
going to look after the bees, I found a field mouse had
entangled itself in the zinc in coming out of the hive ;
it was dead, and appears caught by its hind quarters,
and I suppose stung to death by the bees. Is not
this a very curious circumstance? — J. Lloyd Phelps.
* See Ripley and Dane, " American Cyclopaedia."
8 4
HARfiWICKE'S^S CIE NCE-GO SSI P.
ON THE AMBULACRAL SUCKERS AND
PEDICELLARI.E OF ECHINUS MILIARIS.
By Major Lang.
WHILST residing lately at Torquay, I carefully
studied the exterior organs of Echinus
miliar is, which is to be found there in considerable
abundance, under the stones at low water off Corbon
Head. I allude more especially to its ambulacral
suckers and those curious and little-understood
appendages, the pedicellarise.
If a dead and dry specimen of Echinus, popularly
called the sea-urchin or hedgehog, is examined by
a novice, he is at a loss to'jmderstand how the
little creature is enabled to creep, as it does, under
and over the rocks and stones in its native element.
Its calcareous shell is entirely covered and almost
hidden by sharp-pointed spines, whilst the mouth,
ambulacral perforations that the tubular sarcodic
tentacles, surmounted by their sucker-like disc, are
attached ; each of the five plates or segments of the
test are covered with tubercles arranged in longitu-
dinal rows, the summit of each tubercle being sur-
mounted with a polished nipple, on which the base
of the spine, which is slightly hollowed out for the
purpose, rests, so that they form together a perfect
ball and socket joint, employed therefore by nature
long before man had ever adopted it.
Having learnt thus much it will be well to go down
to the shore during low water, and obtain some living
specimens, which, as the creatures are tolerably
tenacious of life, can be brought home in some fresh
seaweed. A bottle of sea water must be also pro-
cured. On arriving at home, put the Echini in a
white soup plate and pour in the salt water. The
beautiful lilac and green tints of the spines, as they
languidly move in their sockets, willbe'first observed,
Fig. 81. — PediceV.aria triphylla, &c. of Echinus miliaris.
Fig. 82. — Pediccllaria /riiictts. a. calcareous stem, b. extensile neck, c. head.
which is placed on the under side, is surrounded by a
naked membrane. But if he looks carefully with a
pocket lens he will perceive, between the bases of the
spines, and more especially between those nearest the
mouth and on the periphery of the buccal membrane,
a great number of very minute discs apparently
attached to or resting on the shell. These are in
reality the organs of locomotion, the ambulacral
suckers, which the animal can protrude far beyond
the extremities of the spines by a method which will
be explained presently. Now if he will rub off the
spines, which he can easily do, he will see that the
test or shell is composed of five wedge-shaped seg-
ments, the apices of which meet at the top, and that
dividing these, or joining them, if you please, are five
ribs, each of which is furnished with two rows of
puncta or holes completely perforating the shell, as
can be proved by simply holding it up to the light
and looking through its interior ; and it is on these
and then many of the ambulacral suckers will be
seen extended far beyond these by their diaphanous
sarcodic tubes. The slightest touch will cause them
to retract, but with a sharp pair of scissors that por-
tion of the tubes beyond the spines with its suckers
may be cut off, the tube however shrinking up into
almost nothing towards the suckers. Remove this to
a watch glass into which a few drops of water have
been placed, and examine it under the microscope,
when it will be seen that the sucker is strengthened
by an interior circular skeleton, and that the tube ha&
fallen into corrugated folds. Replace the water by
some liquor potassse, and let the specimen soak in it
for a day or two. The potass will act upon and
destroy the sarcode, and a beautifully reticulated
calcareous disc or rosette with a scolloped margin and
central orifice, like a delicate piece of network will be
revealed, composed of from three to seven wedge-
shaped segments, which, if the action of the potass be
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-G SS/P.
85
much longer prolonged, will be separated from each
other. There are a vast number of these ambu-
lacral suckers on the entire test, and by their aid the
creature not only drags itself along, but anchors itself
to the rocks, and so tenaciously, that it requires con-
siderable force to detach it ; indeed, sooner than let
go its hold, I have found that it will allow the
suckers and tubes to be torn from it, and they have
been left on the bottom of the plate to which it had
been clinging. In fact this is the best way of obtain-
ing specimens for microscopic investigation. By
means of those on the upper portion of the shell the
animal is able to right itself if thrown on what we
may call its back, and by their aid also it can, and
does often, completely cover itself with pieces of sea-
weed, for the purpose, I presume, of concealment
from its enemies.
The method by which these suckers are extended
or retracted at the creature's will is interesting. In the
muscular bag filled with fluid is attached to the same.
When the sucker is to be protruded the muscles of
the interior bag contract, whilst the longitudinal ones
of the tube are relaxed, and consequently the fluid
expelled from the bag passes through the Vo pores
and entering the tube extends it. When it is to be
retracted, the process is of course reversed ; the
longitudinal muscles of the tube contracting, whilst
those of the bag relax, so that the fluid can re-enter it.
I need scarcely remark that in the sucker of the
Echinus we have another example of a mechanical
power in nature that has existed for ages, and that it
has been unconsciously reproduced in the school-boys'
well-known leathern sucker.
Let us now turn our attention to those extraordinary
appendages, the pedicellariae, which have always been,
and still are, a puzzle to naturalists. What their
functions may be, and what use they are to the
animal, is still a question which will be alluded to
' - M
Fig. 83. — Fedicellaria globifera.
Fig. 84. — Fedicellaria stci-cophylla, open and closed.
first place it may be seen under the microscope that the
tubes are furnished with both longitudinal and annular
muscles, the former for lengthening and shortening
them, the latter for increasing or diminishing their
calibre. I have said that there are five pairs of
ambulacral rows of pores. Now if a portion of one of
these meridianal primary rows is carefully examined,
it will be found to consist of numerous subordinate
diagonal ones, each of which is made up of three
pairs of pores. The tube of the sucker covers and
embraces one of these pairs, and within the test a
Fig. 85.— Single blade of
Fig. 81. (Fedicellaria
triphylla.)
presently. I will only remark,
here that similar organs are
found in some of the star-
fishes, and in a few of the
polyzoa. The Echinus has no
less than four different kinds
of pedicellarias, distinguished
by the names of Triphylla,
Tridens, Globifera, and Ste-
reophylla. I have found them
all, with the exception of
Globifera, on the naked mem-
brane surrounding the mouth,
the latter seems to be con-
fined to the bases of the spines, whilst Triphylla, by
far the most abundant, is also scattered generally over
every portion of the shell. Although the form and
size of the different species differ considerably, their
general plan and structure are identical. A calcareous
and more or less fibrous stem, enlarged at either end
like a double drum-stick, is anchored at its base to the
naked membrane round the mouth, or to the shell by
its sarcodic envelope, which, clothing the entire length
of the stem, protrudes far beyond its free end, except
in the case of Globifera, forming an extensile flexible
86
RDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
neck on the top of which i^perched the'head, consisting
of three beautifully reU'culated forceps-like blades or
jaws, armed, except in the smallest kind, Stereophylla,
with strong sharp serrated teeth. In Globifera the
head is placed directly on the stem without any inter-
vening neck. In their natural state these calcareous
head?, as well as the stems, are clothed with a sarcodic
covering, especially abundant and dilated in Globifera.
But when treated with potass this is dissolved, and
the skeletons only left.
It is an interesting experiment to cut out with a pair
of scissors, which can be easily done, the membranous
portion surrounding the mouth of the Echinus, and
detaching it from the five prominent teeth protruding
through it, and familiarly known by the fanciful name
of Aristotle's Lantern, to place it in some sea-water on
a glass slip under the microscope. The animal must be
undoubtedly dead, but on the severed portion under
examination the pedicellarise will be seen still in a
lively condition, bending their extensile necks in every
direction, and opening and shutting their three-
bladed jaws.
I have now only to add a few words on the possible
functions of these pedicellarire, though nothing is
known conclusively on the subject. Their first dis-
coverers considered them to be parasites perfectly
independent of their hosts ; but this cannot be the
case for various reasons, as in the first place they are
invariably present in the same numbers and in the
same position, which would not be the case were they
adventitious ; and secondly their skeletons are formed
of precisely the same material and on exactly the same
structural plan as that of the creature's test on which
they rest ; whilst the sarcodic envelope surrounding
them is a mere continuation of that which clothes the
entire shell as well as the spines upon it. Perhaps
the best suggestion as to their use is, that they catch
and hold in their grasp the small crustaceans swim-
ming past, and that these, dying and decaying, attract
around them clouds of minute infusoria, which event-
ually become the prey of the Echinus ; but this is a
mere theory which must be taken for what it is
worth.
MICROSCOPY.
Cement for Glycerine.— Every one who has
had much experience in microscopy recognises the
extreme value of glycerine as a mounting medium,
but the evil reputation it enjoys for "leaking" has
much restricted its use. The cements in common
use are not to be relied upon. Dammar varnish, so
strongly recommended by some, becomes so saturated
and softened that after a few months, cover, specimen
and cement may often be wiped off the slide with the
greatest ease. Even good gold size is not safe, and I
believe chiefly for the reason that many bad specimens
of this varnish are in the market. Having experienced
much inconvenience from the want of a reliable
cement, I am glad to believe that I have at length
succeeded in obtaining one. The description is to be
found in Dr. Marsh's book on " Section Cutting" (a
notice of which you gave recently), and as the in-
formation will doubtless be welcome to many besides
myself, I send you the following extract, which
perhaps you may consider worthy of preservation in
your pages. ' ' The great drawback to the use of
glycerine is the extreme difficulty experienced in
preventing its escape from beneath the covering-
glass, for it unfortunately possesses such great pene-
trating power that no cement hitherto devised can
be thoroughly depended upon for withstanding its
solvent action for any considerable length of time.
Attention to the instructions however presently
to be given will however reduce this risk of leak-
age to a minimum : after clearing away all super-
fluous glycerine from round the cover, with a
very small camel's-hair pencil, charged with solu-
tion of gelatine, a ring must be made round the
margin of the cover of sufficient breadth to take in
both cover and slide. As this cement is perfectly
miscible with glycerine, it readily unites with any of
that fluid which may ooze from beneath the cover
and which in the case of any of the ordinary varnishes
would act as a fatal obstacle to perfect adhesion. To
make the cement, take 5 oz. of Nelson's opaque
gelatine, put it in a small beaker, add sufficient cold
water to cover it, and allow, the mixture to remain
until the gelatine has become thoroughly soaked.
The water is now pouted off and heat applied until
the gelatine becomes fluid, when three drops of
creosote should be well stirred in and the fluid
mixture transferred to a small bottle to solidify.
Before use this compound must be rendered liquid by
immersing the bottle containing it in a cup of warm
water. When the ring of gelatine has become quite
set and dry (which will not take long) every trace of
glycerine must be carefully removed from the cover
and its neighbourhood by gently swabbing these parts
with a large camel's-hair pencil dipped in methylated
spirit. After drying the slide, a ring of Bell's micro-
scopical cement may be applied over the gelatine, and
when this is dry another coat is to be laid on. If
it be desired to give to the slide a neat and tasteful
appearance it is a very easy matter by means of the
turntable to lay on a final ring of Brunswick black or
white zinc cement." — William Briars, Hackney.
Microscope Improvements. — In an important
paper recently read before the Chichester National
History and Microscopical Society, on "Microscopes,"
Mr. F. J. Freeland reviewed the most noteworthy
improvements which have been made in objectives,
both at home and abroad, within the last five years.
Among other subjects, he said that "a new eighth
and a twelfth, designed by Professor Abbe, for use
with oil of cedar, and, to obviate screw collar adjust-
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
S7
ment, for varying thickness of cover glass, upon
objects, is very highly spoken of by leading English
observers. If this work without counterbalancing
objections, a revolution in the future of objectives
may be expected. The object must be somewhat
specially mounted. Danger that the fluids may inter-
mingle under necessary traversing when a living
object in water is examined with a water immersion
lens is not \ lessened by oil substituted, and Mr.
Dallinger rejoices that high power English dry
lenses, usually, suffice for investigation of minutest
living things, from the study of which, as he remarks,
so much may be anticipated."^
Mounting Polyzoa, &c— Mr. Thomas Lisle, of
Wolverhampton, gives in the " Midland Naturalist"
for March, the following process for mounting these
objects: — "Place the polyzoa in a deep cell with
some of the pond water ; let them remain undisturbed
until they have expanded their tentacles, then
suddenly let fall a drop of alcohol into the cell.
This kills them instantly. The cell is then filled
with distilled water or glycerine, and sealed in the
usual way. Rotifers may be treated in the same
manner, but the cell may be shallow."
Cells for Dry Objects. — We have received from
Mr. H. P. Aylward, of Manchester, some prepared
cells, which we believe may be useful to those who
mount many dry objects. They are made, either of
paper, or cloth rings, well coated with, we believe,
a shellac varnish, which becomes hard and glossy, and
when the objects are to be mounted the application of
heat melts these rings to the slip and fastens on the
thin cover. Their use is of course limited to those
objects which will bear heat, but most foraminifera
and other calcareous organisms and many microscopic
fossils can thus be rapidly mounted, for as soon as the
slide is cold the varnish becomes quite hard and there
is no danger of the object becoming attached to the
edge, which sometimes happens when rings are
fastened on with gold size or other varnish. The thin
glass when it is being attached should not be touched
with a cold needle, or condensation takes place under
the point ; but if this is avoided we have found the
glass remains quite clear, and the object is in no way
obscured. It would seem as if the attachment is
likely to remain permanently hard and firm, but that
can only be proved by lengthened experience.
New Species of Rhizopods — In the "American
Quarterly Microscopical Journal " for January,
Professor W. S. Barnard describes some new kinds
of American Rhizopods. As a rule, the American
species are of European genera, and it is very seldom
a new one is discovered. Our species (Eitglyp/iia
tegulifera), appears to be a very interesting form, on
account of its peculiar shell. It was found among
fresh-water algae near New York. We take advantage
of this opportunity to express our high opinion of this
well got up and excellently edited journal.
Removing Air-bubbles.— Mr. F. C. Clarke, in
the "American Naturalist," gives the following
method as practised by Dr. Johnson : The apparatus
he employs is of very simple construction, being a
common dentist's vulcaniser, the means — steam. The
preparations to be thus treated, especially those of
wood, are prepared in the usual way and made ready
for mounting. They are next placed in a small
vessel of any material which will resist a certain
amount of heat. Dr. Johnson uses a small glass
phial in his experiments : this is filled up with water
after all the specimens (as many as it can conveniently
hold) are placed within. A cork can be used, but
a slit must be cut in it to allow the escape of air and
the admission of steam and hot water. A little water
is now poured into the vulcaniser, the bottle of objects
placed within, and the lid of the machine screwed
down air-tight. The whole is now heated to a
temperature of about 300 Fahr. for a few minutes.
This temperature is sufficient for all practical purposes.
When sufficiently cooled the phial is removed, the
water drained from the bottle, and alcohol substituted.
The specimens are now ready for mounting. By this
process the specimens are made absolutely free from
air, for the steam penetrates and forces out the air
from the objects operated upon ; and the tissues
remain undestroyed.
ZOOLOGY.
Planorbis marginatus. — Professor Ralph Tate
in his work on " British Mollusks," says, Planorbis
marginatus is unknown in Scotland. Perhaps it may
interest some of the readers of Science-Gossip to
know that I have lately taken upwards of a dozen
specimens from Duddingston Lock, Edinburgh. Also
specimens of P. carinatus, P. Nautileus, and P.
contortus, the last-named species is very numerous. —
John Adams.
The Echinus in Aquaria. — Would any of the
readers of Science-Gossip inform me of the cause of
the absence of the Echinus in our large aquaria 2
Is it that animals found in deep sea dredging, will
not flourish in these, or is it a difficulty as regards
supplying it with proper food ? I have never succeeded
in keeping them in small aquaria for more than
a short time j the last brought me on December 7
lived for a month, the spines then began to fall off*
quickly, and in a day or so it died. The Echinus is
such an interesting inhabitant of an aquarium, that I
should be very glad to know if it is possible to keep
it for any time in captivity. — M. D.
The Hooded or Royston Crow (.Coi-utts comix).
— These noble birds have been numerous in this
neighbourhood for some weeks, one or two will
occasionally perch on the rails of my garden fence,
88
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
at t
they seem less timid ax the approach of man than
their congeners the rooks. — J. M., JVezu Brompton,
Kent.
The Colour Sense in Cattle. — The degree in
which various species of animals are able to appreciate
colour has lately been the subject of discussion. It
.seems to me that the displeasure shown by cattle at
scarlet or blood-red objects is presumptive evidence
that they can discriminate between these shades and
the dull brownish-red so common in their own species.
It might indeed be contended that like certain birds
•they take offence at colours bordering upon their
■own. But I have never heard that the dislike of red-
.ness is at all confined to red cattle. On the contrary,
it is manifested by wild species of the ox tribe, which
.are never red, and by the wild cattle of Chillingham
.and Lyme park, which are uniformly white. Does
any correspondent of Science-Gossip know an in-
stance of any animal being excited to anger by blue,
.yellow, or orange objects ? — J. W. Slater, Aylesbury.
Mistakes made by Instinct. — It has struck me
that it would materially help to advance the new
study of comparative psychology, if our correspondents
Avould put on record good and well-authenticated
illustrations of the mistakes made by animals. We
hear much of their marvellous instincts, but not-
withstanding, there is a tendency to magnify their
character, and little or nothing is said of the mistakes
of instinct, whereby we might learn even more of
animal psychology. I refer to such mistakes as that
made by the humming-bird hawk-moth, fluttering
over the artificial flowers of a lady's bonnet, or a
bee which buzzed into the grip of a sea-anemone, as
recorded by Jonathan Couch.-— J. E. Taylor.
House-flies and their Parasites.— In reply
to the request of the Rev. W. Marston Beeby, con-
cerning the parasite described on page 21 column I
in Science-Gossip, I can unhesitatingly assure him
that it is the well-known fly-parasite called Chelifer,
the surname of which used to be Fasciatus ; but in a
slide I have (prepared by Mr. Cole, see the bottom
of the second page of your advertisement wrapper) it
is labelled Cancriodes. Mr. C. can, probably, supply
the object ; but he has added to the label the words
" very rare." In truth I have never seen but one in
life, and that was, as your correspondent describes,
adhering with wonderful tenacity to the leg of a
common house-fly, Musca domestica. Mr. B. com-
pares the claws of this insect to those of the lobster,
but they are still more like those of the scorpion,
and, in fact, the common name is scorpion insect ; it
is a perfect scorpion all but the tail. Its having eight
legs shows it to belong to the great family of spiders,
and therefore, in strict definition, is not an " insect "
at all, as no insect proper has more than six. There
is another variety of this kind still more striking raid
-curious, the Obisium trombidioides, but which is still
more rare and hard to meet with, and is the true
lobster insect. I have two slides of it, but have never
seen it in life. But to return to the Chelifer, I will
transcribe a passage from that very useful and pleasing
little work entitled "Objects for the Microscope,"
by the Rev. L. Lane Clarke (London : Groom-
bridge & Sons : 5 Paternoster Row). " Chelifer ; this
parasite attacks flies. I have seen a common fly
run wildly about the window-pane, shaking itself
violently, and apparently in great distress. Upon
catching it, I found a small scorpion-like creature
fixed upon one of its thighs by a pair of tremendous
claws. Hardly could it be detached for examination,
and then it ran quickly like a crab, sideways. The
Chelifer belongs to the Trachean Arac/uiida ; that is,
they breathe by means of trachea and spiracles, and
not as the higher order of spiders, by lungs, or
internal gills. They have eight legs, two long palpi,
armed with claws, the eyes are at the side of the
thorax, and the flat abdomen is jointed." In conclu-
sion, I would add a few words upon the question
whether the Chelifer is a parasite, or merely an
occasional foe of the fly ? From its extreme rarity I
should undoubtingly say the latter ; that is to say, if
by "parasite" is meant something bred upon another
animal ; just as mites are upon apiece of stale cheese,
for example. The reason why the Chelifer, when
caught in the house, is usually found on the " window -
fly " is because, as every one knows, it is by far the
most common domestic insect, as its name of Musca
domestica clearly indicates : but I have no doubt that
the Chelifer would make equally free with the leg of
a Tipula oleracea (Daddy Long-legs) if it happened
to come in his way. — H. U. J., Exeter.
Design in the Nests of Birds. — At a recent
meeting of the North Staffordshire Field Naturalists'
Club Dr. M'Aldowie read an excellent paper on the
above subject. He said in no class was the special
design for the protection of offspring better seen than
in the bird class. The great majority, especially the
weak, trusted to concealment, which was effected
first by the location of the nest, usually of some in-
conspicuous material, in bushes, holes, trees, and
banks. A second method of concealment was by con-
structing the nests of material similar in appearance
to that which surrounds it. This was adopted by the
chaffinch, the common wren, and the martin. Thus
the chaffinch would place its nest in the fork of a tree,
and construct it so cunningly of mosses and lichens
that it had the appearance of an excrescence on the
branch. Dr. M'Aldowie had noticed a striking
illustration of this method in the cliffs along the coast
of Kincardineshire, where the martins built their nests
in the granite or gneiss of material exactly similar in
appearance. The third form of concealment was in
the colour of the eggs being much like the soil on
which they are laid. This was seen in the lapwing
and skylark. They often choose the side of a small
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
89
mound for their nests, to be able the better to watch
those who would attack them. Their young were
also coloured to resemble the soil, and therefore could
not be easily seen by persons standing up. The
young, too, seemed to know that their greatest chance
of safety was in lying still. The fourth method was j
that the parent bird was coloured to simulate the
surrounding herbage, and would not move from its j
nest very often until forcibly pushed. The second !
great form of protection was by situations in-
accessible to animals without wings. Those who
could drive off intruders singly built solitary nests,
such as the birds of prey, the larger gulls, and
swans. Others, such as rooks and herons, live in
colonies, and, when attacked, unite to repel the
enemy. Among small passerine birds adopting this
method were sand-martins, but in tropical countries
the smaller class used it more extensively. The most
remarkable examples were seen in the weaver-birds.
Captain Drayson had given an interesting description
of the habits of this class in countries infested by
monkeys and snakes, which of course could climb
trees. The nests were therefore so constructed that
these animals could enter only from below, and only
by passing along a branch which their weight would
cause to dip in water, making both snake and monkey
beat a speedy retreat. Although some had said that
there was an architectural principle regulating the
construction of birds' nests, and though similarity
of structure of different groups was adduced in proof
of this, Dr. M'Aldowie ventured to assert that there
was no such principle involved. The similarity of
structure might be explained by the fact that the
habits and surroundings of most birds of the same
genus are nearly alike, and their enemies almost
identical. But many differed remarkably in their nest
formation. The swallow family and the martin built
nests of mud and clay, the sand-martin tunnelled in
gravelly pits, while the swift deposited her eggs in
the hole of some old tower. Here there was no
architectural type. Neither would such a theory
explain the facts that the wren always built its nest of
material precisely the same as that which surrounded
it, making it, as it were, a part of the material ; that
the sparrow when it built in trees erected a large-
domed edifice, and when depositing its eggs in the
walls of houses merely lined the bottom of the cavity
with straw and feathers ; and that the hawk often
laid in the forsaken nests of crows and magpies.
Milne-Edwards said "birds' nests which vary with
the species are yet, as it were, identical as regards
any species, and are uniformly constructed in the way
best fitting the young of that species." In the last
sentence was the key of the position ; it was a law
in ornithology, and demanded much attention at the
hands of the naturalist. These were Dr. M'Aldowie's
views, and they were the outcome of some years of
study of nests and eggs in a northern district where
birds of almost every class abounded. No scientific
authority that he knew of had treated the subject in
a systematic manner. That some plan or design
regulated the nidification of birds was certain.
Sir John Lubbock's "Ants." — This indefatigable
naturalist has been communicating additional papers
on his insect-pets to the Linnean Society. In his
two last communications, one of which was devoted
to their anatomy, and the other to their habits, he
stated that, instead of using water as a means of
isolation, fur arranged with the hair points down-
wards answered the purpose better. He recommended
this plan to people who live in hot countries where
ants are troublesome. Sir John finds that, contrary
to what has been stated, the workers (besides the
queen) occasionally lay eggs, and these always pro-
duce males. Ants possess domestic servants ; a
curious blind beetle (Claviger) residing in some com-
munities, though the ants are not all on a level of^
intelligence sufficient to keep clavigers. Sir John
said he had two queens of Formica fusca five years
old, and in good health, and also workers of different
species, some four years in his possession. Though
previously he has shown instances of ants using then-
friends badly, yet to their credit it may be said that
ants of the same nest never quarrel or are ill-tempered
among themselves. An instance was given of an ant
without antennae losing her way, and being attacked
by an enemy, and afterwards tenderly relieved by a
good Samaritan. From the experiments recorded, it
would seem that ants recognise fellows of the same
nest, but where, as in some cases, there are one
hundred thousand individuals, it appears incredible
that they should recognise each other at sight ; nor is
it likely that peculiarities pertain to those of each nest.
Have they signs or pass words ? Sir John Lubbock
has endeavoured to throw light on this subject by
experimenting on the pupae. Although certain species
of ants are deadly enemies, yet their larvae if trans-
ferred to one another's nests, will be taken care of as
if their own. In ant warfare, sex is no protection ;
but the young are spared. Now, if recognition were
effected by signal or password, the larvre or pupae
would not be intelligent enough to appreciate and
remember this, and afterwards in being returned to
the former nest, when full grown would carry the
signal of the wrong nest to their detriment. The
results of several experiments on Formica fusca and
Lasius nigcr were, among others, that thirty-two ants
transferred from their nests as puppe, and again when
older returned to their own nests, were all amiably
received, from which Sir John infers that they have
no pass words.
The late Mr. Frederick Smith, F.L.S.—
Entomologists throughout the world will hear with
regret of the death of this celebrated naturalist. He
was one of the assistant-keepers of the zoological
department of the British Museum, and our great
authority on matters appertaining to the.Hymenoptera.
9°
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
White's Thrush.— Mr. Harting states in the
"Zoologist," that a specimen of this rare bird was
shot in September, 1878, at Harclacres in Berwick-
shire. Another specimen was seen in the same
neighbourhood in January last.
New Species of Chameleons. — At a recent
meeting of the Zoological Society of London, a com-
munication was read from Dr. A. Giinther, F.R.S.,
containing a description of 'four new species of
chameleons from Madagascar, proposed to be called
Ch. malphe, Ch. brevicornis, Ch. giilaris and Ch.
globifer.
Mounting and Preserving Larv.e.— I was
pleased with Mr. Brewster's method of expelling the
internal tissues of caterpillars, and it may be interest-
ing to know that the best lepidopterists in this part
innate their grubs with melted paraffin wax. This is
coloured to suit the colour of the larvae in hand, and
' injected with a fine male syringe. There may be
some drawback in this plan, but it is, perhaps, the
best remedy against change of colour.— G. Robson,
Leicester.
Mimicry in Butterflies.— A paper has just been
read at the Entomological Society, by Dr. F. Miiller,
recording a remarkable case of mimicry in the
Brazilian butterfly, Eucides pavana, which mimics
another insect called Acraea thalia. It is however,
in the male sex of E. pavana, that the greatest
resemblance to the Acraea is found.
Testacella Maugei in Jersey.— In Science-
Gossip for July last, there appeared a short notice
from me, announcing the occurrence of what was
supposed to be Testacella haliotoidea in this island.
Since that time I have found two more specimens.
Having sent one of them to John Gwyn Jeffreys, Esq.,
the author of " British Conchology," that gentleman
informs me that the species is unquestionably Testa-
cella Maugei, not Testacella haliotoidea. I feel it right
to make this correction. — Martin M. Bull.
The Stings of Bees.— Professor Church describes
in "Nature" some experiments made sixteen years
ago with the poison from wasps' stings, when he
found to his astonishment that it was invariably
alkaline instead of acid. A living wasp, duly held
in the cavity of a perforated cork, was easily induced
to sting a piece of turmeric paper ; when a brown-red
spot immediately appeared.
"The Plague as it concerns England."— We
advise all our readers who are interested in this
momentous question to procure this well got up
pamphlet, published by Hardwicke & Bogue, at
one shilling. It gives an historical account of the
plague, and the methods to be adopted to prevent
its spread, and has been compiled from official and
other sources.
BOTANY.
•Pyrola, the Winter Green.— During July last
I accidentally came across a small bed of the above
plant near Canterbury. I showed it to several
botanists, but had a difficulty in finding the name.
I thought it would interest some of your readers to
know it grows in Kent, and I shall be pleased to
furnish any one with specimens in the coming spring
who desires it. — G. Parry, St. Raul's, Canterbury.
Teratological Notes.— The curious form in the
flower of a calceolaria figured on page 41 is not un-
common, though I do not remember noticing it in
the small-flowered shrubby varieties. A similar
Fig. 86. — Malformation of flowers of Calceolaria.
Fig. 87.— Malformation of lips of ditto.
flower is figured in Masters'
"Vegetable Teratology," page
230, where it is described as
an instance of perfect Peloria,
resembling that often found in
various species of Linaria, &c.
The herbaceous, greenhouse
calceolarias are very subject to
irregular development of dif-
ferent kinds, and in a collection
of two or three dozen a large
number of curious and interest-
ing malformations may be found. I inclose rough
sketches of two flowers which I found with various
other abnormal specimens last year. It will be seen
that in each case two flowers have apparently coal-
esced, though in different manners. In fig. S6 the
two flowers are nearly of normal size and form, but the
two upper lips are united. In fig. 87 the lower lips
are only about half the normal size, the lower pair
of stamens are abortive and there is only one pistil. —
F. T. Warner, Winchester.
Fig. 88.
-Calyx seen from
behind.
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
9i
GEOLOGY.
The Royal Dublin Society. — We are much
pleased to note that Mr. G. H. Kinahan, M.R.I.A.,
the author of the "Geology of Ireland," which
we had recently the opportunity of reviewing in our
pages, has been elected president of this society.
Pebbles with Upper-Ludlow Fossils in the
Lower Carboniferous Conglomerates of
North Wales. — At a recent meeting of the Geo-
logical Society, a very interesting paper on the above
subject was read by Aubrey Strahan, and Alfred O.
Walker. The authors described the mode of occur-
rence near Abergele of certain lower carboniferous
conglomerates, best exposed in Ffernant Dingle, and
especially of one containing numerous red and green
sandstone pebbles, which enclose fossils [of Upper
Ludlow forms, and lying above the so-called "Bastard
Limestone." From the arrangement of the beds the
authors believe that they may have been deposited
against a bank or sloping surface of Wenlock shale ;
and they state that the great majority of the pebbles
in the conglomerate are quite unlike any rock known
in the district, but closely resemble the Upper Lud-
low beds of Kendal and Central Wales. The
authors discuss the origin of the pebbles, and suggest
"the probable extension of the Ludlow beds under
Lancashire as the most likely source from which they
can have been derived." '
Preserving Fossils. — Prof. W. Boyd-Dawkins
in an appendix to his "Cave Hunting" gives the
following directions for the preservation of remains
from caves : "The fossil bones and teeth, which have
very generally lost their gelatine and have a tendency
to crumble and split to pieces in drying, should be
gradually dried, and from time to time saturated with
a weak hot solution of gelatine or glue. Silicate of
soda, sometimes called "liquid glass," or melted
paraffin (not the oil), may also be used for the same
purpose. If the bones are extremely soft, they may
be rescued from destruction by letting them dry in
the matrix, saturating them and the matrix with a
solution of gelatine, and then clearing off the latter."
— C. R. L.
Preserving Fossils. — I always use a solution
made by the Indestructible Paint Co., 27 Cannon
Street, E.C. Some years ago it effectually water-
proofed (so to speak) some Portland stone columns
to which I applied it, making their surface as hard
as flint. Hence I have used it on fossils and find
that it renders even chalk perfectly hard. I recently
saturated some impressions of sponges, which we
all know will hardly bear touching, and find that
now they might almost be brushed without injury.
It is hardly necessary to add that the solution is
perfectly colourless, and that it leaves not the slightest
perceptible deposit. The cost is very trifling, and as
the company made me for this express purpose a pint
of solution for two or three shillings, I have no doubt
your correspondent could get what he wanted. He
will not be disappointed. — F. IT.
Methods of Preserving Fossils. — In Science-
Gossip for February, a correspondent W. G., asks for
information as to the best method of preserving mam-
malian bones and other fossils, saying that he had
been advised to paint them over with a hot solution
of gelatine, but had not found the result very satis-
factory. In the March number, Mr. J. W. Carr re-
commends that they should be painted with thin gum.
Mr. Carr may have succeeded with this to a certain
extent, if by painting he really means soaking, for I
suspect that the reason why W. G. did not succeed
with the gelatine may have been that he did not soak
the fossils sufficiently ; if the bones were at all large
and were merely painted over with a thin solution of
gelatine, they certainly would not become very much
harder by such a process. For the bones of the
larger mammalia glue is the best material ; it should
be prepared in a vessel which is large enough to
admit the specimen, which should be lowered into it
on a sieve or a piece of perforated wire, and allowed
to remain in the solution for a few minutes, till it has
imbibed a sufficient amount of glue to replace the
lost animal matter, it may then be carefully taken out
and left to dry. If the bone is a perfect one, with
epiphyses, &c, the operation may have to be repeated,
and it is a good plan to remove a small portion of the
surface bone so as to admit the solution freely into
the interior ; when the specimen is taken out, the
fragment of bone can be carefully replaced. For all
the smaller bones and for mollusca extracted from
sands or loams, gelatine is preferable ; like the glue
it should be used while hot and in the manner above
described ; or it may be ladled over the fossil if it is
very delicate and tender. A thin solution of gum-
arabic or gum tragacanth is useful for painting over
the surface of fossils from the lias or coal measures to
prevent their scaling or chipping. As regards chalk
fossils my experience is that those from inland localities
seldom need any preservative process, but that those
collected from sea cliffs, being saturated with salt
water, generally effloresce and split up, unless they
have been well soaked in fresh water. As soon as
they are brought home they should be put in a basin
of fresh water and left there for a day or two ; then
they may be taken out, trimmed and cleaned, and
replaced in clean fresh water, where they should
remain for three or four weeks, the water being
changed at least once every week. I have always
found this plan effectual. In the "Geological
Magazine," vol. ii. p. 239, your readers will find a
short article by Mr. Davies, of the British Museum,
in which instructions for preserving mammalian
remains are given. Some hints on trimming, cleaning,
and preserving fossils will be given in the new edition
of Penning's "Field Geology," now in the press. —
A. J. Jukes Browne, High gate.
02
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
NOTES AND QUERIES.
Squirrel. — A few weeks ago, I saw, what at first
I was inclined to call a black squirrel, more correctly
I should say the colour was a very dark sable, it had
the usual white breast ; I have heard of a so-called
"yellow squirrel," but never one of this colour. I
had a good view of the animal, which crossed the
road about thirty yards in front of me. — W. G. Tuxford.
Tenacity of Life in the Wasp. — Being engaged
in a drawing office connected with the Great
Western Railway in 1841, we were very much
pestered by wasps, attracted by some lime-trees then in
blossom outside, to the extent that one hundred were
killed during a single day. One of these individuals
I dispatched while crawling over my board, by
dividing the abdomen from the thorax with my pen-
knife. Seeing him buzzing about very actively, and
trying to fly, but unable to do so, being out of balance,
it occurred to me to make him a paper tail ; the first
I made about the length of his own was not heavy
enough, being of very thin paper, so I made one
three-quarters of an inch long, in shape like that of
the large Red Ichneumon fly. This I attached to the
thorax, for want of better cement, with a piece of
prepared ox-gall ; immediately he took wing and flew
about the room, apparently greatly to the terror and
annoyance of the other wasp, who attacked him
fiercely, apparently both by wing and sting, the
latter of course of no effect on his paper appendage.
He flew about for over two hours, when I lost him,
and therefore cannot tell you how long he continued
active ; he probably flew out at the open window. —
F. L., Rolherham.
Yew-trees in Churchyards. — Your corres-
pondent, E. Straker, makes inquiry for any traditions
or reasons why yew-trees were planted in churchyards.
A learned antiquarian once provided me with infor-
mation as follows : "An act of parliament passed in
the reign of an early English monarch, made the
planting of a yew-tree in every parish churchyard
compulsory. Cross bows were made of this material ;
yew wood became scarce, and the God's acre seemed
a suitable spot for the cultivation of such a necessary
material for the warlike requirements of that period."
— H. P. Stock, Bamet.
Yew-trees in Churchyards.— In the church-
yards of Northamptonshire and neighbouring counties
fine old yew-trees may still occasionally be found, and
invariably, as far as my experience goes, on the
south side of the church. I have noticed that where
this occurs the most used entrance to the church is also
on the south, the north door in most country churches
having been blocked up to keep out the cold. The
trees being ornamental as well as useful were proba-
bly planted where they would be most seen. For the
same reason the south-side was chosen for burials, so
that the congregation, coming to and leaving their
parish church, might see the graves, and be reminded
to pray for souls of departed friends. — W. H. Jones.
Yew-trees in Churchyards. — It may interest
E. Straker to learn that Sir Thomas Brown, in his
"Urn Burial," thinks it possible that the planting of
yews in churchyards arose from ancient funeral rites,
or as an emblem of the resurrection, from its perpetual
verdure. The yew-tree was an emblem of mourning
with the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, from whom
it was adopted in turn by the Britons. It appears
also to have been an ancient custom to place them
singly. Statius in his " Thebaid " calls it "the
solitary yew ;" and it was at one time as common in
the churchyards of Italy as it is now in North and
South Wales. I have heard that in many Welsh
villages the yew-tree and the church are exactly the
same age, the one being planted when the other was
built. Another supposition is that yews were planted
to protect the church from storms. In statute 35 of
Edward I. it is stated that trees were often planted
to defend the church from high winds, and the clergy
were requested to cut them down for the repairs of
the chancel of the church whenever required. A
great deal has been said about yew-trees being planted
to supply bows, but is there really any record of this ?
— G. O. Howell, Shooters' Hill.
Intelligence in Man and Animals. — Man
judges according to his capacity of the actions of his
fellow-men, by inferences drawn from a knowledge
of his own nature. The truth of this may be seen in
the case of a man born blind, who cannot possibly be
made to understand what the sense of sight is. In
judging of the actions of the lower animals, whose
nature obviously differs from his own, he has not the
same means of comparison, and is liable to err, if in
actions which resemble his own, he rashly assumes
they are the result of reason. Those who credit the
lower animals with reason, if they are consistent, will
also credit them with conscience. This Mr. Darwin
does (see " Descent of Man," part i., chap, iii.,
p. 78). " I agree with Agassiz, that dogs possess some-
thing very like a conscience." In the same work
Mr. Darwin draws the usual distinction between
instinct and reason, and at p. 38, part i. says, "We
may easily underrate the mental powers of the higher
animals, and especially of man, when we compare
their actions founded on the memory of past events,
on foresight, reason, and imagination, with exactly
similar actions performed by the lower animals ; in
the latter case the capacity of performing such actions
having been gained, step by step through the variability
of the mental organs and natural selection without
any conscious intelligence on the part of the animal
during each successive generation." Leave out the
words higher animal, and the observation is the same
in effect as that in my letter of January 1. The whole
gist of Mr. Darwin's work, however, is to prove that
the intelligence of quadrupeds differs from that of
man only in degree. The point of agreement which
exists owing to their possession of the same senses as
man, are strongly insisted on, the points of difference
much less so. Mr. Darwin thinks (see "Origin of
Species ") that the love of man may have become
instinctive in the dog, which seems highly probable,
and explains many of the actions in which observers
think they have discovered a guiding power of reason.
In the concluding chapter of the "Descent of Man,"
Mr. Darwin describes the natural feeling of abhorrence
with which he first saw the savage of Tierra del Fuego,
and compares them unfavourably with a monkey.
Low as these savages may be in the human scale they
have learned to barter (see Mrs. Brassey's " Voyage
of the ' Sunbeam,' ") and may yet prove capable of
systematic fraud. Take from man his reasoning
power, latent though it may be in many cases, yet
underlying all his conceptions, and we find the idiot
who would perish but for extraneous aid. Take from
the quadruped the modicum of reason, which Mr.
Darwin and others of his school attribute to it, and
we have an animal endowed with the same kind of
intelligence we do not understand, but name instinct.
In conclusion, I would point out to Mr. P. Q. Keegan,
that the metaphysical dispute respecting the "precise
nature or manner of the reasoning powers," which he
concisely epitomises does not affect the question :
HARDWICKK S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
93
Does the intelligence of animals'differ from that of
man not only in degree but in kind ? which may be
affirmed or negatived whichever school of metaphysics
the writer belongs to. — H. Barclay.
Intelligence in Man and Animals. — With re-
spect to this subject, a remarkable instance is mentioned
in "Nature," February 20. Some rats gnawed
through leaden pipes to obtain water. Dr. Darwin
explained by saying that rats heard the water trick-
ling, and reasoned about it. They cut through the
pipe to obtain it. I think this explanation probable.
I agree with your correspondent, Mr. Rogers, who
contends that memory is an act of reasoning. Dr.
Darwin had a dog which recognised him after several
years' absence. This is mentioned in his "Descent
of Man," chap, ii., I believe, but I quote from
memory. This dog must have exercised some reason-
ing power in recognising Dr. Darwin. With respect
to reason being developed instinct, as Mr. Keegan
says, Huber thinks that in the lower animals there
are glimpses of reason, not merely instinct. Darwin
says that instinct is variable, and it might vary so
far as to produce some reasoning faculty. With
respect to man's reason, some Evolutionists argue
that it may not have been merely developed, but that
some supernatural change may have taken place.
Henslow in his " Evolution and Religion," writes to
this effect : Certainly the gap between the apes and
man, in respect to cranial capacity is very great, and
not easily bridged over. Lopinard (L' Anthropologic)
gives 1500 cubic centimetres, as cranial capacity of
man ; 531 for gorilla. Making allowance for size of
body, the ratio of brains of chimpanzee and man is
given as 38 to 100. The fact of monkeys chattering,
apparently consulting, and then simultaneously acting,
is not, I think, explainable merely by instinct. The
reasoning might not be very acute, but that would
not be necessary. Of course much depends on the
way the facts are looked at. Those favouring the
view of animal reasoning, would naturally find argu-
ments where their opponents would question the
reasoning power. Our natural habit of regarding
ourselves as the most perfect beings, also militates
against the view of animals having reason, as we are
naturally loth to allow that they are of similar nature
to ourselves. But on the whole, I think that animals
have a somewhat higher faculty than mere instinct,
and therefore some reasoning power. — A. Wheatley.
Intelligence in Man and Animals. — As a
small contribution to the consideration of the above-
named subject, permit me to refer to a fact which I
recorded in a paper that appeared in Science-Gossip
for November 1, 1876, entitled "Spiders and their
Webs." The particular spider there mentioned, after
being bitten by a smaller spider of another species,
plucked the poisoned limb out of the socket, and
cast it from it, evidently, to save its life. Now, was
this conduct prompted by what we call reason, or by
what we call instinct? Further, what is reason and
what is instinct, more than names under which we
cloak mysteries, that we are all very far from com-
prehending? The voluntary act of this spider in
amputating its own poisoned limb, could scarcely be
attributed to "memory," or "experience," and it
suggests some deep reflections. Was it conscious,
for instance, that death would ensue, unless the
poisoned limb were immediately plucked out and cast
away? and, if so, does this show a knowledge of
physical right and wrong ? Again, was this small
creature acquainted with Harvey's great discovery,
"the circulation of the blood," and did it know that
an injected poison could be absorbed into the circula-
tion to the destruction of life ? Further, did it know
that in its case, Nature (or, for anything we know,
itself) could reproduce the amputated limb ? And,
lastly, who had been sent to its peculiar mental
world, to preach the Divine precept, " If thy right
hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee?"
Man is too apt to arrogate to himself a peculiar or
special niche in the great temple of nature, and to
rely, too confidently, upon his own very finite powers
of observation. Before the telescope was invented,
the infinitude of the stellar system was, "the sun and
moon and eleven stars ;" before the microscope was
invented, a drop of water was a drop of water, and
nothing more ; and should it ever be practicable to make
telescopes or microscopes that could increase our mental
vision as greatly as these instruments have increased our
physical vision, then we might be in a better position
to pierce the depth of the mystery that attaches to
the reasoning powers of the lower animals. It is
generally asserted that, so far, "man is the greatest
outcome of creative power ;" but as we have only
man's word for this, there may be more self-conceit
than infinite truth in the assertion. The larvae of the
blow-fly, when it is devouring the flesh of a living
animal, may conclude that they are the greatest out-
come of creative power, because they are unable to
comprehend any higher outcome of this power ; but
we know this would be a mistaken conclusion on
their part ; and for anything we know, the earth,
planets, sun and stars, may all be living, and intel-
ligent, outcomes of creative power, as much superior
to man, as man is to the blow-fly. And as regards
reason, why may it not be the universal concomitant
of all created being ? Scientifically as well as poeti-
cally, we may conclude, that the Creator will be
reflected in all His works ; and if so, His attributes
may be expected to be reflected by all His creatures
to the finite extent of the reflecting capacity which
has severally been bestowed upon them. Man, con-
sequently, may be in error, when he assumes that he,
alone, is the possessor of reasoning powers. — C. L. W.
Intelligence in Man and Animals. — I have
read with pleasure the notes of your correspondents
on this interesting subject, and, although it has been
ably dealt with by Messrs. Keegan and Barclay, I
hope still to see a little more light thrown on the
matter, and a more intelligible distinction shown
between instinct and reason. Mr - . Rogers, in your
February number, says: " A little personal observa-
tion and reflection, would, I should have thought,
suggest to your correspondent, &c, that what is
called instinct in animals often passes under the name
of reason in man." Now "personal observation and
reflection " has convinced me, whether I am right or
wrong, that anything done by instinct is done with-
out reason, although the instinct which prompted the
action might have been, as Pope says, an "unerring
guide." The words instinct and reason to me convey
a very wide and different meaning. Animals, I
believe, act by instinct, and man has had the higher
power of reason given him upon which to act, and
the only quality in man which I can compare to
instinct is impulse. That acting by instinct and
acting by reason are from two different causes, I think
there is ample evidence, although the action may be
the same.
Pope says :
" Reason raise o'er instinct as you can
In this 'tis God directs, in that 'tis man "
Mrs. Hale says :
"The meaner creatures never feel control,
By glowing instinct guided to the goal."^
94
HAREWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
With regard to Mr. Rogers's remark that the
"difference which exists is chiefly one of develop-
ment," I do not agree. I cannot comprehend
"developing instinct," and the sentence seems
contradictory in itself. The same question arose at a
Debating Society, to which I belong, on a discussion
"Is conscience a true guide?" when the apparent
consciousness of wrong-doing in dogs was argued in
support of the affirmative. Mr. Keegan has, I think,
explained this, and the fact of dogs being endowed with
sufficient instinct to know that which gives them pain,
is not sufficient to convince me that the knowledge is
the result of reasoning. — Idea.
Intelligence in Man and Animals. — The
following anecdote which came under my own
observation some years ago is a curious instance of
memory and reasoning in a cow, and can hardly be
relegated to mere instinct. My father had sold a
cow, which we had reared, to a neighbouring farmer,
who kept her three years and then sold her to a
miller four miles farther from our homestead. She
was with the miller three years, having been absent
from us six years, and never in the interim having
visited the spot ; but she had not forgotten its com-
forts, especially the scalded mashes of bran and
pollard mixed with home-brewed ale that were pro-
vided for her at the birth of her calves. One winter
day (January 12) when she was about to calve, her
master had to leave home, and put her in charge of
his man, who forgot her. At night she was looked
for in vain. She had at last found her opportunity
and escaped to flee to her old beloved home, and
actually reached our orchard fence, when she could
get no farther, and there her calf was born, and she
had the satisfaction after all her trials of being nursed
in her old cow-house. — S. Martin.
Position of the Mouth in Sharks. — The
peculiar position of the mouth in the sharks and some
of their allies, used to be a frequent theme of com-
ment among naturalists of the old school. It was
pointed out as nothing less than a special arrangement
to enable a destined victim to escape, while the shark
was turning on one side to bite. In other words it was
plainly seen to be a structural feature disadvantageous
to the species in which it occurs. Singularly enough,
I have seen no reference to this anomaly in any work,
either advocating or combating the Darwinian hypo-
thesis. It seems to me very difficult, if not incapable
of explanation on the view of natural selection. If
the position of the mouth which prevails in most
fishes be the original one, it would seem that any
variation from such position must be disadvantageous
to the individual, and would militate powerfully
against its survival. Or if, on the other hand, the
original position of the fish-mouth was that which it
now occupies in sharks, I fail to see why any varia-
tion which tended to bring it forwards, should not
have easily and completely superseded the primitive
type among sharks, &c, as well as among other
fishes.— C. R. Slater.
Egyptian Goose. — "The Shepton Mallet Journal "
announces that Mr. Padfield, of Pecking Mills, Ever-
creech, shot an Egyptian wild goose of beautiful
plumage, and weighing about 4.3 lb., near his mill-
pond, on February 27. There were two in company;
the other succeeded in making its escape, although
wounded. — W. Macmillan, Castle Cary, Somerset.
Query as to Flower. — Can any of your readers,
kindly inform me, what flower Shakspeare refers to
in the closing stanzas of " Venus and Adonis " ? where
he says —
"A purple flower sprung up, chequer'd with white,"
and ends his reference thus :
"There shall not be one minute in an hour,
Wherein I will not kiss my sweet love's flower."
J. W. Wheldon, Jun.
The Cuckoo's Eggs. — Having read in a previous
number some questions and remarks on the cuckoo
and its eggs, I thought I would give my experience
of that bird. I have frequently found the eggs and
young, but never in a nest built on the ground, in
which some say they are most often found. In some
works on ornithology it is said that eggs are frequently
laid in wrens' nests ; but surely that is a mistake, as
the young cuckoo would certainly be too large for
such a home. Those I have found were generally
either in robins' or hedge-sparrows' nests, and once
I found an egg in a half-built chaffinch's. On no
occasion have I found nor heard of more than one
egg in the chosen nest. How strange it is, that the
maternal instinct of birds should be unable to distin-
guish between their own nestlings and the awkward
and big young of the cuckoo ! Some time ago I
found the young of the latter bird in a robin's nest,
and as I wished, if possible, to keep it, I put it in a
large cage out-of-doors. It refused all nourishment,
and struggled fiercely when food was forced on it.
One day I was sitting a short distance from the cage,
when I saw a robin fly right up to the bars, and give
some food to the cuckoo, which received its, presum-
ably, foster-mother, with a deal of fluttering and ap-
parent joy. For several days two robins fed him
regularly, but after a time they discontinued their visits,
and in spite of all my efforts the bird died. It seems
very curious that the robin-parent should have found
out and fed the cuckoo for so long a time, especially
as the bird was brought from a long distance to
my home. — Junior.
On the Development of the House-Fly and
its Parasite. — If Mr. Holmes will again glance
over this paper, he will see that I had not the subject
of the sketches under observation at all, but that
these "were made by Mr. G. Harkus from the
microscope, with the aid of a Beale's reflector," and
that the size of the egg as given by him is there stated
to be jV) inch in diameter, while that of the maggot
on emergence was ^ inch. The discrepancy noted
may have arisen from the reduction of the original
drawings in engraving. It appeared to me that while
the egg and larva shown by Mr. Harkus were identical
with those matured in my experiment, the chrysalis
and fly were, as I stated, "undersized and im-
poverished ;" this I attributed to want of sufficient
nourishment while in the larval stage, the extra-
ordinary part of this matter being the wonderful
rapidity of the insect's metamorphosis. I cannot
agree with Mr. Holmes " that Musca domestica never
lays its eggs on meat," much stranger places of deposi-
tion have been noted, amongst snuff, for instance, the
ammoniacal odour being the probable inducement;
while, on the other hand, according to Cuvier, Musca
vomitoria sometimes selects a plant for the purpose,
"deceived by the cadaverous odour arising from
Arum Dracunculus when in flower, it also leaves its
eggs there." If Mr. Harkus can recover the subject
from which the sketches were made, and which he
thinks is preserved, I will pass it through for the
editor's determination. — M. H. Robson.
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
95
Ventriloquism in Birds. — In a former Science-
Gossip of last year is a paper about "Ventriloquism
in Birds " which solicited the experience of the same.
While paying a visit to a station in Westland or
Kakitika (Middle Island, New Zealand), in 1876,
while walking in the bush I heard a very sharp clear
note, and my host informed me it was the "ventri-
loquist bird," of which I had often heard, and asked
me to look for it. I did so, but wherever I went the
voice seemed to be at one side or behind me, till by
chance I disturbed the bird, when it flew off before I
could see it plainly. From what I could gather it
resembles much in appearance the English blackbird ;
is often heard and seldom seen, owing to its natural
shyness and peculiar habit of disguising its voice.
This was in the centre of the Southern Alps, just
below the line of perpetual snow, and during the
autumn of our year. — W. E. Barker, Jesus College,
Cambridge.
The Moa. — On page 40 of No. 170 Science-
Gossip, February i* 1879 is an article "The Moa
not yet Extinct (?)" The bird is said to have been
seen in the "province of Nelson, near lake Rotorua
and Cannibal Gorges," the latter I have not heard
of nor can I find them on the map. The only lake
of that name is in the province of Auckland (North
Island) latitude 38°io' south, longitude I76°i7' east.
I fancy it must be a hoax, as nearly every year false
reports are spread of them having been seen, very
often turning out to be tame emus, escaped into the
bush. Also, as yet very few bones, only two or three
I believe, have ever been found in the North Island,
while in the Middle Island we plough them up wher-
ever new ground is broken up. The only lakes in
Nelson (Middle Island) are lakes Pakerua, Brunnern,
Hochstetter, and Hawick. So I think there must
be some mistake. — IV. E. Barker, Jesus College,
Cambridge.
Caterpillars and Onion-crops. — For several
years past the onion-crops in this neighbourhood have
suffered severely from the ravages of the caterpillars
and some insect. Can any of your readers suggest
a remedy? — P., Haslemere.
London University, First B.A. Pass Exami-
nation. — Can any of the readers of Science-Gossip
inform me what are the best works to read on the
following subjects as required in the above examina-
tion — algebra, geometry plane and solid, trigono-
metry, mensuration, and co-ordinate geometry ? The
information would doubtless be useful to many, as
the difficulty in selecting from so many works as exist
on these subjects is considerable. — IV. J. B.
The Colours of Twigs, Branches, &c. — Trees
appear purplish-red during the winter, because the
greater number have brown, grey, or purple twigs,
and the scales covering the leaf-buds are usually of
the same, or some brighter and warmer colour. I
believe that this will be found to be the case with our
principal trees, the oak, birch, elm, beech, alder, and
willow. The oak- twigs are occasionally grey, but
generally the same colour as the buds, which, as far
as I know, are always brown. The ash has grey
stems and black buds. The smaller trees and shrubs
are often very richly coloured ; the cornel justifies its
specific name by its blood coloured twigs ; the members
of the Rosacea are red, orange, and purple, in thorn,
bud, and leaf, with much grey on the bark of some
species, as the dog-rose and black-thorn. In speak-
ing of leaves, I refer to the blackberry, which retains
its foliage in many places till the spring, but the
leaves are nearly always bronzed-like veterans. The
stems of the blackberry are also very purple in hue.
The various willows bear purple branches, and often
very brilliantly tinted buds. The colours enumerated
are not of course perfectly pure ; they are shades of
every degree, from orange or crimson in the willow-
buds just noticed, to dull brown or purplish grey.
The reason for mentioning so many instances is to
prove that the local colour of the masses of branchlets
is purple or brown, and to show that the colours of
the various twigs, buds, and thorns are such as would
produce a purplish-red or russet effect when massed
together, and crossed in every direction as they always
are. It was the practice, we know, of many great
colonists, to get a tint by "hatching and driving to-
gether loosely," a number of different harmonies,
which give, by that means, a colour which could not
have been formed so well in any other way. This is
the method of Nature. The variously tinted branchlets,
their light and shade, with the bluish haze of the
atmosphere, combined, will account, in my opinion,
for the hue of trees and shrubs during the winter
months. — M. Snape.
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS.
\ !To Correspondents and Exchangers. — As we now
publish Science-Gossip a week earlier than heretofore, we
cannot possibly insert in the following number any communi-
cations which reach us later than the 9th of the previous
month.
To Anonymous Querists. — We receive so many queries
which do not bear the writers' names that we are forced to
adhere to our rule of not noticing them.
W. Martin.— Get Stark's " British Mosses," with coloured
plates, published by Routledge & Co., at js. 6d.
W. A. Watts (Manchester). — Your fossils are the univalve,
Li'iinea longiscata, from Eocene strata ; the bivalve, a Brachio-
pod, Prodticta striata, Carb. Limestone.
C. McIntosh — Inquires the best method of mounting
butterflies' eggs for the microscope. Perhaps some of our
readers will answer him.
B. B. Scott. — See article on " How to Prepare Skeleton
Leaves," in vol. of Science-Gossip for 1872.
W. H. Littleton (Bristol). — The best and cheapest book
on British Coleoptera, is Rye's "British Beetles" (coloured
illustrations), published by Routledge, at iar. 6d.
W. H. Ne.vberrv. — It is not at all uncommon to see specimens
of peacocks, tortoise-shell, and one or two other species of
butterfly, which lie up or hybernate during the winter, coming
forth on warm days in February and March, having been
stimulated into activity by the warmth.
T. Workman. — Ask for the British Museum Catalogues of
the insects you mention.
George Turvill. — Are you quite sure the "gigantic fleas"
on the mole are not ticks (Ixodes)?
T. W. Dealy. — Press of matter has hitherto prevented the
publication of your paper, which is in hand.
W. S. (Edinburgh). — You will find full and ample instructions
how to proceed in staining vegetable tissues, in the late Dr.
iieatty's admirable articles on "Decolouring and Staining
Vegetable Tissues" in Science-Gossip, vol. for 1875.
B. Hobson. — The "London Catalogue " .is merely a well-
verified list of indigenous British plants. You will find specific
descriptions of all our British plants in Hayward's " Botanist's
Pocket Book ;" published by Bell & Daldy, at +r. This latter
is the best book of the kind we know of.
H. Crowthek. — The specimen labelled "greensand," un-
doubtedly belongs to that formation. We are not so sure of the
numerous small specimens queried "gault," in the absence of
characteristic fossils, although they strongly resemble " gault,"
still we have seen clays of other formations much like them.
The red specimen labelled W. looks like altered gault, and
very likely it is so, as we found remains of a small decapod
crustacean in it. The reddish-coloured sandstone belongs_ to
the lower greensand as the fragment of fossil pecten it contains
sufficiently shows.
James Lowther. — We dare say you will be able to get a
good specimen of living Plumatella or Fredericella from Mr.
Thomas Bolton, naturalists' studio, 17 Ann Street, Birmingham.
He regularly supplies naturalists all over Europe every week
with living organisms.
G. R. B. (Shoreham).— The "seed-like objects adhering to
orange-peel," are the pupa cases of Ceratites citriperda. Slack's
"Pond Life ".could very likely be obtained from W. Wesley,
the natural history bookseller, 28 Essex Street, Strand.
9 6
HA RD WICKE'S SCIENCE- G OS SIP.
W. H. J. (Uppingham). — The articles named will probably
be continued during the summer months. Names of the species
inclosed were as follows : — a. Scirjms carinatus (Sm.) ; by
Hooker made a subspecies of S. lacustris ; we believe it to be
distinct, c. Panicum Crus-galli (Linn.) d. We think, this is
a melilot, one not seen before, but will tell you next month.
e. Setaria viridis (Beauv.) f. Ononis arz'eusis, (Linn.) g.
Eleocharis uniglumis (Link), h. Glyceria aqitatica (Sm.) b,
A pretty viviparous form of Cynosurus cristatus (L.) ; a valuable
specimen. Note. — Your observation, amongst botanical notes.
We wish all our correspondents would send us good specimens ;
yours are excellent.
W. K. (Leeds). — The seeds you so kindly send are niger
seeds, so called in commerce ; but they are obtained from
Gaizotia olcifera, cultivated in India chiefly for the sake of a
bland oil, not unlike sesamum oil, which burns in small hand-
lamps, without smoking. This product is known as ram-til oil in
Mysore. We are puzzled by your other question. Do you mean
the olden lentil (Ervum Lens, L.) ? Could you let me see a small
sample?
W. F. (Shaw Hall, Botanical Society, Greenfield.) — We believe
the specimens are Erigeron bonariensis and Escallonia rubra.
H. B. (Prestbury). — The ferns are Adiantum caudatum,
Chcilanthes fragrans, and Nothoclileena vellea.
D. R. B. (Picton, Bunbury, West Australia). — Only one
specimen we ll the end of April." In
this neighbourhood, where they are more numerous
than at Selborne a century ago, I have seen the
Great Bat on the wing on April 6th, and once as
early as the i Sth of March.
That the bite of the adder [Pelias berus) is under
certain circumstances fatal is probably true enough,
though I know of no well-authenticated record of a
thoroughly healthy person dying from its direct
effects. But one thing is beyond question — its bite
has very unpleasant results, sometimes even necessi-
tating the amputation of the limb. A man here was
bitten in the hand and lost the use of his arm for four
months. Adders are found in these parts in consider-
able numbers, and in hot weather it is very imprudent
to ramble about in the woods without wearing
gaiters, or, failing these, the best thing is to tie the
trousers tightly around the ankle ; the danger being
less of a bite through the trousers, than that the
reptile in its fright may take refuge inside them, an
occurrence which once happened to a forest keeper I
know, and this so terrified him, though he shook off
the brute and escaped unharmed, that he never goes
into the wood now without having his understandings
encased in stout leather. The dread of all creeping
things extends here to the pretty little brown lizard
and the slow worm, both of which are invariably cut
to pieces as mortally dangerous vermin. A bright
reddish-purple variety of the latter known as the
"red adder" is regarded with the utmost terror,
because it is supposed to be more venomous than
the viper itself.
One or two words as to the birds. As might be
expected their number both of species and individuals
is large ; a good list is given in Mr. Wise's book of
the New Forest, enumerating no less than 230 out of
354 recognised British species. I am told that at
present there is but a single pair of honey buzzards in
the forest, and their eggs are so greedily sought after
that there is but scant chance of the number in-
creasing, except when they happen to build where the
nest may be effectually protected, as was the case
two years ago, when the honey buzzards built in a tall
tree on a gentleman's estate, and the proprietor, with
rare good sense, ordered his keepers to watch the
nest day and night, and gave them strict injunctions
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
99
not to lean on the side of tenderness in dealing with
would-be intruders. An osprey was shot on the
coast last year. I saw it in the hands of a taxider-
mist at Lymington. Snipes and woodcocks remain
here in small numbers throughout the year, and their
eggs are found every season. Peewits breed in great
numbers among the bogs. During the months of
March and April the heronry at Vinney Ridge
presents an animated appearance. There on the top-
most branches of some of the tallest and finest
beeches in the forest the herons may be seen sitting
on their broad flat nests, or engaged in feeding their
young. The trunks of these splendid trees are four
or five feet in diameter, smooth and branchless up to
a height of some twenty feet, and one would suppose
the nests were inaccessible — even to the proverbial
nesting boy — yet many of the eggs are taken. For
this purpose large iron spikes are securely attached
to the legs, and the climber makes the ascent by
sticking these into the tree step by step : but it is
a perilous feat, and one which requires a steady nerve
and a cool head. The herons always lay twice and
frequently three times in each season, beginning
early : by the second week in April the young are
already half grown. In May or June they leave their
nesting haunts and retire to the coast. I have seen
three of the woodpeckers : the green, the greater
spotted, and lesser spotted, but the first is by far the
most common, indeed, although the shrill squeak-
ing laugh-like note of the two last is not an un-
familiar sound it is not often that the birds them-
selves are seen. Nut-hatches are pretty common
and are known by the euphonious name of "mud
dabbers " from their habit of plastering mud around
the holes which lead to their nests. Kingfishers are
scarce, and I have rarely seen two at once. Speak-
ing of these birds, perhaps it is not generally known
that they can and do procure their food from the
sea as well as fresh water. I recollect observing
this in Sark, one of the Channel Islands, where king-
fishers are numerous, though there is not in the
island a stream or (with one exception, I think) a
pond big enough to sustain a minnow. More than
once I have seen them among the rocks at low tide.
The wryneck arrives here about the 1st or 2nd of
April, and the cuckoo about the 20th. Nightingales
are very plentiful, and usually begin to sing towards
the middle of April. Swallows, house and sand
martins arrive the second or third week in April, and
swifts during the first days of May. Our latest
summer visitant is the night-jar, which begins its
singular churring note usually on the 16th or 17th of
May ; last year however I heard one as early as the
7 th. These birds breed commonly on heaths, and
lay their eggs — never more than two — on the bare
ground. On one occasion I found a pair of night-
jar's eggs as late as the 5th of August, this I noted in
Science-Gossip, vol. xiii. p. 259.
{To be continued.)
SKETCH OF THE GEOLOGY OF CARDIFF
AND SURROUNDING DISTRICT.
TO those interested in geological pursuits there
are few localities possessing so many advantages
and at the same time offering such a varied field
for research, as the neighbourhood of Cardiff. Such
being the case, a brief outline of the leading features
of the district may not prove uninteresting to some of
your readers.
The town of Cardiff is built upon the western
portion of a large plain, the surface of which is not
much above high-water mark, in fact, some parts of
the surrounding moors are periodically covered with
tidal water at the vernal and autumnal equinoxes ; geo-
logically speaking, it cannot have been long since
the waters of the Severn flowed regularly over, and
indeed far inland, to where Cardiff now stands.
The surface soil consists of a foot or two of stiff clay,
resting upon rolled blocks and pebbles brought by
the action of water from the older rocks of the
district ; these in turn rest upon the Keuper marl of
the Triassic formation.
Cardiff boasts the possession of splendid dock
accommodation, and is visited by the mercantile
fleets of all nations for that important article of
commerce, steam coal, for which South Wales is
justly famous.
The geological map of Great Britain defines a
large district in the neighbourhood of Cardiff as being
occupied by Old Red Sandstone deposits. This to a
great extent is correct, but a careful re-survey of the
district would very materially alter the boundary of
this formation, and cause the introduction of a con-
siderable tract of Silurian to be substituted. It is to
be hoped these alterations will be made at no ve;y
distant period."
The Silurian deposits are well exhibited in a section
on the river Rumney, about two miles from Cardiff,
where a total thickness of rock exceeding 700 feet is
exposed. These beds are replete with the customary
fossils of the upper or Ludlow series, and at present
it is a moot point whether deposits representative of
the Wenlock series may not also exist here.
The only rising ground of any importance in the
immediate neighbourhood of Cardiff is Pen-y-lan.
This is a low hill composed entirely of Silurian
deposits ; a small quarry nearly at the top of the
hill has furnished the writer with a typical collection
of the interesting fossils of this formation. This spot
will repay the visitor for the walk, as a commanding
view of the British Channel, the flat and steep
Holmes, the coast of Somersetshire, and the Liassic
plateau of Penarth, and Leckwith can be obtained
from here.
From the Silurian to the Lias represents an enor-
mous thickness of deposits, yet, if we except the
Permian and Lower Lias, the entire sequence may
be obtained within a radius of about a dozen miles
F 2
IOO
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
from Cardiff. Caerphilly, with the ruins of its
ancient castle, lies to the north of, and is distant
from Cardiff about seven miles. A walk over the
Rhymney Railway reveals the following section :
After passing over the alluvial deposits at Cardiff, we
enter a cutting through a bed of river gravels ; this
8 feet.
10 feet.
9 feet.
1 8 feet.
24 feet.
30 feet.
Ammonites planorbis beds.
Lima beds.
Ostrea liassica beds.
I' HI i' 1 ,'l",
I I Mi
~r-- - 1
■1 N , * * .rf a«_/ White Lias series.
»fc- ;..Sa»3l
Black Shales.
> j 1 1 1 1 |i
Green Marls.
Red
Marl.
Fig. 89.— Section of Rhsetic beds at Penarth.
is immediately followed by a cutting in the Silurian,
and is the most westwardly exposure hitherto dis-
covered in this district ; it is, in fact, a prolongation
of the base of Pen-y-lan referred to above. A heavy
embankment occurs for about a mile, which brings
us near Llanishen, where we enter a fine section of
the Old Red Sandstone, consisting of conglomerate
pebble beds, beds of grey and red sandstone alternat-
ing with beds of similar coloured marls ; these are
succeeded by the carboniferous limestone, millstone
grit, and lower coal measures.
These rocks at once mark a significant change in
the features of the landscape ; rising to over 850
feet above sea level, they form the Caerphilly
mountain, under which the Rhymney Railway is
carried by a tunnel 1760 yards in length. In walking
over the mountain we pass over the denuded and up-
turned edges of the Old Red Sandstone, carboniferous
limestone, millstone grit, and, on the northern slope,
between the summit and the town of Caerphilly,
twelve seams of coal, alternating with beds of sand-
stone and shale, crop out. About two miles further
to the north, the great anticlinal axis which divides
the South Wales coal basin into two unequal troughs
is met with. It is composed of Pennant sandstones ;
these furnish good building material, and from some
of the beds an excellent paving-stone is obtained.
The thickness of these sandstones, as ascertained
from sinkings, is over 480 feet.
The currents which brought the material for the
formation of these rocks also brought large portions of
the vegetation of the period, which have been well
preserved in a quarry at Pwll-y-pant ; some of the
beds are literally crowded with such remains. When
first exposed the external portion of the wood is
found converted into pure coal having a cubical
fracture inside, the wood has been fossilized, and an
excellent idea of its structure may be obtained by
preparing thin sections for microscopical examination.
By far the larger portion of these remains consist of
Sigillaria, but from the fact of Dadoxylon antiquus,
Pinites, Lepidodendron and Psaronius having been dis-
covered, a careful examination would doubtless reveal
to an investigator of fossil botany many other descrip-
tions of the flora of the coal age.
That these remains have been subjected to consider-
able attrition is indicated by the ends of each piece of
wood terminating in a blunt point, while not un-
frequently patches of fossilised vegetable matter may
be found. These are undoubtedly the comminuted
fragments worn from the stems and branches during
the turbulent state of the water, and held in suspen-
sion until it became more tranquil, when they were
finally deposited in the slight inequalities of the sea
bottom.
The general arrangement of the beds in this section
is briefly as follows : when the Silurian is first met with
the dip is about 23 degrees to the N.E. The embank-
ment referred to occupies a depression where the beds
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
101
become horizontal ; at Llanishen the dip is about 22
degrees to the S.W., gradually increasing in angle of
dip as the tunnel is approached, where the beds are
seen to fold over an anticlinal axis and again dip to
the N.E. at an angle of 33 degrees.
A trip by the steam ferry, occupying about ten
minutes, lands you at Penarth, where one of the best
sections of the Rhastic series in this country is exposed
in the cliff. Penarth Head, about 160 feet high, con-
tains the following series of beds. The base consists of
red and pale green marls, enclosing large lenticular
masses of gypsum. Beds of impure limestone succeed —
the surface of one of these beds presents a very uneven
ing the site of the coast line of the Triassic Sea, it
consists of angular, subangular, and water-worn blocks
of the older rocks of the districts cemented in a
matrix of a rich red colour ; the stone can be wrought
in blocks of almost any dimensions, and is much used
when substantial masonry is required. Hitherto it
has not furnished the writer with any fossils other
than those found in the contained blocks of older
rocks.
The amount of denudation which has taken place
in this district is enormous. Abundant evidence re-
mains to convince any one the coal strata must have
been continuous from South Wales to the Bristol and
Fig. 90.— Section from Cardiff to Caerphilly. 1. Coal measures; 2. Millstone grit; 3. Carboniferous limestone; 4. Old Red
Sandstone; 5. Silurian; 6. Gravels; 7. Trias.
surface when exposed, in the depressions of which
large quantities of fish remains occur, consisting of
teeth, spines, and scales of various species, prominently
among which may be mentioned Nemaca?ithus filifer,
N. monilifer, Hybodus retiadatus,' Acrodus minimus,
Sargodon Tomicus, Gyrolepis Alberti, Saurichthys
apicalis, and S. acuminatus. Then follow a series of
black shales, with occasional beds of impure lime-
stone but exceedingly fossiliferous, containing Axinus,
Pullastra, Pecten Valoniensis, Cardium Rhaticum,
Avicula contorta, Myophoria postera, Gervillia,
&c. These beds are succeeded by the White
Lias series, commencing with sandy shales, passing
into beds of limestone containing Lima precursor,
Modiola minima, Anatina Suessi, and still ascend-
ing we met with the Ostrea beds containing Ostrea
liassica, Plicatida, Lima shales, with Lima precursor,
and lastly the Ammonites Planorbis beds with the
fossil giving them their title. Reptilian bones are
not unfrequently met with, consisting of Ichthyosaurus,
Plesiosaurus, &c.
Following the cliff along to Lavernock, about two
miles in a southwardly direction, the various beds
may be examined in detail, as their undulations bring
them within easy reach for observing more minutely.
At Lavernock the coast suddenly trends to the west
and a very fine exposure of the Lias opens up. The
beach from low water to the base of the cliff is covered
with some of the beds, the natural fracture of which
gives the beach the appearance of having been
artificially paved. From this point the flat and steep
Holmes (two islands of carboniferous limestone) are
prominent objects standing off in the channel about
three or four miles from the mainland.
At Radyr and at the junction of the Penarth line
with the Taff Vale Railway near Llandaff, excellent
exposures of the dolomitic conglomerate occur, mark-
Somerset coal-field, as also the underlying Old Red
Sandstone. The vertical thickness of these rocks
added to those exposed in the cliffs from Penarth to
Southern- down amounts to between one and two
miles, a mass of rock which only a corresponding
immensity of time would be sufficient to remove.
W. H. Harris.
THE PREPARATION OF INSECTS FOR
MICROSCOPICAL EXAMINATION.
By H. M. J. Underhill.
THERE is a great deal of literature on the subject
of " microscopical mounting," and I hesitated
much before I decided to contribute yet another
paper to the amount Notwithstanding, I believe
that the particular branch of "mounting " of which
this article treats, is but imperfectly understood.
When I was a member of the Postal Microscopical
Society, I used to see the slides of some hundred
and twenty microscopists, among which were a great
many of what the club calls "professional slides."
It seemed to me that the majority of the entomological
specimens, both those by "amateurs" and "pro-
fessionals " were badly set up, and that, with a few
agreeable exceptions, even those which might be
called good slides were mounted upon principles
radically faulty. This being a fairly large circle
from which to judge, I suppose that most entomo-
logists who use a microscope set up their preparations
after the same fashion, and therefore I have written a
paper on a well-worn theme.
A man commencing the study of insect-anatomy
reads a few " hints on mounting " in some book ; the
102
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
remarks treat of mounting in general, and the beginner
applies to insects methods suitable to histological,
vegetable, or mineral objects. His principles are at
fault, and his productions are more or less failures.
This paper is not about mounting in general, and,
although many of the methods detailed may be good
for other classes of objects, it is only for the prepara-
tion of insects and similar things that they are here
recommended.
In preparing any object, one's aim should be to
obtain an absolutely correct idea of it. One should
therefore endeavour firstly to set it up in a natural
manner and position, and secondly to display every
detail. It is always to be borne in mind that details
shown by distortion give an incorrect idea of the
object, and that the knowledge thus gained being in-
accurate, is therefore nearly useless.
By the ordinary method of preparing insects, every-
thing is sacrificed to the display of minute details,
and preparers are ambitious of doing on one slide
what can only be properly done on two, three, or
four. This ambition results in a radical fault, namely
the use of undue pressure, in order to bring all parts
of the object to one level. Again, a wish to mount
slides rapidly induces the employment of heat in order
to harden the balsam quickly. For mounting diatoms,
a skilful manipulator tells me that hardening the
balsam thus brings out the markings. His slides
fully bear out his words. But for insects, nothing
can be worse than heat, for it produces an opalescent
transparency, which makes markings partially invisible,
and this effect is aided by the increased density given
to the balsam.
The methods which I venture to recommend avoid
the use of undue pressure and of heat, while, at the
same time, not only will they give a better general
idea of an object than the methods ordinarily in use,
but also will bring out details much more distinctly.
Insects cannot all be mounted in the same way,
and, according to the points which it is desired to
show, so must the method of mounting vary. I will
first describe the various media and processes of
mounting, and then say something of the different
insects for which they are suited.
The media I employ may be divided into two
classes : A, those which are aqueous, and B, those
which are resinous.
Class A. Medium i. — To every fluid ounce of
glycerine add ten drops of ordinary acetic acid.
Almost everything may be mounted in this medium.
Medium 2. — Glycerine jelly. For details of its manu-
facture I refer readers to Science-Gossip 1874, P- 54-
Carbolic acid should be used to prevent the growth
of fungi, instead of Baric chloride as there stated.
I do not recommend glycerine jelly, except in a
very few instances, and therefore I do not trouble
the reader with what I said at a former time.
Medium 3. — Distilled water. To every fluid ounce
of water add 20 drops of carbolic acid ; boil until
the acid be dissolved, and filter through blotting-
paper. This medium is solely for mounting specimens
of opaque objects.
Class B. Medium 1 . — Canada balsam. I consider
test-tubes by far the most convenient vessels in which
to keep this resin. Fill a test-tube with two-thirds of
old balsam and one-third of benzine. A friend tells me
that new balsam does just as well, but of that I have
no experience. The mixture should be of the con-
sistency of cream. Medium 2. — Gum dammar. Take
two parts of gum dammar and one part of gum mastic :
pound them in a mortar, and fill a test-tube quite full
of the powder, but do not ram it down : now pour in
benzine until the test-tube will hold no more. Cork
the tube tightly, and let it stand in an oven for a few
hours, until the solution be quite clear and all
sediment has sunk to the bottom. Filtering is quite
unnecessary. Gum dammar by itself dries very brittle,
and besides, I have never been able to clarify it.
These mixtures of Canada balsam and of gum dammar
may be used indifferently for unstained specimens.
I do not know that one is better than the other, but
for stained specimens it is better to use only gum
dammar, because the natural oils in the balsam cause
some colours to fade.
Process i. To mount an object in glycerine. — A
cell is necessary for all but the very thinnest objects.
Fixing a cell is some trouble, but it is seldom that
anything deeper is required than a glass slip with a
countersunk cell. As some people are always com-
plaining (quite needlessly) of the difficulty of "seal-
ing cells," I describe my method : fill the cell with
glycerine ; pick out all air bubbles with a pair of
forceps, put the object in the cell ; take up the thin
glass cover with the forceps, breathe on its underside,
and place it carefully (do not drop it) on the cell ;
press the cover down, taking care to keep the object
in the middle, and secure it with a clip. Leave the
slide for an hour in order that all superfluous
glycerine may be pressed out ; then take it up and
wash it in clean water by dipping it in, and moving
it gently backwards and forwards. Wipe the ends of
the slide with a towel ; absorb all the water about
the cover with blotting-paper, and then varnish it
very thinly with ' Bell's cement.' Knotting varnish,
such as is sold in ordinary oil shops will answer the
purpose, but slides sealed with this are apt to leak.
Therefore I prefer Bell's cement, which can be bought
at C. Baker's, High Holborn. Three coats of varnish
should be put on before the clip is taken off, and the
slide may then be " ringed " on the turn-table in any
way that suits the mounter's fancy.
For mounting in jelly I again refer readers to the
back number of Science-Gossip. Objects may be
mounted in water in the same way as in glycerine ;
washing the slide after putting on the clip, however,
is unnecessary.
Process II. To mount in balsam or dammar. —
With a turn-table draw a ring of water-colour paint
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
103
in the middle of the slide. If the object be very thin
put a small drop of the medium on the slide, place
the object in it, and put on the cover, wetted with
benzine, and press it down only very lightly indeed.
It is but seldom that entomological objects are thin
enough for this, so, in an ordinary way, proceed as
follows. On the ring of paint at equal distances apart,
place three small chips of cover-glass of a thickness
just slightly less than that of the object to be mounted ;
arrange the object which should be quite wet with
benzine, in the middle ; put on the cover, secure it with
a clip, and let the medium run under by capillary attrac-
tion. All bubbles not inside the object will ultimately
disappear, but sometimes they need ' ' coaxing " to make
them go. The clip must be left on for half a day or
a week, according to the nature of the object. Any
shrinkage of balsam from the edge of the cover must
be carefully filled up. Slides mounted in this way
should be left at least six weeks to dry. The super-
fluous balsam may be scraped off neatly by placing
the slide in the turn-table, and using a sharp bradawl
to cut the balsam. A good margin of balsam must
be left round the edge of the cover. The slide must
be first varnished with balsam, but it may be finished
according to individual fancy.
If the object be too thick for any bits of cover-
glass, I generally use a slip with a countersunk cell.
Nothing is easier than to mount with these. I should
use them almost always, if they were not twice the
price of smooth-edged slips.
I will now speak of the processes for preparing
insects for mounting. It is on the proper carrying
out of these that the worth and beauty of one's slides
depends.
To prepare an insect for being mounted in glycerine.
First process : Simply soak it for a week in glycerine.
Second process [to be used if the insect be curled
up] : soak it for a day or two in acetic acid, then
for half a day in distilled water ; this makes the legs
spread out. Soak it in weak glycerine ; then in
stronger, and finally in pure glycerine, then mount
it. Third process : For this refer to the first process
for Canada balsam. Insects are prepared for glycerine
jelly in the same way as for glycerine ; for carbolated
water they are prepared by simply soaking them in it
for some time.
To prepare insects for balsam or dammar. — First
process : After partial dissection, soak the specimens in
liquor potassae in the usual manner ; when they are
sufficiently transparent, complete the dissection, and
boil them in clean liquor potassce for ten seconds : wash
them in distilled water, soak them for at least half an
hour in acetic acid. [It does no injury to leave them
in this for a week, but an hour or so is all that is
needful.] This gets rid of all potash. Wash them
well in distilled water, and then in methylated spirit.
[If they are to be mounted in glycerine instead of in
balsam, they should be transferred to that medium
without being put into spirits at all, but only well
washed in water.] Soak them for a quarter of an
hour in absolute alcohol, and then in oil of cloves for
a short time. The oil of cloves is not absolutely
necessary, but it is safer to employ it. Objects should
not be left for more than a week in oil of cloves,
since they are made hard and brittle by it. They
may now be mounted in balsam or dammar, but it is
better to wash them first in benzine, in which they
may be kept for any length of time. Second process :
For displaying muscles [applicable to naturally trans-
parent objects only]. Soak for three or four days in
ether, transfer at once to oil of cloves. Or, if the
object be curled up, soak it in water to expand it,
and transfer it to the oil by methylated spirits and
alcohol, as described in the first process. Third
process : For the same purpose and with the same
limitations as process two. Soak for a very short
time in potash ; be very careful not to press the
object at all, and proceed as in the first process, but
without any boiling.
For soaking in potash I use half-drachm stoppered
bottles ; for acetic acid, staining fluids, &c, little glass
pots, which I buy at Baker's for 2d. each. For
boiling I use little porcelain evaporating dishes with
handles, which I buy at Griffin & Sons', 22 Garrick
Street, Covent Garden.
(To be continued.')
A NEW METHOD OF PREPARING A DIS-
SECTED. MODEL OF AN INSECT'S BRAIN
FROM MICROSCOPIC SECTIONS.
By E. T. Newton, F.G.S.
(Read before the Quekett Microscopical Club,
January 24, 1879.)
THE structure of the nervous centres of Inverte-
brate Animals is a subject which is attracting
some attention at the present time, and I have myself
been much interested in the study of the insect's
brain ; but have found some difficulty in clearly
comprehending the forms of certain of the internal
parts. In order to get a better knowledge of these
forms, I was led to construct a model, on a principle
which I believe to be entirely new. Knowing the
interest which our honoured president and the mem-
bers of this club always take in new methods of
working, I felt constrained to bring the matter before
you, and it is the purpose of the present paper to
describe the manner in which this model has been
constructed. Whether the method will prove avail-
able for other objects, time alone will show.
It will perhaps be desirable, before commencing
the description, for us to call to mind the general
form of an insect's brain. Some of us endeavoured
on our last "Gossip night" to get a general know-
io4
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
ledge of the anatomy of an insect, and, with regard
to the nervous system, we noticed that the most
anterior pair of ganglia, which is placed in the fore
part of the head, is joined by two large commissures
to the second pair, which is placed lower down, and
towards the back part of the head. Through the
ring thus formed the gullet or oesophagus passes, and
hence the anterior ganglia, being above, are termed
' 2 * Lh
Fig. 91.— Brain of mole-cricket, after Dietl.— id, upper division
of the brain, or supra-cesophageal ganglia ; lb, lower division
of brain, or infra-cesophageal ganglia ; cm, commissures be-
tween upper and lower divisions of brain ; x, a cross-band of
fibres peculiar to mole-cricket and some other insects ; an,
antennary nerve ; op, optic ganglion ; o, ocelli ; fg, frontal
ganglion of stomato-gastric nerve ; 1, 2, 3, nerves to mouth
organs.
From the lower pair of ganglia the nerves are given
off which supply the mouth appendages. The re-
searches of Faivre, in 1857 ("Du Cerveau des
Dytisques dans ses rapports avec la locomotion,"
"Ann. d. Sci. Naturelles Zool." tome viii. p. 245)
seem to show that the power of co-ordinating the
movements of the body is lodged in the infra-ceso-
phageal ganglia, and, therefore, it is not without
reason that some authors regard these as a part of
the brain. What follows in this communication refers
only to supra-cesophageal ganglia, or, as I should
prefer to call them, the upper division of the
brain.
The general arrangement of the internal structures
will, perhaps, be best understood by reference to the
figure given by Leydig, of the brain of Formica rufa
(fig. 92). (" Tafeln zur vergleichenden Anatomie,"
1864, t. viii.) Upon each side there is a large
central ovoid mass (pi), which has been termed the
primary lobe, and this abuts in the middle line upon
its fellow of the opposite side, while the optic nerve,
with its ganglion (op), is given off from the outer or
opposite end. The optic ganglion itself is a very
complex structure. The antennary lobes (al) consist
of a number of large rounded masses, which have
been called cells, but are really made up of a network
of fine fibres. Above the primary lobe are seen the
peculiar bodies, having the appearance of half-rings
(nib), which have been called convolutions, by
Dujardin. (" Sur le systeme nerveux des Insectes,"
1850, "Ann. Sci. Naturelles Zool." ser. 3, tome xiv.
p. 195), and have been compared to mushrooms.
the supra-asophageal ganglia, and the second being
below, are called the infra-cesophageal ganglia. The
positions of these parts is
very well shown in the
diagram of these ganglia,
taken from a mole-cricket
(fig. 91). The upper ganglia
present two rounded pro-
minences above, from the
sides of which the optic
nerves are given off (op),
while at the top are seen
two ocelli. Somewhat lower
down, and towards the front,
are two other prominences,
from which the antennary
nerves pass off (an). A little
lower down a nerve is given
off from each side, the two
joining in the middle line to
form the frontal ganglion
(fg) ; from this a single
nerveDassesbackvvardsalor.tr Fig - 92 ~ Bra!n of For > n ^ rufa, adapted from Leydig.— fl primary lobe ; al, antennary lobe;
nerve passes DacKwaras along an> nerve t0 antenna . ^_ optic g ang H on ; / e> facetted eye ; o, ocelli ; mi, mushroom-bodies ;
the upper surface of the
alimentary canal. Below and
behind the large commissures (cm) pass to the lower
ganglia (lb), and, being long in the mole-cricket, the
two pairs of ganglia are well separated. In some
insects they are much closer together.
st, stems of mushroom-bodies ; c, cap of cells covering the mushroom-bodies ; ma, optical
section of the anterior mass of nervous matter.
Each of these mushroom -bodies is supported upon
a stem (st) which passes downwards into the primary
lobe, where the two lie close to each other, if they
do not join.
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
105
The exact form of these mushroom-bodies is not
easy to be made out from preparations such as that
figured by Leydig, and, indeed, the appearance pre-
sented by sections does not convey a very clear idea
of their form.
In the middle of the primary lobe, as figured by
Leydig, there is a rounded mass, which he describes
Fig. 93.— Diagrammatic outlines of sections of the upper part of the brain of a Cockroach. Only
one side of the brain is here represented. The numbers indicate the position in the series
of 34 sections into which this brain was cut. mb, mushroom-bodies, with their cellular cover-
ing ; c, and their stems, st ; a, anterior nervous mass ; m, median nervous mass.
as a "giant nucleus " {ma), but more recent researches
have shown that Leydig was mistaken, and that this
appearance is really the optical section of a cylinder
of nervous matter, which passes forwards, to end
abruptly upon the front surface of the brain. The
structure was correctly described by Dujardin, in
1850, but does not seem to have been recognised by
Leydig ; this was, no doubt, due to the method of
investigation employed by the latter, which consisted
in clarifying the brain (previously hardened in alcohol)
in potash solution, or glycerine.
With regard to the origin of the nerves of the
ocelli (0), it is desirable that Leydig's figure should
be verified, for it seems very improbable that they
should arise from the heads of the mushroom-bodies
in the ant, and from a different part of the brain in
other insects.*
Insects' brains vary very
considerably as regards the
development of the mush-
room-bodies. In ants, bees,
and wasps they are propor-
tionately large, and double
on each side. In the cock-
roach they are double, and
moderately well developed,
and in the mole-cricket there
is said to be only one on each
side. Dujardin could not
detect these mushroom-bodies
in the diptera ; but recent in-
vestigations (E. Berger,
" Untersuchungen iiber den
Bau des Gehirns und der
Retina der Arthropoden,"
"Arbeiten des zoolog. In-
stituts zu Wien," Bd. i. Heft
ii. p. 173) show that certain
bodies exist in the blow-fly
(Musai vomitoria), and the
house-fly {M, domeslica),
which, most probably, are
correctly regarded as the
homologues of mushroom-
bodies.
I had already prepared
sections of the heads of several
insects, some of which have
been exhibited at our meet-
ings, before I saw the paper
by Dr. Dietl (" Zeitsch. f-
wissenschaft. Zool." 1876,
vol. xxvii. p. 488), in which
some beautiful sections of
insect brains are figured and
described. When I saw them
I determined to try the method
he had used for hardening the
brains, namely, with hyper -
osmic acid. The insect which I selected to work upon
was the cockroach (B/aila orientalis). In the first place
it was necessary to remove the brain from the head
in a perfectly fresh condition, and this required some
care, because the organ itself is extremely delicate,
* I find, since this paper was written, that according to Fli.gel,
these nerves pass down beside the mushroom-bodies to
middle of the "brain. ("Zeitsch.
vol. xxx. suppl. p. 556-)
f. wissenschaft. Zool." 1878,
io6
HA RD WICKE'S S CIENCE- G OS SIP.
and if the investing membrane be injured the internal
parts are apt to be squeezed out in the hardening
process. The fresh brain, cleared from the surround-
ing parts, was placed for a few hours (6 or 8) in
an aqueous solution of hyperosmic acid (\ to | per
cent.) It was then washed and laid in spirits of
wine. The hyperosmic acid seems to me to be some-
what uncertain in its action, for sometimes the brains
remained soft and unstained in the interior, while at
other times the hardening and staining was most
successful throughout.
The next point was to cut up the brain in a definite
direction into consecutive sections of a known thick-
ness.
So much has been said in this club lately about
section cutting, that it would only be wearisome to
attempt to describe the process fully. It may, how-
ever, be mentioned that a microtome was used, in
which the screw for raising the object was divided,
so as to register a thickness of about -^ m inch.
The brain was embedded in wax, in the usual manner,
and each slice, as it was cut off, was placed directly
upon a glass slip in a drop of glycerine, and numbered.
When the entire brain had been disposed of in this
way, the sections were cleared of the pieces of wax
adhering to them, covered with thin glass, and
cemented down.
The sections which appear to me the most instruc-
tive are those cut in a direction as nearly as possible
parallel to the front of the brain. One brain, cut
in this direction, gave me thirty-four slices, each
about ^ inch thick, and as no intermediate pieces
were lost — although some were subsequently in-
jured in the process of mounting — I had the whole
of this upper division of the brain in a consecutive
series of slices, and, therefore, in a very satisfactory
condition for work. Any one who, in working out
structures by means of sections, has endeavoured to
trace the various parts through a series of slices, will
understand how difficult it is to keep in mind the
structures seen in each, so as to picture to himself the
form of any part when entire. And still more difficult
is it to convey to others the knowledge which one has
gained by the examination of such a series.
Now it seemed to me that, if a drawing of each
section of the series were made, and the corresponding
portions in each coloured some definite tint, then the
structures presented would be much more easily
understood, inasmuch as they could all be laid before
the eye at one time. I determined, therefore, to
prepare such a series of drawings with the camera
lucida, and the diagrams numbered 2, 4, 6, 10, 13,
17, 20, 25 (fig. 93), represent the most typical sec-
tions of this series ; only one-half of each section
being here represented.
In section No. 2 may be seen, at the lower part, a
portion of the antennary lobe («/). In the middle is
a mass of nervous matter, here distinguished by
vertical lines, and marked (a). Above this is a cap-
like portion, distinguished by horizontal lines (c)»
These are the portions which should be borne in mind
in passing through the series.
In No. 4 we find that while the parts noticed in
No. 2 remain much the same, two dark masses (mb)
have appeared in the upper portion, close to the mass
(a), but definitely separated from it.
In No. 6 the dark masses have increased in size
and become somewhat curved, but the most obvious
difference is that the mass (a) has suddenly extended
inwards and downwards to the middle line of the
brain (in).
In No. 10 the dark masses are much more deeply
curved, the upper portion of the mass (a) is rather
less, and another process has begun to extend upwards
and outwards (st).
In No. 13 the most important point to notice is
that, while the inner mass (a) has almost disappeared,
the outer one (st) has extended upwards, and may be
seen to join the outer dark mass.
In the 14th section the outer mass (st) joins the
inner dark mass also, and this junction extends as far
as the 1 8th or 19th section.
In No. 17 the outer mass (st) may be seen joining
both the dark masses, which are here very deeply
hollowed out.
In No. 20 the outer mass has entirely disappeared,
and we have simply a small portion of the lower
mass (m) left close to the middle line, the dark masses
are somewhat smaller. The extension (com) seen just
below the antennary lobe is the commencement of the
commissure to the lower division of the brain.
In the sections which follow, all the parts above
mentioned, excepting the commissure (com), get
gradually less, and the dark ones are seen, for the
last time, in section No. 25. The median portion (;«),
however, may be traced to the 28th section.
The next step in the process was this : It occurred
to me that, if the card, upon which these outlines
were made, were of a thickness proportionate to the
enlargement of the drawings, and if each were cut
out, and the whole piled together, one ought to have
a model of the exterior of the brain. I set to work,
therefore, to do this, but in order to lessen the labour
as much as possible, it being merely an experiment,
it seemed desirable to make one half first, and instead
of making models of the whole series, the thickness
of each slice was doubled, so that it was only necessary
to make seventeen, taking, as a pattern, every alternate
drawing.
The material used was soft pine-wood, each
piece being about \ inch in thickness. Having cut
out each model slice with a fine saw, the whole
were piled together in their relative places and
temporarily fixed, so that the corners might be
trimmed off, and the result was the form which is
seen in the model of one half of the upper brain
(fig- 94)- Tne different slices, however, were not left
fixed together, but were separated and arranged so
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
107
that they might be taken to pieces, as in the process
■of cutting sections, and the surfaces thus exposed
were coloured to represent the sections as they appear
under the microscope.
This method of modelling was capable of still
further development. Having modelled the opposite
half of the brain upon the same plan, I drew upon
each of the model sections, thus produced, the out-
lines of the more important parts, as shown in the
--&
an—
— oj>
-~ z ~-=~ml
-si
no — -
conv-
Fig. 94. — View from the outer side of the
left half of model of upper part of brain of
Cockroach. The oblique lines in this and
fig. 95 indicate the successive slices of
which each is composed, op, cut end of
optic nerve ; an, cut end of antennary
nerve.
diagrams (fig. 93), and these were then cut out in the
same manner as a child's dissected map-puzzle. Now
it will be obvious that by taking from each of these
" dissected" sections, the part, for instance, which is
in the diagrams (fig. 93), marked (<r),'and joining' them
together in their relative places, we shall have a
model of that particular part ; and by joining, in like
manner, the dark masses, and those marked (a), (/«),
(j/), we shall obtain models of the mushroom-bodies,
with their stems, etc. In this manner the dissected
portions of this side of the brain were joined together,
and, after some little trouble in adjustment, one was
enabled to make the parts fit together in their
relative places. We have now, therefore, upon the
left side, a model which may, so to speak, be cut up
in slices, to show the microscopic appearance of the
sections (fig. 94), and on the right side, a model of the
more important internal structures, which may, as
it were, be dissected out before a class of students
(fig- 95)-
I was in hopes that, before reading this paper, I
should have been able to construct a similar model of
the brain of a bee, in order to verify the descriptions
of Dujardin, Dietl, and others, who have worked at
this insect, but have not yet had the opportunity.
This, I may say, however, that an examination of
this model goes far to prove the correctness of their
descriptions, for we see here a mass of nervous matter
ending abruptly on the front surface of the brain,
this extending backwards, and being joined by the
stems of the mushroom-bodies, and reaching nearly
to the back of the brain, after being gradually reduced
in size. The heads of the mushrooms are seen to be,
as described originally by
Dujardin, discs folded upon
themselves, and bent down-
wards before and behind.
No doubt the forms of these
parts differ in the bee and
the blatta, but still, in their
principal features, they are
much alike.
I cannot help thinking
that a model such as this
gives a far better idea of the
true form of the internal
parts, than it is possible to
obtain from a study of sec-
tions alone, and, indeed,
even if these minute struc-
tures are dissected out, there
is great fear of their being
distorted in the process.
But, after all, the great use
of such models is to enable
the lecturer, or demonstrator,
to convey to his students a
correct knowledge of the
parts under consideration,
and I trust that this model may be the means of
enabling some of us to comprehend, more easily
than we otherwise should, the complex structures of
an insect's brain.
com j
Fig. 95. — Right half of model-brain seen from
the inner side, with the parts dissected
away, so as to show the anterior nervous
mass, a ; the median mass, m ; the mush-
room-bodies, mb ; and their stems st. The
cellular cap, c, has been raised, so as to
display the parts below ; com, is a part of
the commissure to the lower portion of
brain, or infra-ossophageal ganglia.
BOTANICAL WORK FOR MAY.
British Batrachian Ranunculi.
SOME ten years ago we could not (perhaps being
a little prejudiced) believe that all Babington's
water ranunculi were specifically distinct ; however,
time has wrought a wonderful change in our opinions ;
we now look upon them as a beautiful series of
examples, all differing in some degree, yet linked
together to form one harmonious whole ; we hope to
carry this conviction home to all our readers. We
have often been surprised to find so few of our
botanists who seemed to care to study these plants,
and yet they all confess they should like to know
more about them ; now let us endeavour during the
present month, to search anew every pond and ditch
in our neighbourhood, and carefully compare speci-
men with specimen : we shall all be astonished at the
io8
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
Fig. 96. The Water Crowfoot (Ranunculus aquatilis).
result. To many of our
readers this will add a new
study to one which is get-
ting threadbare.
Our space being neces-
sarily limited, we may be
pardoned by passing over
the history of the Batra-
chian ranunculi, without
any remarks ; our object is
to make them simple and
plain to every botanist, for
so far as our flowering
plants are concerned, they
ought to be recognised at
a glance.
First, looking at the
whole of our aquatic ranun-
culi, we readily perceive
they naturally divide into
two sections :
(A.) Found growing
only in muddy or boggy
places, and devoid of
submersed leaves.
Fig. 97. — Ranunculus heterophyllu?.
Fig. 98. — Ranunculus tripartitus.
(B.) Floating water plants.
Section I.
1. Ranunculus ' hederaceus (Linn.). Leaves
spotted, small. Flowers very small 1 ; pets.
3-veined. The point of the style, on the carpel
(seed-vessel) always at the side.
2. R. Lenormandi (E. B. S.). Leaves much
larger than above, not spotted. Flowers large ;
pets. 5-veined. The obovate carpel with a
terminal point ; syn. R. canosus, (Guss.)
IIARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
109
Section II.
Div. I. Without floating leaves.
3. R. trichophylhis (Chaix). Submersed leaves
dark green ; segments short, rigid, apiculate. Flowers
very small. Easily
known by its
short, pointed,
dark green leaf-
segments.
4. R. Droitettii
(F. Schultz). Sub-
mersed leaves
bright green, seg-
ments collapsing
(i.e. when taken
from the water
they are like a
camel's-hair pen-
cil when in use),
not apiculate.
5. R. fluitans
(Lam.). Sub-
mersed leaves very
long, linear.
Flowers very
large. Generally
found in shallow
rivers, abundant
in the Severn.
6. R. circinatus
(Sibth.). Segments
all in one plane,
rigid, in a round-
ish outline, forming a flat, rigid disk. Flowers very
small.
Div. II. With floating tripartite leaves.
Note. — All the species comprised in this division
may be recognised better from the illustrations, the
characters bear such a strong resemblance or simi-
larity, except to those who have studied them long
and carefully,
7. R. heterophylhis (Sibth.). The submersed leaves
of this species have long filiform collapsing segments.
Floating leaves nearly circular in outline, and with
long petioles ; style liooked.
8. R. confusus (Godr.). Leaf segments not collaps-
ing? rigid. Floating leaves semicircular, flat ; style
recurved. The stem of this species rises out of the
water.
9. R. Bandotiii (Godr.). Floating leaves tripartite.
Leaf-segments olive-green, apiculate, not collapsing.
Flower stalks often exceed the leaves in length.
Carpels inflated at the end.
10. R. peltatus (Fr.). We combine R. floribundas
(Bab.) with this species, being unable to detect any
difference. Flowers numerous, sweetly-scented, large.
Floating leaves almost circular in outline.
1 1. R. tripartitus (DC). St. rising out of the water.
Pets, very small, often slightly tinged with pink. The
Fig. 99. — Ranunculus Droitettii.
submersed leaves often absent, then it has a close re-
semblance to R. Lenormandi. It is a very distinct
species.
12. R. pseudo fluitans. — Submtrsed leaves long.
Fig. 100. — Ranunculus Jluitans.
with flat segments resembling R. fluitans. Floating
leaves tripartite. Flowers (rarely seen) about as large
as heterophyllus. This is a very variable plant, some-
times the segments are collapsing, but more frequently
long and rigid.
/
no
z
ARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
The following characters are most reliable :
No. 3. Known at k glance by its dark green leaf-
segments ; No. 4. leaf-segments light-green, filiform
and collapsing ; No/ 5. Leaf-segments very long, linear ;
No. 6. Segments bf leaves having a roundish outline,
and all in same plane j No. 7. Floating leaves almost
Fig. 101. — Ranunculus Lenormandi.
circular ; No. 8. Floating leaves flat, semicircular ;
No. 9. Floating leaves tripartite ; No. 10. Flowering
abundantly, and with delicate perfume; No. 11.
Flowers exceedingly small, submersed leaves very rare ;
No. 12. Differs from No. 5 chiefly, by having floating
leaves.
MAY FLOWERS IN WALES AND
SHROPSHIRE.
IN Hertfordshire the primroses were over,
hyacinths run to seed and later summer flowers
coming into blossom, when in the middle of May we
left that county for Shropshire, and stayed at Bucknell,
on the borders of Wales. Here j;he early spring and
the summer flowers were all in blossom together.
We climbed a high hill and passed through an oak
wood, where the ground was covered with primroses
and anemones, side by side with Geranium sylva-
ticum and Lychnis. Masses of beautiful broom grew
on these hills, Chelidonium in the hedgerows and
meadows full of Orchis morio. We walked one day
from the Craven Arms Junction, where the rail to
Ludlow branches off, to Norton Camp on the top of
the hill. Close to the camp is a wood, where we found
Saxifraga granulala growing as thickly as Stellaria
Holostea does in Hertfordshire. It looked very pretty
in the long grass on the ledges of the steep rocks
which overhang the valley where Stokesay Castle lies.
From Craven Arms Junction it is but a short distance
by train to Church Stretton, which looks so charming
lying close under the range of wild hills.
The Longmynd is windy and treeless, but there is
plenty of beauty and colour about it. Along the top
is a broad turf track, smooth as a racecourse, along
which we walked. We could see the Wrekin and
Malvern Hills as we climbed upwards from Church
Stretton, afterwards on the left the Ludlow Hills and
Clee Hills ; on the right we looked across those
strange Stiper stones, and out to the Welsh hills over
the fertile valley, where we could see Bishop's Castle.
The colour of the foreground to these distant blues
and pale greens was very remarkable, owing to the
splendid tints of the whortleberry leaves. On the
Longmynd they grew in spreading tracts over the
turf, shading from a deep crimson to brilliant orange.
The plants were full of light pink blossoms, and our
feet were covered with honey as we passed through
them. When nearly at the end of the Longmynd
range, we descended to the left into the valley near
the branch line that runs to Bishop's Castle. This
railway is certainly very rural and unsophisticated ; it
is grown with grass and weeds, and as we came up a
flock of sheep which had just been washed in the
river close by, was driven slowly along the rails with
much baa-ing and barking of dogs. Children played
on the line and strolled hand in hand under the gay
broom bushes which hung in the cutting, oak boughs
and firs drooped over the fences on either side, and
almost hid the signal-post. We walked along the
line also ; the sheep turned off at the little shed which
served as a station. I sat down to sketch on a heap of
old sleepers until in course of time a short train came
slowly up ; the children disappeared, the shepherd
with his dog under his arm stood to watch us start,
the broom came in at the windows as we passed
along.
On the rocks above the Teme, when on our way
along the hills to Ludlow, we found Lithosperinum
arvense. Wild garlic spread like a carpet over some
of the woods.
The month of May was a very wet one, even for
Wales. We went to Rhayader by the Builth railway
in pouring rain, past dreary Llandrindod with its
miserable attempt at modern streets and smart hotels,
in the midst of what was once a pretty common enough
if uninteresting. At Builth Road we saw the name
of that station very neatly writtenln fine thrift, which
can be recommended to station-masters. The letters
are bright green all the winter and covered with pink
blossoms in the summer. We drove from Rhayader
up the Nantgwyth valley, beside the Elan, which
was like a winter torrent, and saw at the edge of the
oak woods the pale yellow flowers of the Globe
Flower (Trollius Europaus). Later on we walked
through meadows full of Trollius near Rhayader and
Builth. Close to Cwm-Elan is the "Lily Bank,"
of rocks and oak-trees, with lilies-of-the-valley growing
thickly in beds along the ledges ; the blossoms were
just coming out.
We found plenty of Pinguicula in blossom on the
hills, looking like large bright violets, also Gnapha-
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
in
Hum dioicion. Bird- cherry grew in the hedges. In
one place was plenty of buckbean {Menyanthes
trifoliatd). Oak-fern grew near the Elan, and beech-
fern almost under the little mountain waterfalls. Some
of the old walls were full of common spleenwort and
Cy stopfer is fragilis.
We went to Aberedw, near Builth, and walked over
the hill to see Llewellyn's Cave, a little three-cornered
hole with a wooden door. On our way we found
Saxifraga hypnoides amongst the rocks, and some tall
specimens of Meconopsis Cambrica.
Pinner's Hill. -jvl. A. Tooke.
MICROSCOPY.
Pollen. — It is pleasant, if only for a moment, to
turn away from the bloodshed of Zululand to the
calm possibilities of scientific research and induction.
This is suggested to us by a capitally-printed paper
we have received on "Pollen," read before the
Natal Microscopical Society in November last by Mr.
Maurice S. Evans. This paper is a valuable one, and
gives us a good deal of original research. In the dis-
cussion which followed, Mr. Adams (thehon. secretary)
referred to Taylor's "Flowers; their origin, shapes,
perfumes, and colours," in which it was stated that
ants never assisted in fertilising plants, the hairs of
which the author thought were intended to keep the
ants off. Mr. Adams said he had himself seen ants
not only carrying off pollen, but entire anthers. This,
however, only proves that ants are unwelcome visitors
to flowers. What is meant by the author of
"Flowers" is not that ants were unable to carry
off pollen, but that they were unable to beneficially
effect cross-fertilisation, and that they are insects to
be guarded against by flowers, rather than welcomed.
Quekett Microscopical Club. — A conversa-
zione of this society took place at University College
on March 14, and was attended by upwards of a
thousand visitors. The guests on arrival were received
by the President, Professor T. H. Huxley, who was
supported by the Vice-Presidents and Secretary.
Microscopes to the number of 185 were exhibited in
the museum and libraries by members and their
friends from kindred societies, in addition to which a
large number of instruments and objects were dis-
played by the principal opticians. An interesting
lecture "On Curious Houses and Queer Tenants,"
was delivered by Mr. May in the Mathematical
Theatre, and frequent exhibitions of polariscope and
other beautiful objects and preparations took place in
dark rooms by means of oxyhydrogen microscopes ;
whilst an excellent band discoursed sweet music in
the famous Flaxman Hall. The general arrangements
were such as to call forth much praise, and the great
scientific interest and admirable manner in which the
greater part of the microscopic objects were shown
could not fail to be remarked. In addition to the
microscopes there was a good display of stereoscopes
and objects of interest, including a number of scien-
tific diagrams contributed for the occasion by Messrs.
Hardwicke & Bogue.
A New Method of Preserving Infusoria. —
The development of minute animalcules in infusions
of animal and vegetable substances when undergoing
decay has excited much interest amongst the medical
profession, on account of the light which recent
researches have shed upon the mode which bacteria
have of spreading disease. For the study of these
minute forms it is very desirable that we should
possess some means of obtaining a permanent pre-
paration of them which would facilitate their examina-
tion. As regards bacteria and vibriones, especially
those on which M. Pasteur's researches have shed
so much light, and also those of Professor Tyndall, I
have been experimenting upon a method by which
this could be done ; and after some years of patient
research I have at last been rewarded with a very
excellent method, and for the benefit of the readers
of Science-Gossip I now send it you. The follow-
ing things will be necessary : — A bottle of thin
Canada balsam diluted with chloroform, a hot-water
plate and a few glass dishes, and the fixing solution,
which is made in the following manner : to 25 cc.
of chromic oxydichloride acid is added 50 cc. of
water with 5 cc. permanganate of potash. First
draw a large, ring of white wax upon the slide
much larger than the covering glass, then place the
vorticellas which you wish to preserve in the ring
with some water. When they have attached themselves
to the slide some of the chromic oxydichloride solution
must be added, which will instantly fix the specimen
in the position. After remaining about three minutes
the water may be poured out, and a few drops of
chloroform added and poured off, the covering glass
placed carefully on, and a few drops of dilute Canada
balsam added so as to flow under the cover, which is
then placed upon the hot-water plate to dry. Speci-
mens preserved in this manner retain all the freshness
of the living animal. — T. C.
ZOOLOGY.
Japanese Deer. — At a recent meeting of the
Zoological Society, the secretary called the attention
of the meeting to the herd of Japanese deer (Cervus
sika) in the park of Viscount Powerscourt, at Powers-
court, in Ireland, now about eighty in number, and
gave an account of their introduction and history,
from particulars supplied to him by Lord Powerscourt.
Female Deer with Antlers. — This was the
subject of a paper by Mr. Edward R. Alston, read
before the Zoological Society, showing that these
112
HARD WICKE'S SCIENCE- G OS SIP.
weapons are not unfrequently abnormally developed
in fertile females of certain species of Capreolus and
Cariacus, and giving reasons forbelieving that in the
ancestral forms of deer, they were probably common
to both sexes.
The Death of the Manatee. — Mr. Reeves
Smith, of the Brighton Aquarium, writes : " Will
you allow me to supplement the interesting observa-
tions which have already appeared in your contem-
poraries on the above subject with the following facts ?
The sirens were formerly no strangers to the shores
of Britain, for the near relative of the manatee, the
halitherium, occurs as a fossil in the red crag forma-
tion of Suffolk. The fossils, though found in the
Red Crag of Suffolk, are yet generally considered by
geologists as derived from much earlier beds of the
Miocene age, which once occupied a large area of
what is now the German Ocean, whence they have
been washed out and redeposited, on the coast of
Suffolk. Similar remains are also found in the
miocene of Belgium and Germany. The discovery
of the British species formed the subject of a paper
by Professor W. H. Flower, F.R.S., Hunterian Pro-
fessor of the Royal College of Surgeons, and now
President of the Zoological Society, published in the
quarterly journal of the Geological Society for
February (vol. xxx.), in which further details will be
found." Two skulls of this fossil Sirenian (called
Halitherium Canhami) are known, one of which (that
described by Professor Flower) is in the Ipswich
Museum.
Mistakes made by Instinct. — In answer to
J. E. Taylor's suggestion under this heading I send
the following instances of mistakes on the part of
the humming-bird hawkmoth. While staying at
Aigle one summer, I occupied a room hung with a
light paper on which dark green diamonds of about
an inch square frequently occurred. I observed a
humming-bird moth apparently attempt to strike its
proboscis into a number of these squares in succession,
and as far as I could see choosing the centre of each
for its attack. I may mention a similar occurrence
which I noticed last winter at Mentone, but in this
case the pattern of the paper was wreaths of flowers,
but curious to say the moth selected one flower of
rather a dark colour, and hovered from one example
of it to another without apparently observing the
intervening patterns. I may mention that this moth
is called in the south of France "good news," as it
is supposed to be an omen of future happiness. — Ebba,
Cot/ord, Sidmoutk.
Zeus Aper, or Boar-fish. — A specimen of
this rare visitant of British waters was obtained from
a French trawler at Exmouth, on the 19th ultimo.
It was caught in the Channel, off the Devonshire
coast, and was still alive when brought ashore.
Although common in the Mediterranean, Yarrell in
his "■ History of British Fishes " (vol. i. pp. 169-170)
mentions only two instances of this fish being caught
on the English coast, one in October, 1825, in Mount's
Bay, and another (locality of capture not stated)
obtained in Bridge water fish-market in April, 1833.
Probably others may have since been captured. The
Exmouth specimen measured exactly 5J inches in
length, and corresponded in almost every particular
with the excellent description and figure given by
Yarrell. No transverse bands, however, were ob-
servable on the sides. A lateral line was distinctly
visible when the fish was first seen, but in a few days
thereafter it had entirely disappeared. The foregoing
notes had just been written when another specimen
was brought to me this afternoon. It had been
caught in the morning in the Channel, about sixteen
miles off the coast, and was landed at Budleigh-
Salterton. It was nearly an inch longer than the
Exmouth specimen, and the transverse bands, al-
though faint, could be distinctly made out. This
specimen was forwarded to the Editor of Science-
Gossip. — D. S., Exmouth.
[We have received one of these specimens of Zeus
aper, in excellent condition from D. S., and beg to
thank him for it very sincerely. — Ed. S.-G.]
Boar-fish {Zeus aper). — Six or seven specimens
of the boar- fish have been washed on shore here
during the last fortnight, only two having been seen
before within the last twenty years. I can only
account for their appearance by supposing that the
prevalence of north-east winds has driven them in
from some station in deep water, such as Couch
mentions off the Runnel Stone. These same winds
have driven on shore still more unusual visitors in
the shape of three large vessels, one of them the
celebrated American frigate "Constitution." — Julia
Colson, Swauage, Dorset.
Marine Zoology. — I feel certain that much
valuable information in reference to marine dredging
might accrue if the various readers of Science-
Gossip would give their local knowledge and experi-
ence for the benefit of other naturalists. Dredging,
as a rule, is not successful, unless the locality is
thoroughly well known and familiar ; indeed, at many
places along our coast, if the dredge is not placed
over the exact spot, the haul would be profitless in
its results. Whilst on a dredging cruise last year, I
always made notes of those places where the dredge
had been used, so that at any future time I could
return to the same locality. I did this by roughly
marking the position on the chart, and where it was
possible I made use of land marks, such as, for instance,
a church or a windmill in a line with a large tree
bearing N.E. A side mark, or, technically speaking,
a thwart-mark was then noted, such as the headland
just clearing the light-house ; this object should be at
a right angle to the first observation, or as much so
as is practicable. In returning to the same position,
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
ll 3
it is only necessary to sail until the two lines cross
each other. As I hope shortly to commence dredging
operations, visiting Weymouth, Torquay, Plymouth,
Falmouth, Penzance, and the Irish Channel, any
information relative to the dredging of these places,
would be to me of great service. — C. P. Ogilvie,
Zeis ton, Suffolk.
" The Popular Science Review." — The last
number of this excellently edited and old-established
quarterly journal is a capital one. It contains articles
on " The Sources and Uses of Iron Pyrites," by
J. A. Phillips, F.G.S. ; on "The Evolution of the
Elements," by M. M. Pattison Muir, M.A.; "The
Structure and Origin of Limestones," by H. C.
Sorby, F.R.S. ; "The Supposed New Crater in the
Moon," by E. Neison, F.R.A.S. ; "Entomology,"
by. the Editor (W. S. Dallas, F.L.S.) ; "The Col-
lapse of the Electric Light," by W. H. Stone ;
"The Ferae Naturae of the London Parks," by
J. E. Harting ; &c.
Notes on the Colour, and on Mounting
"Noctiluca Miliaris." — It is well known that
to the Noctiluca miliaris, the phosphorescence of the
sea is due, at all events, in our own temperate waters.
Now, although like many of my brother naturalists,
I occasionally go to the sea-side, on botanical and
zoological thoughts intent, yet, strange to say, I never
saw the phenomenon until last summer, and have
always thought that the descriptions I have read in
books have been very much overdrawn. For instance,
in " Le Monde de la Mer," by Mons. Moquin-
Tandon, there is a particularly graphic description.
It must be confessed that this account is very much
like the phenomenon in one particular, it is both
luminous and glowing ; but at the same time it is
accurate. Myself and Dr. Worrall had been in a
yacht to a place some miles from Bangor, North Wales,
for zoological purposes. It was evening before we
returned, as the tide was against us, and the wind,
which had favoured us going, had at last utterly
failed us. The sea was placid, and it was when we
had fairly got into Beaumaris Bay, that the full
beauty of the phenomenon was apparent. The de-
scription was, as far as we could test it, true to
nature. We collected in vials numbers of the little
Noctilucae for examination when we arrived at home
(the hotel). When we had pretty well exhausted its
points of interest, we set about mounting some for
future examination. We mounted them in shallow
cells, with various preservative media, that we might
compare the results. We tried balsam, glycerine,
water (marine and fresh), glycerine jelly, Dean's
medium, and several others. One or two of the
slides rapidly deteroriated, others held out for a longer
period, but the specimens mounted in sea-water,
retained all their freshness to this date. As the animals
retain their shape, it would appear that there has
been no endosmose or exosmose action going on.
The morning following our excursion, our boatman
(himself a collector) brought us a two-quart bottle
rather more than half-full of a red-lead, or rather
orange-lead coloured substance which he called spawn
of some kind, and he had brought it to us for micro-
scopical examination. On placing a small portion
under the microscope, we found it to consist solely of
dead Noctilucse. Shortly afterwards we took a stroll
along the shore, accompanied by our friend the boat-
man, and he showed us all along the shore an orange -
red line consisting of the dead bodies of the Noctilucse,
just as they had been left by the receding tide.
Having seen no account of the animal possessing
colour, I thought it might interest the readers of
Science-Gossip to be made acquainted with this
peculiar fact. — John E. Lord, Rawtenstall,
BOTANY.
Teratological Notes. — Noticing in your late
numbers various accounts of malformation of plants
and flowers accompanied by sketches, I am induced
to trouble you upon the subject. With regard to the
sketch of a "monstrous calceolaria," in your February
number, it is of the most common occurrence, especially
in the " Prince of Orange " variety, as I have had year
by year many identically similar malformed flowers,
both in the red and yellow varieties, blooming in my
garden, but have noticed that the plant producing
them, although apparently vigorous, soon withered
and died. I send you with this communication a
synanthic cyclamen, which I believe to be very un-
usual, but this also is the produce of a weakly-grown
bulb. May not these abortions be traced rather to a
last effort of expiring nature than to any variations of
soil or climate, just as dying fruit trees often pour
forth an abundant bloom which never matures, and
the tree shortly dies 1—J. I.
Rare species found in Jersey. — I found Diotis
maritime, and Centaurca paniculata in large quantities
on the hillside at St. Ouen's Bay, Jersey, during the
past season. I thought our readers would like to
know that they still exist in their old localities. —
W. H. Jones.
Echium Anglicum (Ray). — Upon looking over
an old edition of Hudson's "Flora Anglica" I saw
this species described, also there are a few notes
upon it, made by myself from actual specimens,
collected in 1871 at Homer, Shropshire. It is
evidently first described by Ray (vide Synopsis,
p. 35), so that it is not a species made to-day upon
insufficient grounds. Hudson ("Flora Anglica,"
ed. 1762), has three species, distinguished as follows :
1. E. vulgar e, caule simplici erecto, foliis caulinis
lanceolatis hispidis, floribus spicatis, staminibus corollam
equantibus. Viper's Bugloss.
H4
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
2. E. anglicum : Stamiuibus corolla longioribus.
English Viper's Bugloss.
3. E. italicum : Corollis subcequalibus vix calycem
excedentibus, margine villosis. Wall Viper's Bugloss.
The habitat of No. 1 is in fields frequent ; No. 2,
pasture fields and waysides frequent ; No. 3, Jersey.
We think it a pity this species should be lost sight
of, not that we believe the character, depending alone
upon the length of the stamens, is very valuable as a
specific distinction. But the Homer examples have
a widely different habit. Stem procumbent at the
base, the leaves are linear, and with a soft pubescence,
and the petals are not more than half the size of
No. 1. Stamens always exserted.
Note. — This species (English Viper's Bugloss)
occurs frequently, both in Staffordshire and Shrop-
shire. In the above year we could easily detect it
from E. vulgar e ; when riding along the highways
we could with ease tell the difference. Would our
readers give it their attention, during the coming
season, and let us know the result? for it is not
pleasant for a species bearing such an honoured name,
to be overlooked.
Salicornia. — Hudson, again following his earnest
predecessor Ray, makes out five distinct forms from
S. herbacea; probably they are merely varieties of a
lax type ; however, we mention them to invite the
study of our enthusiastic amateurs. It requires a
little courage to face mud flats on the banks of our
tidal rivers — this may partly account for our limited
knowledge of these plants. We shall again shortly
refer to, and describe the forms in our herbarium.
University College, London': Ladies' Botany
Class. — The Rev. George Henslow, M.A., F.L.S.,
&c, lecturer on botany to St. Bartholomew's Hospital,
is about to deliver a course of twenty lectures on
botany to ladies. We are glad the authorities have
been so public-spirited as to throw their classes open
to women as well as men.
GEOLOGY.
Carboniferous Fenestellid^e. — On Feb. 26,
Mr. G. W. Shrubsole read before the Geological
Society an important paper, entitled "A Review
of the British Carboniferous Fenestellidae," and all
who have made any attempt to determine species of
Fenestella must have felt how much a revision was
required, and in what an unsatisfactory state our
knowledge of the Fenestellse has been. That Mr.
Shrubsole should reduce the number of species very
materially was only what those acquainted with the
subject would expect, and who would not be much sur-
prised at his reducing the nineteen so-called species
which have come under his notice to five.
Mr. Shrubsole has had splendid material to work
at from Halkin mountain in Flintshire, and in this
locality he has seen a specimen of Fenestella plebeia
having a circumference of two feet, and this shows that
the variations of different parts of the colony are very
great, so that ' ' the young, the mature, and aged con-
dition of the same Polyzoan have been described as
distinct species ; a similar honour being sometimes
conferred upon the base and the upper growth." In
the paper it is maintained that the true type is Ac-
tinosoma, which has eight denticles set round the
margin of the aperture. This structure however seems
only to have been as yet discovered on three species,
and we shall look forward to future papers from the
same author, to explain how far he would hold this
to be the case ; for Polypora and Glauconome must
certainly be considered as belonging to the Fenes-
tellidae, even if they may not have in part to be united
in the genus, and the covers already pointed out by
Professor and Mr. Young as covering the aperture of
Polypora and the tuberculated margins of Glauconome
flexicarinata make it difficult to understand how these
cells, at any rate, could have'^had raised peristomes
with denticles like Actinosoma. We may add that
though there is so much resemblance to the bryozoa,
or polyzoa, yet that their connection with more recent
forms has never been worked out ; and that although
there are some points of affinity with Cheilostomata
and some with Cyclostomata, proofs as to their exact
position are yet wanting, and we may therefore be
allowed to point out to Mr. Shrubsole, that if he can
bring forward any points of shell structure, to eluci-
date the question, he will be adding much to the great
importance of this first communication.
The Rainfall of the World. — This is the
title of a pamphlet by Mr. E. D. Archibald, in which
an ingenious attempt is made to simplify the general
question of a connection between sun-spots and rain-
fall j and in it our readers will find a full statement of
the supposed relation between famines and sun-spots.
The Geologists' Association. — We have re-
ceived Nos. 7 and 8 of the Proceedings of this vigorous
society, in which Mr. W. H. Hudleston continues his
invaluable papers on the Yorkshire oolites.
The Post-Tertiary Deposits of Cambridge-
shire. — This was the subject of the Sedgwick Prize
Essay for 1876, and was awarded to Mr. A. J. Jukes
Browne, B.A., F.G.S. It is now published by Deigh-
ton, Bell, & Co., of Cambridge, at half-a-crown. As
might be expected from Mr. Jukes Browne's known
repute as a writer and geologist, it is a most ably-
written and attractive essay on the subject, present-
ing us with an account of the physical features of the
county, and a description of the glacial deposits,
the hill-gravels, the valley-gravels of the early river
system and of the present river system ; and also a
general correlation of the drift beds of Cambridge-
shire with those of East Anglia.
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
"5
The Late Professor David Page. — We regret
to have to announce the death of this well-known
geologist, on Sunday, March 9, at the age of sixty-
five. Although not distinguished for discoveries in
the field, few men have done more to make English
geology so popular and extensively studied as Pro-
fessor Page did by the numerous admirable books of
which he was the author, and many readers will hear
of his death with unfeigned regret.
The Geology of Northumberland. — Professor
G. A. Lebour, of the Newcastle College of Physical
Science, has just published a neatly got up brochure
having the above title. It was intended originally
for use in his own geological class, but there cannot
be a doubt that it admirably fills a want, for we know
of no trustworthy description of the geology of that
part of England. The "glacial beds are especially
interesting, and the Permian, Carboniferous, Silurian,
and Igneous rocks frequently occur under peculiar
circumstances. On all these Mr. Lebour has written
in a style at once accurate and readable. The book
may be obtained of H. Sotheran & Co., 78 Queen
Street, London, E.C.
CONODONTS FROM CAMBRO-SlLURIAN, AND DE-
VONIAN Strata in Canada and the United
States. — A paper on this subject was recently read
before the Geological Society, by Mr. G. Jennings
Hinde, F.G.S. After a sketch of the bibliography of
the subject, the author described the occurrence of
Conodonts. In the Chazy beds they are associated
with numerous Leperditise, some Trilobites, and
Gasteropods ; in the Cincinnati group with various
fossils ; and in the Devonian strata principally with
fish-remains : but there is no clue to their nature
from these associated fossils. They possess the same
microscopic lamellar structure as the Russian Cono-
donts described by Pander. The various affinities
exhibited by the fossil Cono lonts were discussed ; and
the author is of opinion that though they most re-
semble the teeth of Myxinoid fishes, their true
zoological relationship is very uncertain.
Annelid Jaws from the Cambro-Silurian,
Silurian, and Devonian Formations in Canada,
and from the lower carboniferous in scot-
LAND. — This was another paper read by the same
author. After referring to the very few recorded
instances of the discovery of any portions of the
organisms of errant Annelids, as distinct from their
trails and impressions in the rocks, Mr. Hinde
noticed the characters of the strata, principally
shallow-water deposits, in which the Annelid jaws
described by him are embedded. A description was
given of the principal varieties of form, and of the
structure of the jaws. They were classified from
their resemblances to existing forms under seven
genera, five of which are included in the family
Eunicea, one in the family Lycoridea, and one among
the Glycerea. The author enumerated fifty-five dif-
ferent forms, the greater proportion of which are
from the Cincinnati group.
Geology of Essex, &c. — We have received one
of the "Memoirs of the Geological Survey," giving
an explanation of sheet 27 of the one-inch map of the
Survey of England and Wales. It deals with the
Geology of the north-west part of Essex and the
north-east part of Herts; with parts of Cambridgeshire
and Suffolk. The survey is under the direction of
Mr. W. Whitaker, with whom are associated Messrs.
W. H. Penning, W. H. Dalton, and F. J. Bennett.
Not one word of commendation on our part is needed
to introduce this brochure to our readers, but we are
glad to call attention to its issue, nevertheless.
NOTES AND QUERIES.
Intelligence in Man and Animals. — Your
correspondent, Mr. H. D. Barclay, in the January
number very truly and properly remarked that " the
great difficulty in the investigation of the minds of
animals appears to be that man, instinctively and un-
consciously, unless checked by reflection, explains
their actions by his own modes and laws of thought."
This appears to me to contain the whole gist and
difficulty of the subject, if he means, as I understand
it, that the unguided impulse of man is to draw
instant conclusions (if I may say so) of the cause of
actions in animals by analogy to the cause which
would have actuated him under like circumstances.
If it could be proved that we were justified in so
concluding, the hypothesis that instinct and reason
are different only in degree would be sufficiently sub-
stantiated, but as yet nothing worth the name of proof
has been offered, and I believe it to be incapable of
proof for the simple reason that the opposite propo-
sition, viz. that we cannot judge by such analogy, is
abundantly proved to every one having the most
rudimentary knowledge of the actions of animals.
We know that animals can and do do highly "reason-
able " things intuitively and without reason and
reflection, and that it is necessary to the order of
their existence, but the very opposite of this holds
good with reference to man ; he cannot do reasonably
anything without reasoning and reflection, and these
faculties are just as necessary in him to the order of
his existence, as they are unnecessary in animals to
the order of theirs.
Take for instance such actions of animals, as birds
building their nests, young birds opening their mouths
to be fed, the admirable way in which they keep
their nests clean, the hen warning her chicks of the
presence of the hawk, the chicks flying to their
mother for protection, young ducks taking to water,
&c. These instances are sufficient to effectually
negative the proposition that we are to judge of the
actions of animals by analogy with the same laws
that govern the actions of man. If not, where is the
analogy in these cases, and if in these cases we cannot
so judge why are we to do so in others ? Or, in other
words, if we are to judge of some of the actions of
animals by the law of pure instinct as differing in
kind from reason, where are we to commence to
judge of them by a law of instinct not so differing ;
or again, the above instances proving, as I believe
they do, that there is an instinct differing in kind
from reason, are we to believe that animals are
n6
HARD WICKE' S S CIE NCE- G SSI P.
endowed with both faculties, whilst we know man is
not ; and again, if the difference is only in degree,
how is it that as animals have been born in the
higher degree, i.e. with power to act "reasonably"
from the beginning of their birth, and thus having an
immense advantage over man at the starting of life, they
are so immensely inferior to man, who in comparison
is born into the lowest degree ? Taking the difference
as being in degree, then comparing man with monkey,
the highest degree is in the monkey. The uncul-
tured man is shown by Darwin's savage to have less
reason than the uncultured monkey ; this theory there-
fore would compel us to trace the degree in man
downward from the monkey, though this is hardly in
conformity with the theory of evolution.
As it is capable of proof that animals can act in-
tuitively with sufficient apparent "reason "for their
wants, and, as compared with man, are incapable of
tuition, and that man cannot act at all intuitively, but,
as compared with animals, is capable of tuition to an
unlimited degree, it appears to me to be a fair deduc-
tion that the respective powers of ' ' reason " as actu-
ating man and animals are of so totally different a
nature as to be no more the same in kind than a man
is a species of duck because he can learn to swim.
The incident of Darwin looking with abhorrence on
the savage of Tierra del Fuego, and comparing him
(the savage) unfavourably to a monkey, rather than
being a proof of the sameness of mind and instinct, is
a good illustration of the difference of those faculties.
Look on this picture : Darwin, a man, born with
no instinct, as far beyond the monkey (who was born
a thousand times cleverer than he was) as the stars
from the earth. Then look on that : the savage, a man
beneath the monkey, simply because he was born
without instinct, but with a mind, which from degra-
dation of his race he had not exercised. But he bears
every impress of the aptitude and attributes of man,
and as to mind, only differs in degree from Darwin.
Compare them, and then compare Ihe savage and
the monkey, and_then see if we cannot get a true
perception of what constitutes a difference in degree
and in kind ; if not, let us imagine a young savage and
a young monkey put through a course of instruction,
say in arithmetic, it would be an interesting study to
watch which would learn the "tables" first; but I
would back the savage. Yet, if we are to take the
inferiority of state of the particular savage which
Darwin looked on, as an instance of reason being of
the same nature as the instinct of monkey, I should
be backing at long odds. — Robert S. Gilliard.
Intelligence in Man and Animals. — I should
like to make a few remarks on the above subject in
reply to some of your correspondents, if you can
afford me the necessary space. Mr. Barclay in his
first communication, says: " If it could be proved
that a dog deliberately chose one of two courses of
action, the case of reason would be established."
Now it seems to me that in their every-day actions,
animals frequently choose one of two courses of action.
For instance, if a cat is left alone in a room with a
bird, its natural instinct would impel it to kill the
bird and eat it, but it has reason enough to know
that such a course of action would be followed by a
certain punishment, the fear of which deters it from
doing that which mere instinct would certainly prompt
it to do. A dog knows very well when it has done
wrong, and the old saying "Like a dog with his tail
between his legs " is a very expressive one. It may,
perhaps, be said, that the animal is simply restrained
from doing a certain action by the fear of consequences.
Is it not so with man ? What would become of our
boasted morality, the rights of property, &c, were it
not for the fear of consequences, here or hereafter ?
Mr. Barclay admits that animals possess what are
called moral qualities in man, but denies to the
unfortunate brute any praise for their possession, as
they are simply a part of its nature, " primal impulses."
If such be the case, how can the difference in the
disposition of animals be accounted for ? Some
animals are born without those "moral qualities of
fidelity, attachment, and courage," which, when
found in the lower animals, Mr. Barclay designates
"primal impulses," and seem to be actuated simply
by an unconquerable animosity to mankind in
general. I do not quite understand your corre-
spondent, Mr. P. Q. Keegan, when he says : "that
memory is an act of the intellect, but certainly not an
act of reasoning in the sense of inferring one proposi-
tion from another." Memory is the power reason has
of retaining and arranging facts which come under
our observation, so that they may be used when
required, but I certainly do not see how memory
could possibly exist without reason, or reason without
memory. Mr. Barclay admits that animals have some
intelligence and memory, but questions their power of
reasoning, which he says is the root of man's civilisa-
tion, and makes him a responsible being. Alas ! that
the power should be so perverted as it sometimes is !
Has Mr. Barclay forgotten that there are various
races of mankind, and that all are not quite so highly
civilised as we are in this favoured country ? Again,
Mr. Barclay says: "Those who credit the lower
animals with reason, if they are consistent, will also
credit them with conscience." Why should they not
be credited with conscience ? As I have said before,
most domesticated animals know very well when they
have done wrong, and prepare to suffer for it, just as
a naughty child would do. In conclusion Mr. Barclay
says: "Take from man his reasoning power, latent
though it may be in many cases, yet underlying all his
conceptions, and we find the idiot who would perish
but for extraneous aid. Take from the quadruped the
modicum of reason which Mr. Darwin and others of
his school attribute to it, and we have an animal
endowed with some kind of intelligence we do not
understand, but name instinct." Of course, just as
the feeling of cold is produced by the absence of heat,
so if you take away a man's reasoning power, you
leave him a helpless idiot, without even instinct, and
if you take away the modicum of reason from the
quadruped (which Mr. Barclay denies it) you leave
what may be called simple instinct. Mr. Barclay
seems to contradict himself in his last sentence. The
remarks of your correspondents A. Wheatley and
C. L. W. are very good, and much to the point, but
"Idea" seems to take a poetical rather than a
scientific view of the subject under discussion. The
idea that animals really possess something more than
mere instinct, and are deserving of more consideration
than they generally receive, is certainly gaining ground
amongst the thinking portion of the community, and
to use the words of Mr. P. Q. Keegan, is seriously
entertained ' ' by men of the highest culture and
sanity." — A. C. Rogers, Southampton.
Intelligence in Man and Animals. — Allow
me to correct two slight errors in my note in your
April issue. After the word "effect," the colon
should be changed to a full stop, as the words "to
this effect" refer to the "supernatural change"
previously mentioned. Also "Lopinard" should be
" Topinard." Your correspondent, Mr. Barclay,
says that the nature of the lower animals obviously
differed from ours. But this is not certain, excepting
that ours is perhaps more perfect. Animals show joy,
fear, hunger, pain, will, choose larger of two pieces
HARBWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
117
of food, &c. These are also parts of our nature ; we
have not the privilege of folly even ; nor of language,
for animals certainly have some kind of language of
their own. I will however return to this point after-
wards. Even morals are but the rules of society
adopted by certain people, and are not everywhere
the same. But " le chien sait que pour ne pas etre
mordu il ne doit pas mordre, et agit en consequence ;
il a aussi sa morale" (Topinard). Now in the above
and similar cases, if our actions are supposed to result
from reason, why not those of animals ? The effects
in animals are much the same as in ourselves, why
not the causes ? If in similar actions in each case,
we adjudge reason to be exercised in ourselves, we
cannot, I think, consistently deny such power to
animals. Again, Mr. Barclay says that if we take
from man his reason, we leave him an idiot, but if we
take from the quadruped the modicum of reason
attributed to it, we leave it endowed with the same
intelligence, which we do not understand but call
instinct. Now memory cannot be called instinct. If
we take memory from man we certainly detract from
his intellect ; if we take it from animals do not we
lower their intellectual powers also ? Some savage
tribes have very little intellect ; there are some who
cannot count more than two, while a magpie- has
been known to count three. I do not mean merely
to repeat the numbers, but to understand them.
Monkeys will organise bands, appoint sentinels,
listen to speeches from their leaders for a very long
time, and have been found to execute, occasionally,
careless sentinels ; is there no reason about this ? It
is absolutely necessary to keep poetry, sentiment, &c.
out of such questions as this, and to reason merely
from known facts. It is often supposed that man
alone had reasoning power given to him, and it may
be very pleasing to our vanity to think so. The older
naturalists imagined that man and animals were
totally different, but has it not been shown that they
are really only different branches of the animal
creation ? Philology may throw some light on this
question. It is usually admitted by philologists that
man invented language. Now, beyond all doubt,
the earliest languages were very rudimentary and
imperfect, consisting of mere ejaculations. The great
reasoning power of men of the present time is in part
due to language, a medium in which to think. But
when language was so imperfect, thought must also
have been rudimentary. Now is it beyond prob-
ability that the first inventors of articulate speech had
not much more reasoning power than that shown by
apes ? Apes have the vocal organs of man, but have
not yet learned to use them as we have. Conse-
quently one of the greatest aids to thought is un-
developed in them. It has only arrived at its present
state of perfection in man during many thousands of
years. — A. Wlicatley.
Intelligence in Animals. — When I was a young
man I lived in chambers on the ground floor of No. I,
King's Bench Walk. As the ante-room was dark,
glass had been let into the upper part of the front
door. This made it necessary to place the knocker
lower than is usual. A fine tom-cat was my constant
companion. As a knock at the door was a very
welcome sound to me, from the hope it excited of a
possible client, I was very prompt in answering the
summons, for I had not then a clerk. My cat had
thus the opportunity of observing (whether he did so
in fact is of course the question) that the opening of
the door immediately followed as a consequence on
the agitation of the knocker. Certain it is that torn
on returning from his nocturnal rambles would stand
on his hind legs and with his fore paws raise the
knocker and produce as decided a succession of raps
as a human being could have given. I was generally
in bed when this occurred and was often unwilling to
get up to let the truant in. If I remained long
obdurate he would go round by Whitefriars (how he
left the Temple I do not know, as the high gates
were closed) and passing down a lane would climb
a wall into a garden. By this circuitous and difficult
route he obtained access to my bedroom window.
There he would make such a mewing and scratching
on the glass that I was compelled for peace' sake to
rise and admit him. I am afraid that I did not
always receive him with the welcome which his in-
telligence and perseverance deserved, but we were
soon good friends again, and it was with great regret
that I found on my return from a long vacation trip
that my cat had disappeared. It must be admitted
that the behaviour of the animal was as if he had
leasoned thus. " My master does not hear the knock-
ing because he is in bed ; I must therefore go round
and rouse him by making a noise at his window."
Some years ago I told this story to a very eminent
judge. With a twinkle in his eye he said, " I also
had a remarkable cat, she would sit on my table as I
read my briefs and play with the paper, and when my
eye approached the bottom of a page I could almost
fancy that she tried to turn it over for me with her
paw." This satire on my story and the inference I
was disposed to draw from it, has made me hesitate
to tell the anecdote except to a sympathising audience,
but as you are receiving contributions to the subject
of intelligence in animals, I think it due to the cats
to put it on record in your columns, as one for the
exact truth of which I am willing to be responsible ;
with this object I give my name. — James Hannen.
Intelligence in the Dog. — I have read various
notes under the head of " Intelligence in Animals,"
which have appeared in Science-Gossip, and am
induced to jot down a few particulars respecting a
sheep-dog of mine, leaving your readers to determine
the motive power that influences the animal, for I will
not offer an opinion as to whether instinct or reason
guides him. He is very fond of a long walk, and
when I first came to live here used to accompany me
to the post office, but the distance being trifling, he
soon refused to go with me whenever he saw any
letters or papers in my hand, and it is quite sufficient
now to say, ." I am going to the post," to prevent
his showing any desire to accompany me when I
leave the house. He goes every morning into the
lower end of the village with an elderly gentleman to
fetch the daily papers, and having discovered that a
young lady, a friend of mine, takes her morning's walk
about eleven ; he now returns from the village,
leaving Mr. B. at the stationer's in time to meet Miss
R., thus securing for himself two walks. He never
tries to accompany any of the family who are going
to church ; it is quite sufficient to say " Sunday," or
"church" (he was once turned out of church) ; but
if I am at home, and happen to go for a walk during
the hours of service, his delight is excessive. He barks
invariably as we pass the church. — I cannot break him
of the habit — as if to say to the others who are in
church : "I am going out, though you would not let
me come with you." He sleeps in an unused coach-
house, is fed once in twenty-four hours. When he is
locked-up for the night, all the larger bones which he
is unable to eat, he, after picking clean, carries off to a
corner of the building far away from his bed and lays
in a tidy heap. — Mrs. Alfred Watney.
Pride of a Cow. — It is tolerably well known
that when milch cows kept on a farm are being
driven out to grass, and when brought home to milk,
n8
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
the oldest cow always places herself at the head of
the herd, and so on, according to their ages, when
the youngest comes last. But I think it will rarely
occur that this assertion of pre-eminence over the
herd is ever carried to such an extent as appears in
the following instance. A person states that when on
a visit to a country house where cows are kept, it
one day happened that he was passing the cow-house
just at the time when the dairymaid was driving
home the cows to be milked. They all passed in
quietly enough, with the exception of one, which
stood lowing at the door, and resisted every effort of
the dairymaid to induce her to enter. When the maid
was interrogated as to the cause of this obstinacy, she
attributed it to pride ; and when surprise was expressed
at this, she explained that whenever any other of the
cows happened to get in before her, this particular
cow would seem quite offended, and would not enter
at all, unless all the others were turned out again,
and she had an opportunity of walking in before them.
This statement having excited curiosity, and a wish
to ascertain its accuracy, the maid was desired to
redouble her exertions to induce the cow to enter ; on
which she chased the animal through eveiy corner of
the yard, but without success, until she at last desisted
for want of breath, declaring there was no other
remedy than to turn out the other cows. She was
then permitted to make the experiment ; and no
sooner were the others driven out, than in walked the
gratified cow, with a stately air, her more humble-
minded companions following meekly in her train. —
Diptoji Burn.
Laburnum in Autumn. — There are several
laburnums here which exhibit the peculiarity men- |
tioned by W. G. I am not botanist enough to say
whether they differ from the ordinary variety, but do
not think so, as they exhibit no other mark of
difference. The second flowering occurs every year
in the autumn.— J. Forbes Mitchell, Thainstow, N.B.
Laburnum in Autumn. — I noticed that the flower
pendants of the laburnum blossoming in September
were smaller than usual, and it may probably have
been the variety referred to by your correspondent. —
R. H. Nisbctt Browne.
Query as to Flower. — It seems obvious that in
the lines from " Venus and Adonis," referred to by
Mr. J. Wheldon, jun., the poet had in his mind the
mythological story concerning the death of Adonis.
Cynaras juvenis (Adonis) having died from a wound
received from a boar, the flower anemone sprang
from his blood. It is not likely that Shakespeare
here refers to any other flower. Buchanan, in his
"Dictionary of Science and Technical Terms,"
points to Adonis autumnalis as the plant deriving its
name from Adonis. This plant being of the same
order (Ranunculaceje) and somewhat resembling the
anemone, might have easily been called in common
with it.— Charles F. W. T. Williams, Bath.
Query about Flower.— In Bell's edition of
Cowley's Poems (1778), book iii. of Plants, p. 147,
stanza 610, the purple anemone is spoken of as the
flower stained by the blood of Adonis.
" Anemone her station took
* * * * »
The purple, with its large and spreading leaf,
Was chosen, by consent, to be their chief;
Of fair Adonis' blood undoubted strain,
And to this hour it shows the dying stain."
I have also seen this legend mentioned in another
book.— F. L. St. A.
Query as to Flower.— Mr. J. W. Wheldon,
jun., asks what flower does Shakespeare refer to in
the closing stanzas of "Venus and Adonis."
"A purple flower sprung up, chequered with white."
I think he means the Pansy, and if he will refer to
" A Midsummer Night's Dream," and read the
exquisite passage descriptive of Love in Idleness,
beginning,
" I remember
That very time I said, but thou couldst not,"
he will see the reason for my opinion. In Singer's
"Shakespeare," the editor says in a footnote, " The
tricoloured violet, commonly called pansy, or
hearts-ease, is here meant." It has other fanciful
and expressive names, such as " Cuddle me to you,"
"Three faces under a hood," "Herb Trinity," &c.
Is there a description in all literature that can
compare with this of a simple flower? — H. D.
Barclay.
Query as to Flower.— With refence to Mr.
Wheldon's query as to Flower, I would remark that
anemone is supposed to be the name of the flower as
the one into which Venus was said to have changed
Adonis. See Ovid. Metamorph. 1. 10, p. 735 ; but
classical authorities might here render some solu-
tion. There is Atiemone Pulsatilla, or Pasque Flower,
with fine purple flowers — and other species of Adonis,
all belonging to the Ranunculus family — these latter
have, according to Mr. Bentham, mostly red or straw-
coloured flowers ; then the pheasant's-eye comes under
this head ; the same author states that a variety was
formerly much cultivated in gardens under the name
of Flos Adonis. During a residence of some weeks in
Rome in the spring of 1865, I noticed thousands of
anemones with red flowers in the extensive grounds of
the nobility, forming a carpet of scarlet colours. Dean
Stanley in his work on " Sinai and Palestine," writes,
"that in the spring the hills and valleys of Palestine
are covered with thin grass and aromatic shrubs which
clothe, more or less, all Syria ; they also glow with a
blaze of scarlet, of all kinds, chiefly anemones. Of
all the ordinary aspects of the country, he writes, the
blaze of scarlet colour is perhaps the most peculiar,
and to those who first enter the Holy Land it is no
wonder that it has suggested the touching and signi-
ficant name of " the Saviour's blood drops." — John
Colebrooke.
" Honey-Stalks ?" — In Shakespeare's "Titus
Andronicus " occur the words :
" Words more sweet, and yet more dangerous,
Than baits to fish, or honey-stalks to sheep."
Query, what are " honey stalks ? " Perhaps some of
your readers may be able to inform me. — C. Foran.
Dogs affected by the Sound of Music. —
What is the explanation of the curious effect that
music (played upon a piano, &c), has upon some
dogs ? I have a skye terrier about four months old,
who, when the piano is played, seems to be curiously
fascinated by the sound, and comes towards it, but
then howls in a most plaintive way with his nose in
the air, as if protesting against the sound. — W.
Stavenhagen Jones.
Cossus at Sugar. — In the month of September,
1877, while at Somersham (Hants) a specimen of
Cossus ligniperda came to sugar. It rather surprised
me, as I thought this species did not come to sugar.
If any reader of Science-Gossip can answer this for
me, I shall be much obliged. — W. H. Newberry.
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
no
Feeding Bullfinches with Hempseed (p. 66).
— Having had several of these birds in keeping, I am
able to testify that hempseed has no very notable
effect in darkening the plumage, nor does it appear
to shorten their lives, as has also been insinuated ;
not that it is advisable to confine them solely to
hempseed, I have generally mixed equal proportions
of crushed hempseed and canary-seed, adding each
day a little millet or maw-seed. Rape would pro-
bably be unwholesome to them. It is difficult to
break them from the hempseed if they have once
been allowed to have it as part of their diet, I have
seen them pine under such an attempt. As the bull-
finch is naturally rather a greedy bird, it is well to
check caged birds if inclined to over-feed, especially
when green food cannot be got as a corrective. —
J. R. S. C.
Parrots and their Eggs. — I have been advised
to write and tell you of a very interesting and un-
common occurrence. My old parrot was bought at
Norwich in the year 1872 ; I believe she was then
three or four years old. She was quite ill last week,
and thinking she was moulting I kept her very warm,
and when I left the room I covered her cage over ;
on my return from church last Friday morning, I
found an egg in the cage ; still she did not get better,
arid yesterday morning another was laid. The bird-
fanciers assure me it was a very rare occurrence for
two eggs to be thus laid, and that it ought to be put
on record.—^. J. B. W.
Yew-trees and Cattle. — With reference to the
remarks in the March number of Science-Gossip as
to the injurious effects of the foliage of the yew-tree
on cattle, the following extract from the " Globe " of
March 21 may be interesting : " Eighteen valuable
beasts have died at Willingdon, near Eastbourne, in
consequence of eating branches of yew-tree, probably
through scarcity of ordinary green food." — E. Lovett,
Croydon.
Gossamer. — A gentleman, a farmer in this neigh-
bourhood, told me that while coursing last week he
saw several fields of wheat and sainfoin that were
smothered with gossamer. I myself saw a good deal
floating about in the town, and noticed that instead
of the clotted appearance it assumes in the autumn, it
was in long fine threads. Would you kindly tell
whether this is a usual occurrence in spring, and the
cause ? — Arthur G. Wright.
The Name "Primrose." — The editor of a
scholastic journal has recently stated, in answer to a
query, that the word "primrose" is a corruption of
primcrollc, a French word, introduced by our early
authors. I should be glad to know if this is probable,
for I have heard also the assertion that our forefathers
called this flower of spring the "prime-rosy," because
it was one of the first to appear in the season, "rose "
being by them used with some latitude, and applied
to various flowers besides the rose proper. — J. R. S. C.
Can Worms crawl Backwards ?— Mr. J. G.
Wood, in a recent article on the common earthworm
written in a popular periodical, states that the worm
is so formed that it is impossible for it to crawl back-
wards. I am sorry to contradict so distinguished a
naturalist, but scientific facts do not bend to great
names, and I beg to say that worms can and do crawl
backwards. It is an unusual method of progression
or retrogression I allow, and is not to be confounded
with the sudden jerk by which they start backwards
into their holes, but that worms can strictly and
literally crawl backwards when excited by circum-
stances so to do, I have had ocular demonstration
on two particular occasions — once when attempting
to induce a large worm to crawl into a small glass
tube, which I persistently placed just in front of it
when it, began to crawl ; irritated apparently by a
foreign substance being so frequently brought into
contact with its attenuated head, all at once the
worm began to crawl backward on the ground for
a space of four or five feet and at a rate equal to
about two-thirds of its ordinary forward pace when
progressing. On another occasion I was attempting
to make a worm crawl along a path in order to
calculate the time-rate at which a worm can crawl
in a mile. The worm persistently attempted to crawl
to the side grass instead of along the path and to
prevent it I continually touched its head with a little
stick, when this worm also apparently annoyed by
such constant tappings on its head, began to crawl
backwards a short distance on the path. Perhaps
some of your readers can confirm this statement. —
IV. Budden, Ipszvich.
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS.
To Correspondents and Exchangers. — As we now
publish Science-Gossip a week earlier than heretofore, we
cannot possibly insert in the following number any communi-
cations which reach us later than the 9th of the previous
month.
To Anonymous Querists.— We receive so many queries
which do not bear the writers' names that we are forced to
adhere to our rule of not noticing them.
D. B. (Dudley). — It is very difficult to speak only from leaves,
they are so much alike, but we believe it is a Musa, perhaps
M. sapientum. Berkeley's ' Cryptogamic Botany ' is published
by H. Bailliere, 219, Regent Street, London.
T. O. Braithwaite. — We do not remember receiving the
larva? of which you speak. Can you send us other specimens?
W. A. Durnford (Barrow).— You will find full details as to
aquarium management, and the manufacttire of artificial sea-
water in "The Aquarium: its history, structure, and manage-
ment," by J. E. Taylor. London : Hardwicke & Bogue, price
6s.
E. B. de M. — See reply concerning marine aquaria above.
We have no doubt you can get materials for making artificial
sea-water, gravity-beads, &c, at Mr. King's, Sea Horse House,
Portland Road, London.
W. E. Milner.— The last edition of White's " Selborne," in
2 vols., edited by Professor Bell, who lives in White's old house,
is by far the best yet issued.
A. Bennett. — We believe yours is the only parcel which got
wrong out of all our Botanical Exchange Club deliveries. We
will see that you are righted.
M. H. Robson. — We do not remember having seen the
flagellum of Eugletia viridis terminating in a bulb before. The
specimens you sent reached us aliTe, and we observed that the
bulb was used occasionally as a kind of sucker against the glass
sides of the zoophyte trough.
E. Dickson.— One of the best books we can recommend to
you is Penning's "Field Geology," published by Bailliere, at
(we believe) 5^. We are afraid there is no other way of naming
your fossils than by comparing them with some museum speci-
mens, or else borrowing the volumes of the Palaeontographical
Society, or such works as Professor Phillips' "Geology of
Yorkshire."
T. G. H. — See reply to query as to the nature of the specks
on the Seville oranges in April number of Science-Gossip under
Notices to Correspondents, p. 95, in answer to " G. R. B.
(Shoreham)." Get Oliver's " Botany," published by Macmillan,
at 4-r. 6d., and work well at it. All will come right. Thanks
for your interesting specimens.
W. G. (Tuxford). — The specimens sent are all sulphate of
barytes, or "heavy spar." Get Rutley's "Study of Rocks,"
price 4s. 6d.
George Hastwell. — The fungus is Peziza acetabulum.
We have carefully examined your fossil from the Millstone Grit,
but do not think it is an organic remain, but possibly one of the
numerous surface-markings we often get in beds deposited in
shallow water.
J. M. Campbell. — Your zoophyte is Sertularia opcrculata.
George Turvill. — We have received the slide. The speci-
men mounted is the flea of the mole, the largest known to affect
any animal in Great Britain. Its name is Pulex talpa, derived
from the animal on which it is parasitic.
George Linton. — Your specimen is an echinoderm, shorn
of its spines, known as the common heart urchin (Amphidotus
carda/usj.
120
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
EXCHANGES.
Well-mounted slides of pigeon despatch, used during the
siege of Paris, in exchange for two slides of interest, also well-
mounted. — L. Hawkins, Hillside, Hastings.
Wanted, good slides, in exchange for well-mounted slides of
"Challenger" sounding. — H. R. 85 Worcester Street, Higher
Broughton, Manchester.
Wanted, the second volume of ' Recreative Science.' Any
one having a copy for disposal will oblige by addressing (stating
price) as above. — Charles Butterworth, 88 Sandy Lane, Shaw.
Wanted, named teeth of fish from Old Red Sandstone of
Scotland ; interesting objects given in exchange. — W. H. Harris,
44 Partridge Road, Cardiff.
Dredging. A gentleman who is going on a dredging cruise
round the British Isles during the ensuing summer will be glad
to hear from any one willing to accompany him. — C. P. Ogilvie,
Sizewell House, Leiston.
Correspondence and exchange invited during season with
collectors having duplicate eggs of nightjar, less-spotted wood-
pecker, dotterel, hawfinch, twite, &c, by R. Standen, Goos-
nargh, Preston, Lancashire.
Wanted, a good clean copy of the " Student's Manual of
Geology," by J. B. Jukes, 3rd ed., edited by A. Geikie,
Edinburgh, 1872 ; also N os 15 and 17 for October and December,
1876, of the " Naturalists' Tour of the West Riding, Consolidated
Naturalists' Society," full price will be given in each case. —
H. Crowther, the Museum, Leeds.
A gentleman slightly acquainted with geology, would be
glad to correspond with another for their mutual benefit. —
Address " J." care of Mr. Powell, stationer, Corporation Street,
Manchester.
Wanted, Phillips' " Geology of Yorkshire." Send particulars
of price to Harry Muller, Rawdon, near Leeds.
Good slides of diatom and globigerine ooze (''Challenger"
dredging) ; also parasite from the gill of salmon, in exchange
for other good slides. — Nicholas Wright, 8 Duke Street, Lower
Broughton, Manchester.
Shells of ' H 'aliotis tuberculata for reptiles or aquarium objects.
— Charles Foran, Marshfield House, Eastbourne.
For sections of tamus root, showing starch granules arid
raphides in situ, send really well-mounted slides to Thomas
Shipton, Chesterfield. Lists exchanged.
Furze mite [Tetranychus idicis) a good supply of living
specimens in exchange for one or two well-mounted slides of the
same. — E. D. Marquand, Brockenhurst, Hants.
Wanted to exchange Roscoe and Schorlemmer's "Che-
mistry," for either of the following; Fownes' "Manual," or
Gregory's "Handbook of Chemistry," Hooker's "Student's
Flora," or a powerful pocket lens, lens not to be worth less than
15s. — J. Pywell, 50 Wellington Street, Leicester.
A valuable collection of British mosses (120 specimens) with
notes, from herbarium of late W. Valentine, (offered for Cooke's
" Handbook of Fungi." — G. E. Massee, 8 West Grove Terrace,
Scarborough.
Asarum Europium, or Asaralaca (1129). Living specimens
of this rare old British plant in exchange for native living
plants of any of the following : 1610, 1611, 1613, 1615, 1621,
1622, 1624, 1625, 1626, 1630, 1631, 1636, 1641, 1642, 1643.—
James W. Lloyd, Kington, Herefordshire.
Wanted, 52a, 78var, 129, 175, 250b, 251, 231b, 418a and b,
492, 501b, 503b, 630b, 651b, 675, 747b, 839, 486b, 853b, 861b,
927b, 966, 992b, 1020, 1026, 1046, 1 139, 1139b, 1147b, 1237, 1312*
■1484, 1520b, 1530b, 1535b and c, 1555, 1569a, 1582b, 1631,
1632, for other rare plants, or exchange lists. — G. C. Druce,
Northampton.
Duplicates of fossils from Oolite and others for other fossils.
—J. Purdue, Ridgeway, Plympton, Devon.
Dried fronds of C. /ragilis, C. officinarum, P. vnlgare, P.
Dryopteris, P. calcareum, in exchange for P. alpestre, P.
Lonchitis, L. cristata, L. temiila, A. septentrionale, A. ger-
manicum, A. marinnm, A.fontanum, A. lanceolatum, varieties
or exotic. — John J. Morgan, Tredegar.
Wanted, Smith and Beck's " Popular Microscope," in
exchange for first-class transparent sections of coal, plant or
cash. — James Spencer, Salisbury Place, Halifax.
Wanted, a low microscope stand, with or without objectives,
Continental model, Smith & Beck's " Economic," or Universal,
or similar form ; will give in exchange a triple-nose piece, slides,
slide cabinets, dissecting instruments, an air pump and other
microscopic requirements, and a little cash. Must be sent on
approval, to J. A. Harrison, F.R.M.S., The Laboratory, 31
Scale Lane, Hull.
Spines of ophiocoma, and plates of holothuria : two balsam-
mounted slides for exchange. Send lists to J. B., 36 Windsor
Terrace, Glasgow.
Botanical specimens and aid offered in exchange for ento-
mological. — 3 Belmont Villas, New Brompton, Kent.
The following unmounted objects for exchange : British and
foreign zoophytes, flowers of Sparmannia Africana, seeds of
Libertia ixioidcs (a beautiful object), &c. Wanted, well-mounted
micro slides, also British and foreign zoophytes, and alga for
herbarium. Foreign correspondence wanted. — B. B. Scott, 24
Seldon Street, Kensington, Liverpool.
Draba aizoides from Pennard Castle ; fossil ferns from Dean
Forest coalfields, in exchange for zoophytes and Chalk fossils.
Wanted, book on British zoophytes. — A. Thomson, 17 Wynne
Street, Liverpool.
Wanted, fossil clausiliae and pupa: from Isle of Wight and
Essex ; also small ammonites and fossil shells from different
localities. Recent shells given in exchange. — F. M. Hele, Fair-
light, Elmgrove Road, Cotham, Bristol.
Offers in exchange (either in foreign land, or foreign marine
shells, the former most acceptable) for any of the following
British land and fresh-water shells, which I have duplicate speci-
mens of at present — namely, S. oblonga, Lim. involuta, L.
Burnetti, P. ringens, V. pusilla, V. substriata, V. alpestris,
V. minutissima, V. angustior, V. Moulinsiana.—'W . Sutton,
High Claremont, Newcastle-on-Tyne.
Authenticated side-blown eggs, swallow-tailed kite, 1am-
mergeier, African buzzard, Waseen chatterer, and several hun-
dred Indian species. Wanted, birds of Europe (Bree), or eggs
in exchange. — Sissons, Sharrow, Sheffield.
Vols. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7/8, unbound (clean) of the " Entomologists'
Monthly Magazine" (Van Voorst) for Newman's "British
Moths," microscope, or offers.— R. Colbridge, 57 New Brook
Street, Hull.
Interesting unmounted material, mostly marine, such as
zoophytes, foraminifara, diatoms in situ, and otherwise, algae,
entomostraca, tadpoles of crustaceans, holothurian plates, sponge
spicula, molluscan palates, &c. Wanted, class slides, photo
lens, books on mollusca and fishes or, cash if preferable. — T.
McGann, Burrin, Ireland.
Wanted, standard works on natural history, in exchange for
fossils and algse. A good copy of Goldsmith's "Animated
Nature," coloured plates, 2 vols., well-bound for four dozen good
micro slides. — 165 Well Street, Birmingham.
Auchomenus puellus, in exchange for other good local
coleoptera. Address, J. W. Pickering, 161 Belgrave Street,
Birmingham.
For piece of Chinese rice paper (pith of tree), send object of
interest, to Mrs. Skilton, London Road, Brentford, Middlesex.
Foreign land and fresh-water shells wanted, in exchange for
American or the rarer British species and varieties. Continental
exchanges desired. — Edward Collier, 7 Dale Street, Manchester.
BOOKS, ETC. RECEIVED.
" The Chemistry of Common Life." By Professor Johnston.
New edition by Professor Church. London : W. Blackwood &
Sons.
"The Flowers of the Sky." By R. A. Proctor. London:
Strahan & Co.
" Life and Habit." By Samuel Butler. London : . Hardwick
& Bogue.
"Microscopic Organisms found in the Blood of Man and
Animals, &c." By T. R. Lewis, M.B. Calcutta.
"Certain Effects of Starvation on Vegetable and Animal
Tissues." By D. D. Cunningham, M.B. Calcutta.
" The Science Index." January.
"Proceedings of the Chester Society of Natural Science."
No. 2.
" Report of the North Staffordshire Naturalists' Field Club,
1878."
"The Forester. Nottingham High School Magazine."
Easter, 1S79.
"Entomological Papers." By C. V. Riley, M.A.
"Journal of Proceedings of the Winchester and Hampshire
Scientific and Literary Society." Vol. iii. part i. 1878.
" Midland Naturalist." April.
" American Naturalist." March.
" Revue Mycologique." January.
" Feuille des Jeunes Naturalistes." April.
"Guide du Naturaliste." January.
" Le Monde de la Science et de 1' Industrie." February.
"Canadian Entomologist." February.
" Boston Journal of Chemistry." April.
" Land and Water." April.
" Journal of Quekett Microscopical Club." No. 39.
&c. &c. &c.
Communications received up to 12TH ult. from :—
E. J. B. W.— W. W. H.-H. R.— D. B.— L. H.— E. D.—
J. F. R.— T. B. W— T. W. H.— W. B.— H. M. J. U.— J. C.
— E. J. B. W.— E. L.-W. H. H.— C. P. O.— W. H. J.—
C. B — J. R. S. C— J. J.— Dr. P. Q K.— J. F. M.— J. H. W.
— H. W. R.— A. G. W.— M. H. R.— B. R. P.— A. W.— T. G. H.
— F. L. St. A.— J. M. C— W. G. T.— G. H.— J. C— H. C—
J. F. U.— J. P. G.— M. M — T. B. L.— J. O. B.— W. A. D.—
W. E. M.— S. T.— C. F.— E. B. de M.— C. B.— T. S.-W. K.—
R. S. G— J. S.— H. M.— J. P.— E. D. M.— R. S.— W. H. H.—
G. E. M.— J. W. L.— G. C. D.— J. J. M.— J. C— F. K.—
Sir J. H.— W. S. J.— J. B— F. W. M.— Dr. M.— G. H.—
T. W. D.— M. L. T. W.— J. W. P.— B. M. W.— Dr. D. S.—
G. M.— T. B. L.— T. McG.— R. C— J. W. S.— W. S.— F. M.H.
—A. T.— B. B. S.— H. P. M.— J. S. H.— &c.
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
12 I
THE PREPARATION OF INSECTS FOR MICROSCOPICAL
EXAMINATION.
[Continued from p. 103.]
ND now as to the
question of stain-
ing. Some have
strong objections
to staining speci-
mens, for they say
that it merely makes
the object prettier,
and that the natural
colour is destroyed.
These objections
are quite sufficiently
answered by the
consideration that
staining does more
than beautify an ob-
ject, — details visible
with difficulty or
not at all in an un-
stained specimen,
are easily seen in
one that is properly stained ; and why, after all, should
a slide not be made as beautiful as possible ? As for
destroying the natural colour, that is generally done
in the ordinary process of mounting. I am therefore
in favour of staining, if it be properly done.
The following are the stains which I use : — Dr.
Beale's carmine fluid. The recipe for this may be
found in so many books, that it is unnecessary to
give it again. Aquasous anilin blue. — Dissolve ten
grains of anilin blue in one drachm of spirits ; add
half an ounce of distilled water, and half an ounce of
glycerine, and filter : let the mixture stand for a week
or a fortnight, and then pour off the clear fluid for use.
Anilin blue in oil of cloves. — Dissolve five grains of
anilin blue in half a drachm of absolute alcohol. Mix
the solution with an ounce of oil of cloves, and filter it
through blotting paper. Magenta fluid.— 1. A few drops
of Judson's magenta dye in water, to which a little
glycerine has been added. This is chiefly for staining
chitine. 2. A very weak solution of the dye in
methylated spirit. This is for staining muscles.
No. 174.
Haematoxyline. — Boil some logwood in water until a
strong infusion is made ; filter; dissolve a quarter of an
ounce of alum in an ounce of water ; mix, say twenty
drops of the logwood infusion with about an ounce
and a half of distilled water, and add enough of the
alum solution to make the fluid a bright purple ;
filter, and the stain is ready for use. ' With the
exception of anilin blue in oil of cloves, which is
rather expensive, all these fluids cost next to nothing.
No precise directions can be given for staining,
because the process requires to be varied a little for
almost every object, but a little information as to the
various properties of the different fluids will be useful.
Carmine fluid does not stain chitine in the least, but
it is excellent for internal organs and muscular tissue.
The only objection to it is that it will not keep more
than a month. A solution of hrematoxyline, of about
one-fourth of the strength of the recipe given above,
answers every purpose of carmine fluid. It is not
such a pretty colour, but it will keep very much
longer. Muscular tissue needs about half an hour's
immersion in this fluid to stain it a nice colour.
Haamatoxyline, according to the recipe, stains chitine
very nicely. The time required to colour the object
properly varies from half a day to forty-eight hours.
Specimens stained with carmine or hsematoxyline
may be mounted in either glycerine or balsam, but
those stained by any of the other fluids can be mounted
in balsam only. Aqueous anilin blue is a very useful
stain. It will stain chitine fairly well, but not when
it is very hard, as in the barbs of a wasp's sting. It is
good for such things as mites, flies' mouths, and
especially for Crustacea, such as entomostraca, wood-
lice, &c. Magenta will stain anything, but it has a
special affinity for chitine. It is very soluble in
alcohol, and specimens stained with it must be
hurried through the alcohol into oil of cloves in a k\v
minutes, or all the colour will be washed out. By
taking advantage of its special affinity for hard
chitine, a very beautiful and instructive double stain-
ing may be effected in this way. Use a watch glass
for soaking the specimens in absolute alcohol : pour
G
122
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
the alcohol away and drop on a little of the oil of
cloves anilin blue stain, and leave it not more than
five minutes. The specimens must then be washed
two or three times in benzine. The blue drives out
the magenta from the membranous parts of the
insect, leaving it in the chitinous portion : a red and
blue specimen is the result. If the specimen be left
in the fluid too long, the blue will be precipitated on
its hairs. The specimen is not spoilt, for the pre-
cipitate may be immediately dissolved, by dipping
the object into absolute alcohol. After this it can
be replaced in benzine directly. It is magenta, and
especially the oil of cloves anilin blue stain, that the
natural oil of Canada balsam causes to fade ; but, as far
as I can see, after about fifteen months' trial, dammar
has no effect on them, the benzine fixing them per-
manently. It is therefore better, as precautionary
measures, not to use balsam for any stained specimens
whatever, and to thoroughly wash them all in benzine
before mounting them in dammar.
"When it is desirable that any insect should be
stained, in almost every case, the proper time or part
of the mounting process at which to stain it is after
the soaking in acetic acid.
None of the numerous soakings and washings in
the processes described above is without its reason.
To give the why and the wherefore of everything
would take too much space, but, if any important
washing be omitted, the slide will not turn out so
well as it ought to do. It is a much less complicated
matter to mount a specimen in reality than to read
about it ; but, to make the description as clear as
possible, I give an abstract of the way in which three-
fourths of insects may be mounted. The time needed
for each stage of the process is noted.
No. I. Soak the insect, or part of it, in liquor
potassse until transparent enough. Boil in clean liquor
potassce, ten seconds. Wash in distilled water.
No. 2. Soak in acetic acid, half an hour. Wash
in distilled water.
No. 3. Stain, when necessary.
No. 4. Wash in spirits. Soak in absolute alcohol,
three to ten minutes.
No. 5. Soak in pure oil of cloves, five minutes, or
in anilin blue oil of cloves three to five minutes.
No. 6. Wash in benzine. Wash in perfectly clean
benzine [if stained].
[Specimens may be kept in benzine for a long time
without injury.]
No. 7. Mount in dammar or balsam.
None of the other processes have so many stages as
this.
I will now briefly detail for what kinds of insects
the various processes are suited, but it is obvious that
under this head only the most general directions can
be given.
Whole insects look best in cells in glycerine, or, if
opaque, in water, and some may be mounted dry ;
these media, as I have said above, are not intended to
display every detail, but only to give a general idea
of the object. If the insect be rare, so that the
mounter has no specimens for dissection, some of its
beauty must needs be sacrificed by the potash and
balsam process, supposing that it is particularly
desired to make out some detail, and at the same
time, to mount the specimen whole. I venture to
think that no insect larger than a house fly should be
mounted whole. Those wretchedly flat things, which
are only fit for magic-lantern slides, such as whole
garden spiders, butterflies, or even humble-bees, are
my peculiar abomination. I have seen a great many
of these "whole insect slides," some by [so-called]
" first-rate mounters," but in none of them yet have I
seen the features which make an insect beautiful on the
one hand and interesting on the other, at all nicely
shown. In attempting too much everything is lost.
Almost all dissected parts of insects may be mounted
in balsam by process I. Only transparent specimens
should be stained. Double staining is especially
suited for the following sorts of objects. Bees' and
wasps' mouths and stings ; gizzards (these doubly
stained are extremely beautiful) ; spiders' feet ; the
mouths of most insects ; mites of the family Trombi-
dium ; in fact, all parts of insects in which there is
much soft membrane and a little hard chitine. For
transparent ants and flies, and for such mites as cheese
mites, soaking in ether (process 2) is suitable. When
small Crustacea are prepared for mounting [if it is
wished that the shells be softened], they must be
soaked for a longer time in acetic acid than is neces-
sary for insects. I find anilin blue .the best stain for
some, and hrematoxyline for others.
I have endeavoured to describe as clearly as I know
how my methods of preparing insects, and I am told
that some of my slides are rather successful. I do
not in the least pretend to entire originality. Some
of the " dodges," to use a current phrase, "are my
own invention, " but very many of them are the ideas
of others (as I consider) improved on. Those who
wish to make good slides should aim to improve on
the methods here given, and it is only by trying
different processes and varying them on the same
object that success is likely to be achieved.
Oxford. H. M. J. Underhill.
MY HEDGEHOGS.
IN May of last year, having become possessed of
two hedgehogs, and as the hedgehog is an
animal that I had heard so many idle stories about,
and wishing to learn something about their history
and habits, &c, I determined to keep them.
The first experiment that I made, was to duck
them in a pail of water, in order that self-preserva-
tion might compel them to unravel themselves, so
that I could inspect them properly.
My next move was to provide a suitable residence
for them ; this was done in the shape of an old box,
HARD WICKE ' S S CIE NCE- G O SSIP.
I2 3
some wire being put in the front, and some hay
placed in the bottom, which answered, although a
little cramped for room, admirably.
About their food I was in great doubt. It would
be impossible for me to provide a regular supply of
frogs, snails, &c. However, as a substitute, I tried
bread and milk, and as they did not eat during the
day, I was in great fears lest they had died, or would
not eat at all, and it was with a troubled mind that
I took my departure from them that night. The
next morning my fears and doubts were agreeably
dissipated, by finding the tin empty. I then found
that my charges were nocturnal in their habits.
Their staple food was a tin of bread and sweet
milk, supplied every evening.
After a short time they left off their shyness, and
I could handle them comfortably. One morning I
brought home a handful of snails, which I had met
with in my rambles and supplied these to them, when
immediately they commenced to eat them, shells and
all, from which I augured that they had excellent
teeth. I next managed to supply them with a few
frogs, which they relished exceedingly. I noticed
that whenever the frog was put into their cage,
the hedgehogs remained perfectly motionless until
they got a favourable chance, when they made for one
of the frog's hind legs.
One morning they were near killing a tame black-
bird which had inadvertently hopped into their cage,
but which was rescued in the very nick of time.
The place where I kept them was a small loft used
by tinsmiths, and I was wont in the summer nights
to allow them to ramble about, and the noise that
they made scrambling over the cans, &c, after the
mice was astonishing.
Some people suppose that their pace is slow ; the
pace of mine was quite the reverse, and they could
run along pretty quickly.
They never hesitated about jumping from a height,
in fact one of them deliberately and coolly threw itself
down a twelve-foot ladder, bouncing off the steps
like an india-rubber ball, and when it reached the
bottom was making off, a proceeding which was
promptly stopped on my part.
They were thirsty animals, always drinking when-
ever they could, so that I placed water in their cage
every morning for their benefit.
As regards those old-woman stories circulated
about the animal, it is needless for me to state that
they are all fabrications. One night I gave them
apple slices for the express purpose of trying them,
and in the morning there was not a tooth print on
them, in fact the only fruit mine ate were cherries.
Another calumny is their eating game birds' eggs.
Now, one night I starved mine, giving them only a
whole hen egg, and in the morning the egg was
perfectly whole, not a bruise or crack on it.
Mine continued thus in the "even tenor of their
way " till the latter end of October, when a change
was apparent. They got very fat and ate less, and
finally went to sleep about November i. I packed
them in a box with hay. However one of them
escaped and was not found till February 27. They
both awoke on March 1, and I may safely say, that
the one in the box did not receive a pick of food
during the whole four months of hybernation. When
they awoke they were very emaciated.
Their weights before the hybernation were respec-
tively, 2lbs. 6oz. and 2lbs. ; after, lib. 90Z. and
lib. 8oz. ; having lost 130Z. and 8oz. respectively.
During the hybernation they remained rolled up in
a ball, and their breathing was very loud and
distinct.
But in a short time they regained their original
plumpness, and are now fatter than ever. I am in
hopes they will breed this year.
THE NEW FOREST.
By E. D. Marquand.
{Continued f?-om p. 99.]
IT is not necessary to speak of the productiveness
of the New Forest as an insect-collector's hunt-
ing-ground, since it is probably better known to
entomologists than to any other class of naturalists.
In a given area of country— say twenty miles square
— the entomologist has decidedly an advantage over
the botanist : the former may work the same district
for a lifetime and every year find something new —
while the latter has a definite, however extensive,
number of plants to discover. Insects move ; plants
do not. A dozen close observers possessing the
requisite knowledge might catalogue the entire flora
of a district — phanerogamic and cryptogamic — in a
few years, while the insect fauna would continually
be receiving fresh additions from the neighbouring
country, and so be practically inexhaustible. Of
course, on an island — Guernsey or Jersey, for instance
— both classes of naturalists would be on a par.
About fifty species of butterflies, out of a total of
sixty-four for Great Britain, have been taken here,
and I am happy to be able to record the occurrence
of a very rare species which, as far as my knowledge
goes, has not hitherto been taken in the Forest, or in-
cluded among its indigenous species. This is the Bath
White (Pieris daplidice), a fine specimen of which I
captured on June 12, 1876, in an open wood not far
from Lyndhurst ; it is now in my cabinet. Singu-
larly enough, four days afterwards I saw another
specimen in my garden flying to heliotrope ; it
alighted two or three times, but as I had no net it
escaped. C. edusa was out in great force here in
1877; they first appeared on June 4, the date on
which they seem to have occurred nearly all over the
country. In July they disappeared, and the second
brood came out on August 10, continuing till after
the middle of October. C. hyale is rare, and so is
G 2
124
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
A. cratccgi. L. shut pis may always be had by those
who know where to go for them, for they do not
wander far from their haunts, though less strictly
local than A. Galathea, for which I know two stations,
widely apart. The little Duke of Burgundy Fritillary
{N. lucina) I have seen and taken, but not in such
numbers as I did some years ago at Selborne.
G. c-album occasionally appears, but I never saw it.
The large Fritillaries and L. Sybilla are very abun-
dant in all the large woods.
As every one knows, these are the headquarters of
the two splendid Red Underwings C. nupta and
C. promissa, perhaps the most beautiful moths which
Fig. 102. — Marbled white (Melanagria Galathea).
Fig. 103. — Marbled white (Melanagria Galathea).
Upper side.
the collector can hope to take away, unless they yield
the palm of beauty to the lovely green D. Orion or
the fine black and yellow A. villica, of which I once
netted a variety with almost spotless hind-wings.
Two years ago I captured a female E. russula : the
males are tolerably common, but the other sex is, I
believe, usually considered a great rarity. S. fuci-
formis is usually abundant just for a short season,
frequenting rhododendrons. The splendid Emperor
Moth (S. pavonia) occurs in plenty, but is easier to
rear from the larva than to catch on the wing. I
have seen the perfect insect as early as April 18;
and I once collected in a thorn hedge, and subse-
quently reared the large smoke-coloured caterpillars
of the odd-looking Lappet [G. quercifolia). E. Jacobaa:
is a perfect pest, especially in the larva state, swarm-
ing in masses on Ragwort. F. piniaria abounds in
the fir plantations, together with the speckled V. met-
adata. It would be a needless occupation of space
to enumerate even a tithe of the good moths that
occur. Suffice it to say that at least three-fourths of
the British macro-lepidoptera have been taken here.
If the New Forest is a favourite hunting-ground
with lepidopterists, it is scarcely less known to
beetle collectors, and the coleopterist must possess a
very fair collection indeed who can spend a week
here without adding something to it. Carabns nitens
is occasionally found on moist heaths, but by no
means so plentifully as one would be led to suppose
from books ; much more common is the brilliant
Pixcilus cupret/s, which it somewhat resembles. The
great stagbeetle abounds, and now and again one
comes across its smaller relative, Dorctts parallelopi-
pedus. Once it was my good fortune to come upon
a dead specimen of the giant longicorn {Prionus
coriaritts), a most noble fellow, formidable even in
death. The Rhynchophora are probably very nume-
rous here ; Hylobius abietis was extremely abundant
two years ago. I used to find them in all sorts of
odd corners in and out of the house ; since then I
have not seen more than a couple. The large and
handsome Cleonus nebnlosus has come under my
notice once or twice, together with the little grey
Gronops hinatus. Cryptocephalus sericens — brilliant
silky green — occurs in the flowers of Hieracium
Fig. 104. — Duke of Burgundy
Fritillary (Nenteobius lucina).
Under side.
Fig. 105. — Duke of Burgundy
Fritillary (Nemeobius lucina).
Upper side.
with black and
a smaller bright green, and I
-a Jassns, perhaps — which I
pilosella ; Coccinella 12-punctata, abounds on the
coast, and so does Opatrum sabidosum ; and among
young oaks in the forest I have occasionally seen the
handsome scarlet Skipjack, Elater sanguineus, flying
in the hot sunshine.
We have two very elegant members of the cer-
copidse : Cercopis sanguinolenta,
crimson elytra, and
fancy local, species-
found in abundance in sweeping the marshy border
of a wood. Dragon-flies are numerous, both in
species and individuals. By-the-by, if some one
acquainted with our British neuroptera — the Libelhtla
section — would send to Science-Gossip a synopsis
of genera and species, I am sure it would be regarded
as an act of kindness.
The Forest-fly {Hippobosca equina) is one of the
features of the district. Thick, black masses of these
repulsive insects may be seen on every horse and
cow ; and while the native cattle, " to the manner
born," treat them with supreme indifference, a strange
animal is driven frantic at the approach of one. Can
any one tell me why ? It is generally supposed that
their food is the blood of the cattle they infest, but
the organs of the mouth, which are of extreme sim-
plicity, seem singularly incompetent to pierce the
hide of a horse or cow. The impression among some
of the people here is that they pull out the hairs and
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
*25
suck the root bulbs. In favour of this view it may be
noted that no wound or blood is ever observed where
these flies have congregated. Perhaps some of the
readers of this may be able to throw light on the
subject. By the way, these flies are exceedingly
difficult to catch, and cannot be killed by a blow.
I have seen a man's fist brought down on one with
a force almost sufficient to crush a stagbeetle ; the
fly gave a little buzz of contempt, and flew to the
window. In flying their hum is scarcely audible,
and they alight on the face or hands without being
felt. They walk sideways, like crabs. Much hand-
Fig. 106. — Scarce Merveil-du-Jour (Diphthcra
orion).
Fig. 107. — Variety of Merveil-du-JoiirfZ>/>/*-
thera orion). See Newman's "British
Moths," page 248.
Fig. 108. — The Cream-spot Tiger-moth (Chelonia villica).
Fie. log. — The Clouded Buff-moth
(Eutliemonia russula). Female.
somer insects, though certainly more ferocious and
formidable, are the Tabatii, of which we have several
species. Collectors are well aware of their blood-
thirsty propensities ; the bite of the little grey Hicma-
topota pluvialis is sharp enough, but woe betide any
one who gets a nip from that sanguinary monster,
Tabanus bovinns. His loud, booming hum is not
to be mistaken, but his bite is something to be re-
membered. I captured a couple while they were
busy driving their lancets into the nether garments
(fortunately thick ones) of a companion.
During last summer I took on the flowers of a
water-mint a very curious insect —apparently a bee or
ichneumon-fly — but it was remarkable by the entire
absence of even the rudiments of wings. A brief
description, abridged from my journal, may enable
some one to identify it, in which case I shall be
thankful for the name and any information about it,
as I have never heard of apterous bees. Length,
half an inch ; head, antennae, and legs, black ; eyes,
small ; ocelli, none ; thorax, bright chestnut-brown,
with parallel sides, sloping beneath, xvithout traces of
wings ; abdomen wasp-like, black, with three narrow
bands of pale golden silky hairs : apex of abdomen
acute and incurved.
Before passing on to the botany of this district I
wish to say just a few words on two sections to which
I have not been able to give much attention, though
I have collected and noted a good number of species.
First, the arachnida — or rather, I should say, the
araneidte. Atypus Sulzeri, our British Mygale, is
probably a rare spider in the Forest, at least in those
parts with which I am familiar, for only one speci-
men, a male, has come under my notice. Lycosa
andrenivora is very common on our heaths, and so
is Tetragnatha extensa, with its long legs stretched
out in a straight line in the centre of its web above
a little stream or pool. Epeira umbratica, "a spider
of most villanous aspect," I have found in old posts,
and a pretty variety of Thomisns abbreviatus, of a pale
rose-pink colour, without a shade of yellow ; this
took on heath blossom, the hue of which it closely
approached — another instance of insect mimicry.
Among the mollusca I have to record Clausilia
dubia — at least, such I take it to be. It measures
eight lines, while our C. rugosa only averages five ;
besides which, it is very much larger in every respect.
Helicella excavata is generally distributed, and, in some
woods, as Wilverley, very common. H. fidva, also,
I have found, and Planorbis contortus in some places
abundantly. The minute bivalve (Pisidium pusillum)
is very numerous, often in company with the delicate
little Carychium minimum — a shell so tiny that one
almost requires a lens to see it at all.
(To be continued.)
THE LOVES OF THE FISHES.
COLD-BLOODED creatures are commonly not
credited with any great degree of moral ex-
cellence. The affections of parent and lover are
usually supposed to be wanting, and the emotion of
gratitude is probably never dreamed of in connection
with creatures so low in the scale of creation. Nor
probably is it right to invest them with any great
degree of eminence in this particular. Nevertheless,
however, it is a real fact that some fishes not only exhibit
126
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
unmistakable signs of the affections alluded to, but in
one case — the pike — even gratitude seems to be mani-
fested. My readers may possible smile incredulously
at the suggestion that any excellence of feeling can
be associated with the " fresh -water wolf," over
whose cruel and remorseless jaws the Dantean epi-
graph, "All hope abandon, ye who enter here,"
might fitly be written. Such, however, is the case.
As the warm spring weather approaches, and sum-
mer hastens to ensue, the pike seeks the convenient
tributaries of the river, or the shallow and weeded
parts of the lake wherein to spawn. At this time
the males and females may be presumed to be sepa-
rate and unmated. Guided by the reproductive
instinct, however, they more or less quickly pair ;
and it is just prior to spawning that the delight
which they experience with each other's society is
most apparent. The female is generally larger than
the male, and piscine caresses are mutually indulged
in. I have frequently seen the male rub his mottled
sides against his partner, and gambol and dash about
as if to show off his glee and his prowess as a water
athlete ; and on one occasion I remember the caresses
of a two-pound fish were so energetic as to completely
force the female up on the sloping bank. I captured
the fish and replaced her in the water at considerable
distance, but the remorseful widower was in the
neighbourhood where I had first seen them on my
return, evidently waiting the return of his mate.
Whether his patience was ultimately rewarded de-
ponent saith not.
The pike is for the most part monogamous. An
example of this is interestingly given by Mr. Manley
in his " Fish and Fishing." He says, "I was jack-
fishing in the lake in Earl Fitzhardinge's park, and
had left a paternoster for perch baited with gudgeon in
the sluggish stream above the small bridge. On my
return from a walk round trolling, I found I had to
encounter a fine jack which had attached herself to
the paternoster, and after no little trouble I landed
my fish, which scaled over 14 lbs. In the same
manner, and exactly at the same spot, just a week
afterwards I took another — the gentleman fish this
time weighing 13 lbs. I have no doubt that these
were an engaged or rather married pair just at the
commencement of their honeymoon, and that after
the cruel (I have often thought since that it was very
cruel) capture of his bride, the bridegroom, dis-
consolate, hung about the spot, and so came also to a
miserable end within a few days of the decease of his
wife." That it is a very customary occurrence to
secure a pair of fish from one spot no angler will
deny. In fact, on taking a good fish from any par-
ticular spot it is a recognised plan amongst the
brothers of the craft to try for the other fish. In
lakes the pairing is certainly more noticeable than in
rivers. Whether the fishes hunt their food in pairs
as a rule I cannot say, but that they reside in con-
tiguity is an indisputable fact. The ruff also will not
live singly in aquaria, but die off — at least this is my
experience. Unhappily the jack does not exhibit
much parental affection, for it is an indiscriminate
cannibal, and perhaps the best bait for a large pike is
a small jack.
Having thus shown that the character of this
voracious fish of prey is of a somewhat lighter hue
than generally supposed, perhaps the reader will be
prepared to hear a further good trait, the existence of
which is however indubitably more questionable than
the former. I refer to the exhibition of that rarest of
virtues in the "genus homo, namely, gratitude. In
order to justify the idea that Esax Lucius exhibits this
noble quality, I must refer at ^some little length to
another fish of widely different family — the tench.
Now this fish is covered with a thick glutinous slime,
which is supposed to be of such medicinal worth to
the piscine tribes that at the "touch of tenches"
wounds and other disorders that fish is heir to are
instantly bettered, and if the contiguity of the fishes
be preserved, are ultimately healed. It is a certain
fact that trout are rendered healthier by the intro-
duction of a tench or two amongst them, and I have
known several instances of the growth of byssus
being arrested on the advent of this "physician of
fishes." Camden asserts that this is the case with
pike, and his language is pronounced with no air of
hesitation, though he was probably not a naturalist.
Speaking of Southwark he says, " Here have I seen
the bellies of pikes which have been rent open have
their gaping wounds presently closed by the touch of
tenches, and by their glutinous slime perfectly healed
up." Of course this assertion may be taken with
caution, but the concurrent testimony of many
observers as to the healing power manifested by this
fish must be in some sort accepted.
Now here comes in the gratitude of the pike, if the
idea is not too pretty to be true. Be he ever so
hungry he never takes a tench. Carp and all other
fish he will eat incontinently, in fact nothing else
from a red cork float to a baby, or from a Polish
damsel's foot to a mule's nose, comes amiss to him,
but a tench he will not touch. The following admir-
able verses state the matter better than I can :
" The pike, fell tyrant of the liquid plain,
With ravenous haste devours his fellow train,
Yet howsoe'er by raging famine pined,
The tench he spares — a medicinal kind ;
For when by wounds distrest or sore diseased, j
He courts the salutary fish for ease,
Close to his scales the kind physician glides,
And sweats a healing balsam from his sides."
Who will now deny his pikeship the virtues I claim
for him — conjugal constancy and affection and grati-
tude ? By-the-by, speaking of tench reminds me that
this fish is especially tumultuous in its affection and
movements during the spawning season, and frolics
and jostles right lovingly. So much is this the case,
that I have repeatedly taken them by hand when they
have been too absorbed in their pursuit of each other
to be aware of danger.
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
127
The chivalrous courage of the salmonidce in this
particular is well known. Especially is it so with
the "lordly" salmon. A Guinevere awaiting her
victorious Lancelot might emblem a sheeny female
salmon awaiting her lord as he wages fierce war against
perhaps four or five other fish all equal to himself in
size. But shame on female fickleness ; if her champion
succumbs in the conquest, she is quite prepared, like
another Queen of Denmark, to receive a new lord
from amongst the victors. A battle of peculiar fierce-
ness of this kind is ably detailed by Mr. Newman in
the "Zoologist" for 1847, page 1650 : "While
several gentlemen," he says, " of the Preventive ser-
vice were on their rounds the other day and patrolling
along the Findhorn between Glenferness and Dalcie
Bridge, they observed an unusual commotion among
the spawning-beds of the ford. On approaching the
spot two large male salmon were seen engaged in
mortal combat for a female. Never did chivalrous
knights do battle for the hand of a lady fair more
fiercely than these lords of the flood. The tranquil
bosom of the stream was lashed into foam by the
struggles of the finny antagonists, the object of the
fray meantime beating silently about, 'spectatress
of the fight.' From the appearance of the stream
dyed with blood, and gradually assuming its former
smooth surface, it was evident that the contest was
over. One of the salmon at last floundered on the
surface dead, and the victor, it may be conjectured,
exhaustedly bore off his prize." From this it would
certainly appear that this prince of all fishes tastes to
some extent the vinum damonutn of love. I cannot
say much for his parental affection, seeing that some
of the older male-fish are most inveterate devourers
of the ova and embryo fish.
Trout are also as fierce and plucky in their love
affairs, and I have witnessed some magnificent tussles
in which, like bull dogs, they have torn the flesh from
each other with unrelenting ferocity.
For domestic attachments however the stickleback
stands far above all other freshwater fishes. Towards
early summer time the male increases in beauty,
putting on the most gorgeous dress of green and
silver, whilst his movements become inconceivably
elegant and swift and full of vivacity. Presently he
casts his eyes about him for a suitable locality for his
nest, and having selected a site, perhaps in some tiny
eddy, he commences to build. The operation of
building is a work of time, but it is done in a very
workmanlike manner and carefully. First a foundation
is laid and cemented with a sort of gluten secreted by
the fish himself. Against this currents of water are
projected by the fins of the builder, and sometimes, to
render certainty doubly certain, he hurls himself
repeatedly against the structure. His materials are
pieces of stick and other suitable debris collected in
the neighbourhood. Having securely built the
foundation he commences to erect the walls. This is
effected in the same style, and finally a nest is com-
pleted, with holes for ingress and egress opposite each
other. The whole fabric is repeatedly tested as above
described, and when everything seems firm and stable
the building is ready for the ova.
Watching the laborious operations of the industrious
little gentleman at a respectful distance, behold four
or five females of decidedly less brilliant appearance.
When he is ready he with sidelong glances and
coquettish movements approaches them, and com-
municates in some inaudible language his wishes and
desires. Presently a female, responsive to his invita-
tion, leaves her sisters and follows Sir Stickleback to
the nest he has prepared. After entering himself and
passing through he indicates that all is in readiness.
Lady Stickleback accordingly enters without com-
punction, and remains hidden for some time. After
depositing the ova she passes out the other side, and
he enters to complete the proce-s of impregnation.
When this is done her ladyship is dismissed, and a
layer of sand is strewn over the eggs. This accom-
plished, another female is invited, and the same opera-
tion ensues, again and again, till four or five layers of
ova are deposited. Now comes the anxious time for
Papa Stickleback. The females are very inquisitive,
and have to be kept back most unceremoniously from
poking their noses into the nest. They are of a
decidedly cannibalistic turn of mind also, and would
devour the objects of their lord's solicitude if allowed.
So they are sometimes hurled right and left by this
piscine Paladin in his twinkling armour of many
colours.
After an interval of lesser or greater duration, ac-
cording to the temperature, the tiny sticklebacks make
their appearance. The trouble they are now to their
faithful parent transcends all conception. To keep
them together and guard them from enemies of all
kinds becomes his task, and right valiantly does he
perform it. Combat after combat engages him, both
females and males are against him, and like a famous
historical personage his hand is against every one in
the interests of his tiny family. Now and then one
little rascal will stray, but only to be brought back
in its father's powerful jaws, and to receive an
admonitory shake. At last they are disbanded,
and ' ' love's labour " for the nonce becomes a thing
of the past.
Though not a nest-builder the Miller's Thumb
exhibits like characteristics to the Stickleback, and
guards its ova and young with a constancy of
purpose and ferocity of temper alike amusing and
instructive.
I think I have said enough to justify the title of
this paper. With salt-water fishes I have not meddled,
but doubtless many instances of constancy and affec-
tion might be cited in reference to them. The
variety of fish -life is marvellous, and in the scale of
being one is sometimes disposed to elevate them
highly.
John H. Keene.
128
HARD WICKE'S S CIENC E- G OSS IP.
BOTANICAL WORK FOR JUNE.
THE lateness of the present botanical season
will enable us somewhat to mitigate the con-
fusion which prevails about Cardamine hirsuta and
C. sylvatica ; perhaps a few words will make them
more easily understood. It is very likely that only
one plant (C. hirsuta) has been examined by many
workers, hence the confusion.
1. C. sylvatica (Link). Biennial, radical. Leaves
veiy few. Leaflets large, light green. Lower leaflets
only on short petioles distinctly lobed.
2. C. hirsuta (Linn.). Annual, radical. Leaves in a
dense rosette. Leaflets all on short petioles, small,
dark green.
No. I is our common species, No. 2 is frequently
ssen by waysides.
Herb Robert, or Stinking Crane's Bill, now makes
many a shady lane gay with its fern-like leaves and
elegant blossoms. Let us spend a few hours during
the present season in looking over its many pecu-
liarities : first, we shall find it can adapt itself to all
kinds of conceivable situations, then we shall observe
it differs widely in appearance and habit : thus, at
least, three distinct varieties are met with.
1. Geranium Robertianum (Linn.), (proper). A large
straggling plant covered with glandular hairs. Claw
of pets, equal in length to the blade. Carpels hairy.
2. G. modes turn (Jord.). A smaller plant, with
more tufted habit, nearly or quite glabrous (smooth).
Fig. in. — Leaflet of C.
hirsuta.
Fig. no. — Leaflet of Cardamine
sylvatica.
The illustrations are of the natural size.
Vegetation of every kind is backward ; this is the
latest spring we have ever known, but we shall find
the silver-weed plentiful during the present month.
The name Potentilla anserina (Linn.) is made to
cover two very dissimilar forms in our English Floras ;
having met with them in many counties, we have the
more confidence in bringing them before our readers,
and for this purpose have adopted the names in Fl.
des Environs dc Paris.
1. Potentilla incana (Cuss, et Germ.). A large plant.
Leaves densely covered with silvery down on both sides.
2. P. pusilla (Cuss, et Germ.). A smaller species,
known by its compact rosette of radical leaves,
which lie close to the ground, seldom, or with but
few hairs on upper surface.
Fig. ii2. — Herb-Robert (Geranium Robertianum).
Claw of pet. much longer than the blade. Carpels
glabrous.
3. G. purpureum (Jord.). A beautiful plant, veins
of leaves and internodes tinged with pink. Pets,
purple. Leaves finely cut and divided.
Nos. 1 and 3 are our lowland species ; the smooth
plant, No. 2, is found on hills; we generally expect
to find it in gravel pits.
The common Stork's-bill is now worthy of notice,
although it is an unpleasant plant to handle.
4. Erodium cicutarium (Linn.) wherever it occurs, is
generally seen in abundance, and probably the varieties
named below are not uncommon in most districts.
5. E. cicutarium (proper) has flowers whose pets,
are not spotted, and carpels furrowed. Leaves small,
not much divided.
6. E. commixtum (Jord.), a larger and coarser-
looking plant. Leaves not unlike E. moschatum.
Upper pets, distinctly spotted at the base.
HARD WICKE'S S C1ENCE- G OS SIP.
129
7. E. pilosnni (Bor.). Upper pets, not spotted at
the base. Leaves much cut and divided, with long
hairs over the whole plant.
During the past few years, our rambles have chiefly
been over gravelly and sandy fields ; these, although
in a great measure barren to the farmer, have yielded
F!g. 113. — Filago
canescens (Jord.).
Fig. 114. — Filago sj>athulata (Presl).
us a rich harvest ; amongst the rest, the cud-weeds
have received a thorough investigation, so that now
we number probably fifty sheets in our British her-
baria, containing specimens of the Gnaphalia and
Filago ; the latter are not so numerous, and vary but
little, but we lay before our readers the British section
of this genus, because we do not regard F. gallica (L.)
as a native species — it is now by all our best botanists
looked upon as a colonist only.
Filago. — Section 1. Procumbent ; section 2. Erect.
Section 1. — In " Student's Flora," F. germanica
(L.) covers all the following forms, viz. :
1. Filago canescens (Jord.), (species according to con-
tinental authorities) leaves linear, tomentose. Heads
of flowers leafless, tips of bracts yellow ; common in
sandy pastures. Fig. 113.
2. Filago apiculata (G. E. Sm.), much larger than
the last ; bracts purple. Keel-shaped, tips deep
pink. Rare.
3. Filago spathtdata (Presl) (species). A short
tufted plant. Leaves spathnlate. Bracts, keel-shaped,
tips pale yellow. Frequent on gravelly soils. Fig. 1 14.
Section 2. — 4. Filago minima (Fries). Leaves
J-inch, very small, lanceolate. A small, slender, and
erect species, from 6 to 10 inches. Frequent on dry
sandy'^banks.
A Fishing Rat. — While standing by a stream
the other day I saw a large grey rat swimming about
with unusual activity, and observing its movements
for awhile I saw it dive below a bank, reappear and
dive again, and so continue for some time ; but at
last to my surprise it reappeared with a fine trout in
its mouth, four or five inches in length, and struggling
in vain for its life, while the rat made quickly for its
hole apparently elevated with success. — T. Sim, Fyvie.
THE BEAR IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY.
By John Wager.
Part I.
THE writer, though not a sportsman, has indulged
in many wild and solitary wanderings through
Swedish forests and over Norwegian fjelds ; several
times he has been benighted amid such scenes, yet
never chanced to make personal acquaintance with
Bruin in his native resorts, though he frequently heard
of his proximity, and once saw the remains of a bear
that had been shot by a peasant on the previous day ;
he has also collected sundry ursine anecdotes, which
naturalists inclined for gossip may be willing to hear.
First, however, it will perhaps be well, for the benefit
of readers not familiar with the subject, to prefix a brief
account, from Scandinavian sources, of the natural
history of the northern bear.
The peasants of Norway and Sweden distinguish
several kinds of bears, such as the grass-bear, the
ant-bear, and the horse-bear ; but these are mere
varieties, or individuals in different stages of develop-
ment, of one and the same species. Its colour is
dark brown or nearly black ; sometimes lighter, and
especially valued when the fur is tipped with silver-
grey. A full-grown bear will measure six feet, or
even more in length, by three feet in height ; and
weigh from five to six, and occasionally eight, hun-
dred pounds. Bruin has a sweet tooth in his head,
and while young at least, usually contents himself
with a vegetable diet ; — grass, roots, the juicy stem
and leaves of angelica, whortleberries, cloud-berries,
and other berries which abound in the forests, in-
cluding those of the rowan tree ; ants, also, and their
eggs vary his diet, whence certain bears which habitu-
ally eat them are called ant-bears ; and the more
delectable honey, with the comb and larva, which he
devours with keen zest, quite regardless, in his thick
coat, of the infuriated bees. During the very dry,
hot summer of 1868, when bruin's favourite feast of
whortleberries failed him, he was constrained, said
Norwegian papers, to quit his customary solitudes,
and betake himself like a sturdy beggar or downright
thief, to the vicinage of human dwellings, and there
lay violent hands on anything devourable that came
in his way; yet without doing bodily harm to man.
When, however, the bear gets older, and once gains a
taste of flesh, he thenceforth prefers it ; and has
doubtless a regal share of the six or seven thousand
sheep, goats, pigs, horses, and horned cattle that are
annually destroyed by wild beasts in Sweden alone.
A bear may remain a considerable time upon a tract
without its presence being particularly marked ; but
should it chance, either from spontaneous impulse, or
outward irritation, once to kill a domestic animal, it
is sure, unless prevented, to attack others in quick
succession ; lurking in the neighbourhood of the spot
where the cattle graze, and watching its opportunity
to start from its hiding-place upon any luckless cow
13°
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
or heifer that strays from the herd, and striking it to
the ground with a blow of its heavy paws, or clinging
to its throat till it falls exhausted from loss of blood.
The cattle, however, not unfrequently begin the attack,
and receive the death-blow by rushing, with a loud
bellow, upon the enemy whom one of them has
chanced suddenly to espy.
The prodigious strength popularly ascribed to the
bear is scarcely exaggerated ; in reference to this,
bear's sinew formed a constituent of the chain or cord
by which the terrible Fenri wolf of Norse mythology
was sought to be bound ; and the Swedish proverb
which asserts that Nalle (Bruin) does not smite with a
twig, is true indeed. For with one blow of its massive
club — its fore-paw — it can strike a heifer to the
ground ; and, a bear, walking upright, has been
known to carry a horse in his fore-paws across a
timber-log placed over a rushing stream. The north-
ern horse is not however so large as our own. In
attacking animals it rears on its hind legs and striking
with its chief weapons send their terrible claws deep
into the llesh ; but against man it more rarely assumes
this position ; creeping towards him, more usually,
on all fours, as if awed by his glance, and making
use of its teeth. When it would make prey of a
horse, encountered on open ground, it usually fixes
the claws of one paw in the horse's neck or breast,
and allows itself to be dragged away till it can seize
a tree to hold by with the other, or till the exhausted
animal succumbs.
The bear has a good appetite ; in the course of a
day and night he can eat the most of a young heifer,
beginning his repast even before the victim is quite
dead. After satisfying his hunger he either buries
the remainder of the meal or leaves it on the spot and
returns soon. ■ He will not, Pontoppidan states, like
the sneaking wolf, feed on any dead carcase he chances
to meet with, but likes meat of his killing, nice and
fresh. Inwards, especially the kidneys, he seems to
relish most ; cow's-udder too is one of his choice bits,
and it has often happened that a cow has come home
to the seater in the evening with her udder torn off.
Now and then, when it can surprise the vigilance of
the wild reindeer it indulges in venison ; and on the
other hand, though not partial to fast-days,
"The grim, taciturn bear, the anchorite monk of the forest,"
partakes, for a change, when he can get it, of a dinner
offish. Sometimes he becomes unusually exorbitant
in his demands ; savage and surly beyond his wont.
A peasant of Transtrand, the northernmost part of
the wild province of West Dalecarlia, informed the
present writer that in 1 850 a monstrous bear infested
the neighbourhood ; tearing the roofs from byres and
making sad havoc with the cattle within. Nor were
the attempts to get rid of this violent marauder at all
successful, till a peasant at length caught him red-
handed, and having no weapon more effective than
his tongue, conjured him with these awesome words :
" If thou contest to me, thou Satan, I will dash thee
against the wall ;" whereupon the terror-stricken
brute "no Christian bear" hurried away, and was
not seen or heard of in the neighbourhood again.
When a bear thus breaks into a cattle-shed, after
slaughtering what he deems sufficient, if undisturbed,
he always returns the same way, dragging with him,
usually, a portion or the whole of his victim.
The bear, if let alone, is not greatly dangerous to
man ; who, under ordinary circumstances, may gener-
ally pass within view of him in the forest without
serious occasion for alarm. But such an interview,
during summer at least, is not often obtained ; for
the bear's acute senses — his quick hearing, sight, and
scent give him timely notice of human approach, and
he usually keeps out of the way. Even when wounded
by the hunter's shot he more frequently flies than
hazards a close fight. If, however, on such occasions,
the bear does turn upon his foe, the hunter has the
utmost need of cool nerve and a sure aim, or of a
sharp weapon, wielded by a strong arm. Such en-
counters are most frequent with she-bears whose
young have been shot or taken ; but there are old,
experienced he-bears also equally ready for a passage
of arms. Heavy and clumsy as the bear appears
when tamed, it is agile enough in the wild state \
running more quickly than any man, and clambering
up trees with facility, though it descends them, rear
foremost, with great caution. It can swim with speed,
but not very enduringly ; its thick, shaggy, absorbing
coat being necessarily an encumbrance in the water.
The bear, like the jettes, a giant brood of old saga,
retreats before advancing cultivation, but is yet toler-
ably numerous in the more northerly parts of Sweden,
where continuous forests cover hundreds of square
miles ; especially in the wilder parts of Wermland,
Dalecarlia, and that vast, most northern, division of
the kingdom called Norrland, which includes LaplancL
When in Norra, Finskogen, Wermland, a few years
since, the writer heard of a peasant hunter there who
during one winter had shot ten bears in the forest
tract. They are still more frequent in Norway, being
found to some extent all over the country, right up to
the Russian frontier ; though very rarely and inci-
dentally in the southern lowlands, and not very
numerously in Finmaiken, the northern extreme of
the land, corresponding with the Swedish Lappmark,.
or Lapland. The forest and hill tracts of Thelemark,
the whole province of Throndhjem, Osterdalen, and
Norrland, the most northerly province except Fin-
marken, are the localities in which he is now most
extensively found. His favourite haunts are desert
regions where pine-forested hills interchange with
cloven rocks, wide stretches of moss, and mire, and
grassy, herbaceous plots. From these elevated soli-
tudes the northern king of beasts often takes a tour of
longer or shorter duration over the open tracts of the
higher mountains ; but his proper domains are the
dusky pine forests that stretch wide over the sub-
ordinate hills.
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
131
About the end of October, when the stringent
winter of the North, with its attendant scarcity of
food, begins to be felt in his high-lying and dreary
realm, the bear altogether ceases to eat, and prepares
•a dormitory in which to sleep over the season of cold
and dearth. This lair, ide or hide* is usually in the
deep cleft of a rock, under an old tree root, or in a
pit which he digs for himself, Into such sheltered
recess he gathers abundance of moss, ling, and spruce-
twigs ; and in November, with an empty stomach,
lies down on this soft bed, rolled up usually in his
thick, furry cloak, with his head between his hind
feet, and resigns himself to a deep, oblivious sleep
till the return of milder days. It is believed by the
peasants that before commencing his long slumber he
makes a two days' trial of the chosen site, to see that
it is undisturbed and secure. Nor is sleep afterwards
always unbroken ; for though he sleeps hard while
the cold continues extreme, and is quite sluggish if
then disturbed, yet as spring approaches his slumbers
are often so light that he awakes and takes to flight
on the occurrence of the slightest noise, even when
otherwise he would have enjoyed a long continuance
of repose. If the prevalence of rainy or foggy
weather has rendered his dormitory uncomfortably
wet he will generally turn out for fresh twigs, or in
quest of a drier site.
Eating nothing during the whole period of hyber-
nation the bear wastes the flesh and fat previously
accumulated ; and though he continues in good con-
dition till after Yule, is necessarily very lean and
weak when, in April or May, he leaves his retreat.
He then at first contents himself with lighter diet,
such as ants and insect larva;, but gradually taking
more nutritious food, soon regains his normal weight
and strength.
A month after the bear has left his winter lair he
seeks a mate and the pair associate till into July.
The female brings fortli her young, in the lair, to-
wards the end of January ; she has from one to three,
rarely four, at a birth, and though sometimes she eats
nothing, she gives them suck. They give no early
promise of future greatness and prowess, being only
about eight inches long, blind and toothless ; but
they wax apace, and have already assumed importance
when they quit their nursery in spring. The dam
and cubs keep company till autumn; but if the
former again becomes pregnant she will not allow
the cubs to share her winter's retreat, and though
far from full-grown they must learn to make a bed
for themselves. In other cases the whole family lie
together and continue to associate after again emerg-
ing from the lair; and sometimes do not entirely
separate before the young are from three to four years
old, and have founded families themselves.
{To be continued.)
* Related to the English hitke, a small haven.
ON MOUNTING SEEDS.
I SHOULD advise every possessor of a microscope,
who has not already turned his attention to the
examination of various seeds, to do so at the earliest
opportunity, and he will readily admit, after careful
study, how amply his labours have been rewarded.
It is my intention in this short paper to give a few
hints which may be useful to the young microscopist,
as to the easiest way of preparing seeds as permanent
objects for the microscope, and also a list of the most
curious and interesting.
Some seeds may be mounted dry, whilst others
require to be put up in balsam ; the first method
being more simple than the latter, and may be used
in all cases where the seeds are to be viewed as
opaque objects, or are very transparent in them-
selves.
Before commencing you will require the following
apparatus :
1. Wooden slides with hole in the centre.
2. Glass slips 3x1.
3. Thin glass in circles.
4. Small glass tubes.
5. Camel's-hair brushes.
6. Coloured paper for covering object slips.
7. Bottle of Canada balsam.
8. Bottle of turpentine.
9. Bottle of gum mucilage thickened with starch,
ro. Bottle of cement made by dissolving shellac
in naphtha.
II. Spirit-lamp.
Having these requisites at hand, you may at once
proceed.
Suppose for example, you wish to mount some
seeds as opaque objects. First take one of the
wooden slides and gum a piece of cardboard over the
hole in the centre, you will then have a kind of cell ;
in the middle of this cell paste a small square piece
of cardboard, then paint the inside with Indian ink.
When the paint is dry, brush over the square in the
middle of the cell with gum, and place the seeds in
various positions on it, and if placed near together,
you will have a perfect square of seeds.
Wait then until the gum is dry : and I may here
mention the advisability of having two or three slides
in hand at once, so that time may not be wasted.
After the gum is quite dry, proceed to lay on one of
the circles of thin glass, which, of course, must be
larger than the cell. Then dip a camel's-hair brush
into the shellac fluid, and go round the edge, touching
the glass and the slide at the same time. If this be
done properly, the glass (when the shellac is dry)
will be quite hard and fast to the slide. Some
people, I know, fasten theirs down with small strips
of paper ; but I have always found the shellac to be
just as easy, and to my mind more serviceable.
Nothing then remains but to finish off with orna-
mental paper, taking care to label it.
!3 :
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
You will then have a very presentable and interest-
ing object.
If the seeds are transparent enough to be viewed
by transmitted light without being mounted in
balsam, merely lay them on one of the glass slips,
cover them with thin glass and cement down with
the shellac as before. Finish off with coloured paper,
or if you have a turn-table, run a ring of white lead
varnish over the shellac ; when this is quite dry add
another : label and put away in your cabinet.
Mounting in balsam is somewhat more difficult to
manage ; but practice makes perfect, and we must
not be disheartened by failure, but try again. The
great difficulty seems to be in laying the covering
glass down without the object shooting to the side,
or air bubbles making their appearance. However,
with a little care these difficulties will be overcome.
The seeds should be allowed to remain for some time
in turpentine previous to mounting.
Whilst they are soaking, clean one of the glass slips,
and with one of the tubes transfer a drop of balsam
to the centre of it. Then take the seeds from the
turpentine and lay them in the drop of balsam on the
slide. Hold the slide for a minute over the flame of
the spirit-lamp until the balsam runs towards the edge,
taking care that you do not boil it or spill it.
Have one of the covering slips ready ; lay it on the
balsam and lower very carefully. When you have it
down quite level, and seen that no air bubbles have
made their appearance, put it between the jaws of an
American clothes' peg filed flat down for the purpose,
and set it by to dry. I may here mention that it is
necessary to keep the slips in a warm place, or else
it will be weeks before the balsam is quite hard.
After waiting until the balsam is quite hard set,
the slide may be cleaned with a rag dipped in spirits
of wine and finally labelled.
The following are seeds easily obtained and worth
mounting as opaque objects :
Anagallis, Anethum graveolens, Begonia, Carum
carui, Datura, Digitalis, Elatine, Erica, Gentiana,
Hyoscyamus, Hypericum, Linaria, Lychnis, Mesem-
bryanthemum, Nicotiana, Campanula, Petunia.
The following as transparent objects in Canada
Balsam :
Drosera, Hydrangea, Monotropa, Orchis, .Par-
nassia, Pyrola, Saxifraga.
There are scores of others which are both beautiful
and interesting, and I trust that many will be in-
clined this summer to add most of these to their
cabinets.
Devonport. Charles H. Dymond.
Caterpillars and Onion-crops. — For several
years past the onion crops in this neighbourhood have
suffered severely from the ravages of the caterpillar of
some insect. Can any of your readers suggest a
remedy ? — P., Haslemere.
NOTES ON HYDROPHILUS PICE US.
By James Fullagar.
A CORRESPONDENT asks whether the Hydro-
philus piceus can be reared in captivity. It is
my opinion that it cannot, as I do not think that the
proper food of the larva is known. Perhaps the
following remarks, with the sketches, will help him in
obtaining the information he needs. On one very
bright sunny morning in March, 1872, while searching
for some subjects of natural history, I saw, basking in
the sun, on some weeds at the surface of a pond, a very
fine specimen of the female Hydrophilus, which I
soon, by the aid of my net, transferred to lry bottle.
As soon as I reached home, I placed her in a glass
vase, holding a gallon or more of water, in which
was growing a quantity of duckweed, and other pond
Fig. 115. — Hydrophilus piceits, in the act of depositing her eggs.
weeds. She went directly to the bottom and hid
herself under the weeds. I often noticed her as I
passed the vase, and on April 20, I observed that she
had a quantity of white matter at the posterior end of
her body, and I concluded, as she was at the surface
of the water, that she was either dying or dead, but
on examining her closely, I found that she was
spinning a silken nest, or cocoon, and depositing
therein her eggs. The nest was held firmly between
the hind legs, as shown in the sketch (fig. 115). After
the whole of the eggs were deposited, she covered them
up, rendering the top gradually smaller and smaller,
forming a sort of shaft, which, when the cocoon was
disengaged from between her legs, floated at the
top of the water, slightly attached to a piece of
anacharis, with the shaft, or tube, in an upright
position (fig. 116). When the cocoon was complete I
removed it to a smaller glass of clear water, so that
I could have a better view of the young when hatched.
This I watched from day to day until May 15, when
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
133
I saw the young escaping from the cocoon. I counted
twenty-five of them. They lived over a month, but I
had not the proper food for them. From the form of
the head and the formidable tusks, &c, I concluded
that they were carnivorous, like the voracious larvce of
Fig. 116.— Nest or cocoon of Hydrophilus.
the circulation was visible. I made a large sketch of
the larva, to enable me tc\ show its form, and omitted
the middle sections of the Wy, so that the head and
tail only are shown (figs. 117, 118). I have now by me
the empty cocoon. The sketch of the beetle and the
cocoon are of the natural size, that of the larva is, of
course, much magnified : the real length of the larva
at a week old was half an inch.
The following is from Maunder'x "Treasury of
Natural History," and would, perhaps, be interesting
to your readers : " Hydrophilus, a remarkable genus
of aquatic insects, differing from that of Dytiscus
only in the structure of the antennse, which, instead
of being setaceous, are short, and furnished with a
clavated and perfoliated tip or knob. One large
species, common in our ponds and ditches, is an inch
and a half long, oval, and of a deep brown colour,
highly polished. The eggs are laid in a sort of
cocoon spun by the female, and coated with a gummy
matter which is impervious to water, on which it floats.
The larvae are observed to prey on the smaller kinds
of water snails, tadpoles, &c, and appear very
voracious ; and they remain about two years before
Fig. 117. — Head of larva of Hydrophilus (mag.)
Fig. 11S. — Tail oflarva of Hydrophilus (mag.).
Dytiscus marginatus. The young larvse were very
transparent, and the circulation in every part of the
body was plainly seen, and formed a beautiful object
under the microscope when placed in a very shallow
cell ; even up to the end of the curved tail appendages
they change into pupce or chrysalides. When the larva
is arrived at its full growth, it secretes itself in the
bank of the water it inhabits, and, having formed a
convenient cell, lies dormant for some time, after
which it divests itself of its skin, and appears in the
form of a chrysalis ; in this state it remains some time
longer, when it again releases itself of its exuvire,
appears in its complete or beetle form, and as soon as
the elytra or wing-cases acquire a sufficient degree of
strength and colour, it comes forth from its retreat,
and commits itself in its new form to its native
element. It is a curious circumstance that some of
the species of Hydrophilidse found in this country
exceed in size those from tropical climates ; many of
the species are, however, very minute."
1 34
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
MICROSCOPY.
Mounting in Canada Balsam. — Being an
amateur mounter I took an interest in Mr. Under-
bill's article in lasi month's number of Science-
Gossip on tbe "Preparation of Insects for Micro-
scopical Examination," and have no doubt that by
the time this series of articles is concluded I shall
have obtained many useful hints, but at the same
time I think I can myself give a few hints in return,
particularly with respect to mounting in Canada
Balsam. Mr. Underhill advises the use of test-tubes,
in which to keep the Canada balsam. I have never
used test-tubes myself, but cannot believe they are
either so handy or cleanly as two-ounce wide-mouthed
capped bottles, to be obtained at is. each. The
balsam is applied by means of a small brass rod
drawn to a point, and always kept in the bottle ready
for immediate use ; a knitting needle will also answer
this purpose, but will require cleaning occasionally.
If, however, very large covers are used, I would then
advise a glass syringe, as recommended by Dr.
Carpenter.
Then again, I cannot say I like the use of clips,
and never employ them if I can possibly help it. The
pressure of the clip causes the covering glass to
"dish," and when the clip is eventually removed the
cover springs back to its original position, causing a
suction all round the edge, and in case of "fluid"
mounts a running in of the cement ; an apparent
shrinkage taking place when balsam is used, but
this is easily remedied.
When mounting in fluid I prefer to have the cell
quite as deep as the object, and when the cover is
put on, if the superfluous fluid be removed by means
either of bibulous paper or a damped camel's-hair
brush, it will be found that the cover is held down by
suction sufficiently firmly to enable a very thin coat of
cement on and just over the edge, to be dabbed on by
means of a brush ; when this cement is dry the slide can
be further washed, as directed by Mr. Underhill, and
extra coats of cement applied by means of the turn-table.
I doubt if balsam would ever set without some
heat, but at the same time I think it very risky to
apply heat by means of a lamp. My own method is
to mount without heat, and after the lapse of a day
or two to place the slide upon the top of a hot- water
cistern for a bath, the heat of which can be moderated
as desired by means of slips of wood placed under the
slide, which will have to remain there for a week or
even longer, according to the size of covering glass
and thickness of balsam.
I could say a little on "coaxing" air-bubbles out
of Canada balsam ; there is a knack in getting rid of
these pests. In many cases, however, the bubbles are
merely vapour of benzole, and will disappear spon-
taneously in the course of half a day or so, being
re-absorbed by the balsam. — //. M.
The Thallus of Diatoms.— In a recent number
of the " Journal de Micrographie," Dr. M. Lanzi has
a note on this subject, in which the thallus, or gela-
tinous stem or stipes, of certain species of diatoms
is carefully delineated. These gelatinous stems, he
says, are produced by the accumulation of plasma
within the cells, which takes place to such an extent
as to issue from the pustules. This plasma plays the
part of an organ of vegetation, and therefore does not
properly afford either by its presence or absence any
distinction of species. It may furnish nutriment to
the young diatoms, or even may serve to distribute
the species by dividing into parts, which are carried
off by the water. Dr. Lanzi thinks that all genera
founded upon the character of the thallus and its
form should be abolished.
Microscopic Organisms in Blood. — Under the
title of "The Microscopical Organisms found in the
Blood of Man and Animals, and their relation to
Disease," Dr. T. R. Lewis, of the Army Medical
Department, and who is also Special Assistant to the
Sanitary Commissioner with the Government of India,
has published another small quarto work of about
ninety pages. It describes the various vegetable
organisms found in blood during splenic fever.
Pneumo-enteris of the pig, recurrent fever, &c. ; the
relation of microphytes to disease ; vegetable organ-
isms in healthy blood ; spirilla and their supposed
relation to disease ; protozoa in blood, such as
flagellated organisms, nematoids and their embryos,
Filaria sanguinis-hominis, &c. This is one of the
most thoughtful of Dr. Lewis's works.
Effects of Starvation. — From the office of the
Superintendent of Government printing, in Calcutta,
there has just been issued Dr. Cunningham's report
on "Certain effects of Starvation on Vegetable and
Animal Tissues," in which we have detailed from
microscopical examination, and experiment, the full
effects of a deficient supply of nutritive material both
on animals and vegetables. In the latter this is
chiefly manifested by the growth of microscopic
fungi. The chapter on "Phenomena observed in
the post-mortem examinations of cases of famine —
diarrhoea, and dysentery," is a most valuable essay to
Indian pathologists particularly. We hope Dr.
Cunningham may be able to continue his important
researches with the same success as heretofore.
The Colour of St. Paul's Cathedral, etc.
— Last year Professor Paley contributed an article to
Science-Gossip suggesting that the dark colour of
the stone-work of St. Paul's and other churches
might be due to organic agency. No answer was
given to his queries. The " American Quarterly
Microscopical Journal " states that Professor Leidy
finds that the black or smoky colour found on old
walls in narrow shaded streets is caused by an alga
closely resembling Protococcus viridis. It may be
this plant in a particular stage, but Professor Leidy
HARD WICKE ' S S CIE JVC E- GO SSff.
i35
has provisionally called it Protococcus lugubris. The
specific name suggests that even microscopists are not
deficient in humour.
"The American Quarterly Journal of
Microscopy."— Since the cessation of the publication
of the "Lens," until October, 1878, microscopy in
America was only represented by the unpretentious
little " American Journal of Microscopy." This, like
our own Science-Gossip, aimed at giving accurate
information, divested as far as possible of scientific
technicalities. It was, however, felt by the leading
microscopic workers in that country that a journal of a
higher scientific standard was desirable, and some nine
months ago the first part of the above-named journal
made its appearance. With the exception of a few
typographical errors it was well printed and illustrated,
and contained much valuable original matter. We
have just received the third part and perused its con-
tents with much pleasure. The various papers are
the productions of men who are well acquainted with
the subjects on which they have written. The con-
tents may be thus enumerated :— two histological
papers : "The Ampulla and Pancreatic Ducts in the
Domestic Cat " (continued), by S. H. Gaze ; a case
of "Tubercular Meningitis," by P. J. N. Danforth.
Two botanical : "The Structure of Ophioglossum," by
Prof. M. Harrington; "Dubious Forms of Freshwater
Algae," by the Rev. Francis Wolle. Three
mechanical: "The Formation of the Paraboloid as an
Illuminator " (in which he tells us " How it is Done "),
by F. H. Wenham ; "A few Remarks on Angular
Aperture and Description of a Universal Aperto-
meter," by Prof. H. L. Smith ; Two forms of
"Comparators for Measures of Length," by Prof. W.
A. Rogers. One on mounting : " Practical Hints on
the Preparing and Mounting of Animal Tissues," by
Dr. Carl Seiler (continued). One infusorial : "The
Simplest Forms of Life," by E. Eyfurth. The two
first are perhaps too technical for the general reader ;
the remaining papers will, however, be found interest-
ing to the microscopical student. Mr. Wenham's
paper on the "Formations of the Paraboloid " contains
minute directions for the construction of that very
valuable accessory. The article commences with a
reference to a paper read before the Microscopical
Society (now the R. M. S.) in 1856, in which he
proposed a right-angled prism, connected to the
under surface of the slide by a fluid intermedium
which transferred the total reflecting surface from the
prism to the top plane of the cover. We quote the
following paragraph (p. 187), with which our readers
will cordially agree : "It is to be regretted that in
this countiy the noble art of mechanical construction
should be held in such low esteem as not to be con-
sidered a worthy element of education enabling
persons to carry their own ideas into practice without
being stopped by heavy artisan's bills." We supple-
ment this by remarking that it is also to be regretted
that but few will take the trouble to learn, even
theoretically, the principles upon which the micro-
scope and its accessories are constructed. Professor
Smith's paper will commend itself to those who are
interested in the possible angle of aperture of
objectives. Those who have turned their attention to
micrometric measurements can appreciate the difficulty
of subdividing a unit accurately ; we have also the
difficulty of obtaining some trustworthy division of
the inch, or the centimetre, with which to compare the
micrometric divisions, but supposing this obtained
we rarely find that divisions on the micrometer are of
equal value. Professor Rogers gives a table of
measurement of 50 spaces made with the most
accurate appliances obtainable, and only in one
instance do the errors correct each other, the largest
average amount of error was found to^ be x -^§§00
inch. For ordinary work the slight errors in the
division of the micrometer are not of more importance
than an error of ^ inch in the length of a
carpenter's rule, but when the value of important
evidence (as in ascertaining the source of blood-stains
by the average diameter of the discs) depends upon
perfect accuracy, our readers will see how necessary it
is that our measuring instrument should be absolutely
free from error. Dr. Carl Seder's paper is continued
from the previous number, and contains some valuable
hints on the preparation, staining, and mounting of
animal tissues. For the purpose of staining, the
writer recommends the sulphindigotate of soda, " the
effect of this mode of staining is to leave the nuclei
bright red, while the formed material of the cell is
slightly tinged with blue. The connective tissue
fibres become stained with a deep blue cover, while
the blood vessels are purplish and mapped out with
surprising distinctness ; epithelium and hair take
this staining in a very curious manner, inasmuch as
the cells of different ages take different colours,
varying from a brilliant emerald-green to purple,
violet and olive-green." Excepting in a few
special cases, Dr. Seiler prefers a solution of Canada
balsam, prepared according to Dr. J. T. Woodward's
formula, as follows : "A clear sample of Canada
balsam is evaporated either in a water bath by
artificial heat, or better by placing it in a shallow
dish and exposing it to the heat of the sun until it
becomes hard and brittle throughout when cold, and
until all odour of turpentine has disappeared when
warm. This resinous balsam is then dissolved in
warm absolute alcohol to the consistency of thin
syrup and filtered through flannel. If by accident
the balsam has become brown during exposure, the
alcoholic solution may be bleached by exposure to
sunlight.
"The advantages of this material are that it soon
becomes hard round the edges of the cover, and can
be scraped off to finish the slide ; that it never
crystallises, as other resinous mounting media fre-
quently do, and that it improves the appearance of
the object by age.
136
HARD WICKE » S S CIENCE - G O SSI P.
" The author gives the following recipe for a cement
to be used for fixing the covers on glycerine-mounted
slides, and which he says is glycerine proof.
"Cox's gelatine, Jii ; acetic acid, fl. ^i ; gum
ammoniac, gr. x. Dissolve in a water bath, and
filter through cotton while warm. This cement
remains fluid when cold and dries quickly. After the
ring has become set or stiff, the whole slide is
immersed for a minute or so in a 10-grain solution of
bichromate of potash, and is then allowed to dry,
exposed to the light, which makes the bichromated
gelatine perfectly insoluble even in boiling water, and
thoroughly prevents the escape of any glycerine."
This very ingenious method of employing bichro-
mated gelatine can be used for most fluid-mounted
preparations, and we have no doubt that where soft
balsam is used, it would form a very good foundation
for the coloured cements now so generally employed,
and effectually prevent their "running on." We
cordially recommend this journal to those interested
in microscopical studies, and advise all microscopical
societies to add it to their libraries. This work in
conjunction with the Transactions of our own Royal
Microscopical Society will keep the members posted
up in the latest microscopic news. — F. K., F.R.M.S.
EUGLENA VIRIDIS AND HYDRATINA SeNTA.—
Your answer to M. H. Robson anent the Euglena
viridis leads me to mention the following circum-
stance. A little while ago, I obtained a sample of
water from a pond literally green with swarms of
what was, to all appearance, the Euglena viridis.
Careful examination of them, however, engendered
a doubt in my mind as to their identity with the true
Euglena, for I discovered that the flagellum was in
each case bulbed. I put the water aside for about a
week ; on again examining the objects, I was rather
surprised to find that the Euglena (?) had nearly all
disappeared, their place being taken by the common
Funnel Rotifer {Hydratina scnia) in various stages
of development. This circumstance seemed to con-
firm my previous suspicion, and favoured the notion
that the objects first observed were not the true
Euglena viridis, but were the larvae of the Hydratina
senta. Has Mr. Robson or others noticed any such
metamorphosis in the specimens ? If so, will not
the bulb serve as a feature whereby to distinguish the
true Euglena from other objects of similar shape and
colour ? — F. J as. George.
The Fur on the Tongue.— A singularly in-
teresting paper has been read before the Royal
Society, by Mr. H. Trentham Butlin, F.R.C.S., on
the above subject, in which he showed that the so-
called " fur" is in a great measure due to the glcea of
certain forms of microscopical fungi. In order to
ascertain the true nature of glcea, and to obtain it in
a purer form, it was cultivated upon a warm stage.
Several fungi were then discovered, but only two
kinds were present in every experiment, viz., Micro-
coccus and Bacillus subtilis. As the glcea produced
artificially was similar to that existing naturally in the
tongue fur, Mr. Butlin believes that "fur" is com-
posed essentially of these two fungi. Micrococcus
developed freely and abundantly, forming large
masses of yellow or brownish-yellow colour. Bacillus
did not develop, but existed in greater or less abun-
dance in all the cases examined. Mr. Butlin thinks
that one cause of its artificial non-development may
be the presence of other developing organisms, and
that development takes place freely upon the tongue.
Its habitual occurrence there, and the presence ot
spore-bearing filaments favour this view. Besides
the above, other fungi were present, as Bacterium
termo, Sarcina venlriculi, Spirochceta plicatilis,
Spirillum, etc.
On Cleaning old Slides mounted in Balsam.
— Having seen a great deal lately about cleaning old
slides in your columns, it has occurred to me that
the method I use might be serviceable to some. The
process is as follows : I first heat the slide over a
spirit-lamp until the balsam is soft, then I scrape the
covering glass off, and as much balsam as possible.
I let it dry and chip off all I can with an old knife ;
and when I have taken it off, I soak a rag in tur-
pentine and rub the slide well with it (renewing the
turpentine when necessary) until all .the balsam i's
removed, which it is in a very short time. — H. C.
Bristowc.
ZOOLOGY.
Nocturnal Song of Birds. — There have
appeared from time to time in Science-Gossip
inquiries concerning birds singing by night. On the
third of last month (May) a thrush was heard singing
long and loud after 10 P.M. a little way out of this
town, on the Tring Road. — J. W. Slater, Aylesbury.
Aerating Aquaria. — Dr. Lenz, of Lubeck, has
devised a method of aerating the water in an aquarium.
A tube conducting the air to the bottom is expanded
at the end and stuffed with fine sponge, which causes
the air to rise through the water in very minute
bubbles.
The "Science Index." — We have received the
first part of a new publication bearing the above
name. It is edited by Mr. A. Hildebrandt, and pub-
lished in Manchester, and professes to^be a " monthly
guide to the contents of the scientific periodicals."
Such a work is much needed, and the "Science
Index " promises to fulfil the duty well, in spite of
some errors in the first part, which are evidently due
to the haste with which it has been got out.
Male Eels. — In the " American Naturalist " for
May, Professor Packard announces the discovery of
male eels. At first they were supposed to be imma-
ture females, but the question is now finally settled,
HA R D WICKE ' S S CIE NCE - G OSS I P.
i37
for out of one hundred and ninety-three eels supplied
by the United States Fish Commission three have
been found to be males. Professor Packard found the
nucleated spermatozoa in the cells.
Boar-fish (Capros aper, Lacep.).— Numbers of
these fish have been thrown up on the beach here
during the present month (April) ; I have had thirteen
specimens brought to me, all of which are very
uniform in length, viz. 5 to 5^ inches. No transverse
bands were visible in any of them, but the general
rosy-pink colour was very vivid in most. I observe
that some of your correspondents refer this fish to the
genus Zeus (Linn.), but there are very marked dis-
tinctions between the genera Zeus (Linn.) and Capros
(Lacep.). : e.g. in the former the body is without scales,
and the first dorsal carries a series of long filaments ;
there is also a row of spinous scales at each side of
the base of the dorsal and anal ; whilst in Capros, the
body is clad with scales, and there are no filaments to
the dorsal and no spines at its base. I wish one
could discover some preservative fluid that would con-
serve the colour in fish ; few would realise, in looking
at the pale specimens in the jars the exquisite rosy
tint of the living fish. For the benefit of fellow-
readers of Science-Gossip who preserve fish, I may
mention that after trial of many preservative fluids,
the one I find handiest and most useful is Burnett's
fluid (chloride of zinc) largely diluted : i. e. I part of
fluid to 20 of water. This solution is slow in evapora-
tion, and of course does not crystallize about the
mouth of the jar or bottle. I believe it is the fluid
used in the British Museum for preserving fish. —
E. B. Kemp- Welch, Bournemouth.
Mistakes of Instinct. — I desire most cordially
to support the suggestion in your April number, to
study the aberrations of instinct, as a means of arriving
at a more intimate knowledge of the normal workings
of that faculty. It is in fact the proper application of
the philosophical axiom " Exceptio probat regulam"
in its true sense. It is analogous to the study of
monstrous forms in animal or vegetable structures
(Teratology) in order to arrive at a knowledge of
the mode in which the ordinary forms are produced.
I would instance the Arum Dracunculus (the dragon
flower) the flowers of which when fully expanded
have a smell very much resembling that of putrid
meat, and I have often noticed the multitude of flesh-
flies that buzz and hover about the plant when in
flower ; attracted, as is very obvious, by the odour of
the blossom. I learn from a notice in your April
number, that Cuvier has stated that flies are so far
deceived by it, that they actually lay their eggs in
the floral envelope.* I have never yet observed this
myself, but I have a plant in my garden, which in a
short time will be in flower. And I will carefully
* See Taylor's " Flowers : their origin, shapes, perfumes, and
colours," page 261.
watch it, and if I find that any of the multitude of
flies that visit it have laid their eggs in it, I will send
the piece so operated upon to you, as a tangible proof
of a decided mistake of instinct, in a matter of the
utmost importance to the creature, and conclusively
shewing that in this particular instance the animal is
guided by the sense of smell alone, and does not
correct its inferences by the application of sight or
touch or any other sense to the object.
Probably anglers could do good service in this
direction, if they would carefully observe, and note,
under what circumstances fishes are most readily
deceived by, or reject the allurements of artificial
flies. Is there any reason to believe that they are
guided by any other sense than sight, in snapping at
the sometimes not very close semblance of a dainty
morsel ? Another instance that occurs to one is the
common case of a hen being induced to sit upon a
chalk egg ; where sight and touch appear to combine
to delude the poor creature. The point requiring
observation, I think is — do not all the observed aber-
rations of instinct arise from mistaken sense ? Is there
any observed instance shewing that the creature is
able to correct a mistake of sense, by the application
of any other faculty, and if so, what is that corrective
faculty?— C. B.
BOTANY.
Function of Nectaries in Plants. — It is
stated in the "Times" of April 8, that the theory
of the functions of the nectary has recently been
called in question by M. Bonnier, in support of
which he gives various arguments. I was so much
pleased with the (to me) convincing proofs adduced
in "Flowers," by the Editor of SciENCE-Gossir,
that I hope his opinions, which are in accordance with
those of Darwin, Miiller, and others, will be confirmed
by the discussions that will no doubt take place,
refuting M. Bonnier's difficulties and objections, by
botanists who have given attention to the subject ;
and I trust that some of them may appear in SciENCE-
GOSSIP.— T. B. W., Brighton.
Corn Cockle (Lychnis or Agrostemma Githago).
In January 1878, I received a few specimens of this
plant from my friend Mr. J. Leighton, so much
smaller than the ordinary form that I was not sure
whether to consider them a new variety or merely
starved specimens. So I sent one or two to Dr. J.
T. Boswell for his opinion, and he kindly informed me
that they were probably starved plants of L. Githago,
and that if their seeds were sown in good soil they
would doubtless produce the typical form. So I
labelled my mounted specimens as a " starved form of
L. Githago." But as Mr. Leighton in November last
again forwarded me precisely similar examples from
the same locality gathered last season, I wrote to
him that the plant might perhaps be a new variety,
138
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
and suggested the provisional name of parimla, to
distinguish it in the meantime from the common form.
Dried specimens differ in the following particulars : —
L. Githago : stem branched 2 ' to 3 feet high ; calyx
segments nearly twice the length of the petals ; flowers
purple, whitish within the throat. L. Githago var.
parvula : stem simple, 3 to 5 inches high, calyx
segments equalling or shorter than the petals, flowers
bright red. The difference in the colour of the
flowery may have occurred in drying. The locality
given for the plant is "near the Grand Stand, Epsom
Downs, Surrey," and it might be worth while for
some of our southern botanists to try and procure its
seeds during the ensuing summer, see if it retains its
characteristics when cultivated, and give the result of
their experiments in the pages of Science-Gossip.
— D. Douglass.
Teratological Notes. — From observations made
in my own garden, I am far from thinking synanthy
commonly the accompaniment of decaying vital energy
in the plants on which it occurs. Last spring I had
a polyanthus which, after bearing a profusion of
bloom, produced a flower with two pistils, each of
them having a distinct style and stigma. This plant
is now alive and vigorous in full bloom, many of its
flowers being on long pedicels, growing singly like
those of the primrose, others being in umbels on erect
peduncles, as is usual in the polyanthus; and with
nothing at present like that exceptional flower of last
year. I have, however, now in bloom, several
healthy, vigorous plants of polyanthus bearing synan-
thic flowers of which all the organs are double the
number found in nominal flowers : from the calyx
with ten teeth to the two long styles with well-
developed stigmas, of which I enclose a specimen.
All these flowers are pin-eyed, and most of them such
as a florist would destroy. Indeed, I think that if
botanists would pick up what gardeners throw away,
and cultivate worthless varieties of popular flowers,
they might know much more of teratology than
many of them do. — John Gibbs.
A Shower of Pollen. — A remarkable shower of
pollen grains fell in the north-eastern part of Pennsyl-
vania on the morning of March 17, which covered an
area of more than 2500 square miles. It is believed
to be chiefly the pollen of Pinus Australis of the
Southern States, and that it had been carried by the
wind a distance of 500 miles. The country people
took it for a " shower of sulphur."
Yew-trees and Cattle. — With reference to this
matter I beg to state that two stirks, the property of
the Rev. D. Bonallo, Blackford, were found dead in
the byre one day last week (end of April). It was dis-
covered that they had devoured some cuttings of yew,
which had been carelessly thrown out of the shrubbery
into the meadow in which the cattle were grazing. —
R. Donaldson, G!as?oiu.
GEOLOGY.
The Silurian District of Rhymney and Pen-
y-lan, Cardiff. — This is the subject of a paper
recently read before the Geological Society, by W. J.
Sollas, F.G.S.
The paper commences with a history of the previous
observations on the district ; a description of the
geographical distribution, geological structure, and
vertical succession of the Silurian rocks is next given.
They comprise beds belonging to the Wenlock and
Ludlow groups, and pass conformably upwards into
the Old Red Sandstone. The district affords a good
base for a measurement of the thickness of the Old Red
Sandstone on the south of the South-Wales coalfield.
This was found to be a little over 4000 feet. The
thinning out of the Old Red Sandstone and Silurian
strata, together with the marked change which takes
place correspondingly in the lithological characters
of the latter formation on passing from the north to
the south side of the coalfield, were taken to indicate
an approach to a shore-line. The shore-line belonged
to land which, as shown by the great thickness of the
Devonian beds, could not have extended far south.
It corresponded to Mr. Etheridge's barrier between
the Old Red Sandstone and Devonian seas. The
sandstones with Old- Red characters, such as the
Hangman Grit and the Pickwell-Down Sandstones,
occurring in the Devonian formation, were deposited
at intervals when this barrier was submerged to a.
greater depth than usual. The Cornstones were
stated to thin out to the south along with the other
sedimentary beds of the Old Red Sandstone, and
were regarded as derived from the denudation of
previously upheaved limestones, such as the Bala and
Hirnant.
An Indian Miocene Ape. — The skull of an
anthropoid ape, an adult female, which must have
been as large as a female gorilla or orang, has been
found in the Siwalik rocks of the Punjab by Mr.
Theobald, of the Indian Geological Survey. It is
the first of its kind found in India which bears a
resemblance to existing apes ; and this animal must
have been as distinct as the gorilla and the chim-
panzee, or any other two types of ape. It is proposed
to call it Paliropithccus.
Post-glacial Animals in London. — Fossil re-
mains of various extinct animals have been recently
found in London, in making the excavations for Messrs.
Drummond's new bank at Charing Cross. They
include elephant tusks and molars, probably the mam-
moth Elephas primigenms, teeth and numerous bones
of the gigantic extinct ox (Bos primigenius), a portion
of what appears to be the horn of the great extinct Irish
deer (Megaceros Hibemicns), along with various other
remains of ruminating animals not yet identified. All
the remains are those of herbivorous quadrupeds, but
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
i39
there is among them no bone or tooth of hippopotamus
or rhinoceros, though these animals are known, from
discoveries made at Brentford, Crayford, and other
localities in the Thames Valley, to have been in post-
glacial times the companions of the Thames Valley
Mammoths.
"Conodonts," etc. — At a recent meeting of the
Natural History Society of Glasgow, Mr. John
Young, F.G.S., exhibited a" series of conodont re-
mains and sponge spicules from the Silurian and
Devonian limestone strata of England, forwarded by
Mr. John Smith, Kilwinning. Mr. Young stated
that at a former meeting Mr. Smith had sent for
exhibition an interesting series of conodonts and
various forms of sponge spicules, which he had found
in the limestone strata around Dairy, Ayrshire. Since
that time he had visited several districts in England,
and had been successful in discovering the remains
of conodonts in some of the weathered shales and
limestones of the localities he had visited, these not
having been formerly noted as occurring either in
the Silurian or Devonian formations of England.
Very little is yet known of the nature of the organisms
that have yielded these conodont remains, which
consist of small teeth, joints, &c, of many different
forms, one party referring them to the jaws of Anne-
lids, another to that of Myxinoid fishes, to the
lingual armature of certain forms of Molluscs or the
maxillipeds of Crustacea. As new localities are
turning up where these interesting though obscure
forms are being found, it is to be hoped that more
light will soon be thrown upon the true nature of the
organisms to which they formerly belonged.
History of Mineral Veins. — Mr. John Arthur
Phillips, F.G.S., in a paper on this important subject,
read before the Geological Society, described the
phenomena of the deposition of minerals from the
water and steam of hot springs, as illustrated in the
Californian region, referring especially to a great
"sulphur bank" in Lake county, to the steamboat
springs in the State of Nevada, and to the great
Comstock lode. He noticed the formation of de-
posits of silica, both amorphous and crystalline, en-
closing other minerals, especially cinnabar and gold,
and in some cases forming true mineral veins. The
crystalline silica tormed contains liquid-cavities, and
exhibits the usual characteristics of ordinary quartz.
In the great Comstock lode, which is worked for
gold and silver, the mines have now reached a con-
siderable depth, some as much as 2660 feet. The
water in these mines was always at a high tempera-
ture, but now in the deepest mines it issues at a
temperature of 157 Fahr. It is estimated that at
least 4,200,000 tons of water are now annually
pumped from the workings ; and the author dis-
cussed the probable source of this heat, which he
was inclined to regard as a last trace of volcanic
activity.
Ancient Prawns. — Mr. Robert Etheridge, jun.,
F.G.S., has announced the discovery in the Lower
Carboniferous bed of the south of Scotland, of a
long-tailed decayed crustacean, or prawn, which he
has very properly named after Dr. Henry Woodward,
AnthrapalcEmon Woodwardi. Another species of
AnthrapaLcmon was named Alacconochii, after its
discoverer.
NOTES AND QUERIES.
Intelligence in Man and Animals. — " Idea"
hopes to see a more intelligible distinction shown
between instinct and reason, though by the context he
evidently appreciates that there is a difference, and
compares instinct in animals with impulse in man. By
instinct I understand that intelligence with which
animals are endowed, which causes them to act in a uni-
form manner without experience. Thus, for example,
the beaver, the ant, "and the bee, build their homes on a
regular, and, so to speak, systematic plan, without, as
far as can be learned, being taught by their progenitors.
They have also an innate dread of their enemies,
which appears to exist independently of experience.
The origin of reason, as has been pointed out by
Mr. P. Q. Keegan, is the subject of dispute by different
schools of metaphysicians, which will apparently
always be the case. We all, however, possess the
faculty in some degree, and its practical workings are
therefore pretty well understood. Even if it be
granted that animals reason to a limited extent, the
question arises, Is there no difference between man's
reasoning power and that of the lower animals ? The
arguments of those who maintain that the intelligence
of animals differs from that of man only in degree, are
summed up in an assertion Darwin makes in " The
Descent of Man : ' ' " Since animals possess the same
senses, it follows they must possess the same funda-
mental intuitions as man." That man derives all his
ideas from the senses has been disputed by so many
writers of great capacity, that it would argue some
presumption to consider it an axiom. As the concise
proposition cannot be proved, it may, however, be
true, and, if so, it follows, if Mr. Darwin's argument
is sound, that all animals, without exception, which
possess the same senses as man, are possessed of the
fundamental intuitions. Why, then, does he draw a
distinction between instinct and reason ? and between
conscious and unconscious intelligence ? for proof of
which see my letter of March, with quotation ; and
why, moreover, does he draw a distinction between
the primates and the lower animals ? The accounts of
the actions of ants, as described in the " Origin of
Species," and more recently by Sir John Lubbock,
are more extraordinary than those of an ape. The
brain of the ant is said to be large in proportion to its
body, but it is infinitesimally small when compared
with that of the ape. With regard to the anecdotes
of animals in Mr. Darwin's work, and those which
have lately been discussed in " Nature," we arrive
with certainty at one conclusion, viz., that more than
one explanation may be given of them. Those who
argue that the intelligences of man and animals differ
only in degree, have to prove, not only that animals
agree in some parts of their mental powers with man,
but in all ; and here the distinction drawn by Mr.
Henslow in "Nature," February 27, has to be ex-
plained between man's abstract reasoning powers
and the reasoning of animals from objects present to
the senses, which, it appears to me, has not been
controverted. Here is one difficulty. Then with
140
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-G OSSIF.
regard to the imagination. Mr. Darwin derives the
faculty from dreams, and observe that animals dream.
Dreams are explainable by the theory generally
accepted, that when we are asleep our intellect is
partly awake, and when we are awake it is partially
dormant. Doubtless the savage may occasionally
mistake dreams for realities, though one would
suppose their constant occurrence would familiarise
him with the phenomenon. Surely this is a very
slight basis on which to establish the origin of the
faculty so marvellous as the imagination. That animals
possess memory, attention, and sympathy, cannot be
disputed. Will Mr. Rogers or Mr. Wheatley explain
why they think " memory an act of reason ?" How
do they reconcile the assertion with the fact that
idiots often possess marvellous memories ? J. E. Taylor
remarks on the mistakes made by animals, which he
thinks may throw much light on animal psychology,
and his letter suggests to me that the favourite method
of illustration with the Darwinians is to compare the
lowest savage that can be found with the most intelli-
gent quadruped, and then remark that there is little
or no difference between them, overlooking the fact
that one is capable of development to an immense
extent, and the other but to a limited degree. With
regard to these cases of mistakes by animals, many
swimmers must be aware that, when in the water, it
is often difficult for them to keep their dogs off, they
appear to wish to rescue their masters, and they do
not always know their own masters when naked. I
have known instances of naked persons being in danger
from a dog and a cat, and I am informed that the
maternal yearning of a cow that has lost its calf may
be entirely satisfied by a skin stuffed with straw.
There are also m-any instincts to which we have no
clue whatever. All these must be explained before
it can be conceded that the minds of animals and
man differ only in degree. Turning for a moment
from the mental to the physical question, which
inevitably suggests itself, we find that Mr. Darwin
compares the fcetus of a man, a monkey, and a dog,
and remarks that at an early stage of development
they are apparently the same, and argues from this
resemblance that they must have had a common
progenitor. Despite this seeming resemblance, how-
ever, there is the indisputable fact that they develope
into a man, a monkey, and a dog. Surely, if this
proves anything, it proves the danger of reasoning by
analogy, and Mr. Darwin's arguments are of this
nature. The appearances explained by the law of
reason may be as fallacious. I am not in the least
prejudiced against the Darwinian hypothesis ; what-
ever the conditions of our existence we must perforce
submit to them ; the question for me is, Can it be
confirmed by facts ? but no thinker can disregard the
instinctive disgust with which it is regarded by many
persons of all degrees of cultivation.
What do the evolutionists, who argue that some
supernatural change may have taken place in the
reason of man, mean by the word supernatural ? If
they mean some law not as yet discovered, why do
they not suspend their judgment ? If they mean a
direct interference of the Deity, it is a purely specula-
tive idea, without proof of any kind. We are not
bound to explain the origin of species, or of man, but
we are bound to examine any explanation that may be
offered under penalty of being led on a delusive
voyage of discovery. Much first-rate talent is being
spent on deductions from the Darwinian hypothesis.
What if the premisses are false ? The finite cannot
comprehend the infinite ; so far I agree with your
correspondent, C. L. W., but when he deduces from
this fact that " man may consequently be in error
when he assumes that he alone is the possessor of
reasoning powers," he suggests on this basis an asser-
tion that may or may not be true. In my letter, in
the April number, the words " the same kind of
intelligence " are a misprint for " some kind of intel-
ligence," the reverse of my meaning. — H. D. Barclay.
Intelligence in Man and Animals. — Mr.
Wheatley quotes (from "Nature") a "remarkable
instance of rats gnawing leaden pipes in order to
obtain water, and which Dr. Darwin explained by
saying that the rats heard the water trickling, and
reasoned about it, and cut through the pipe to obtain
it. I think this explanation probable." I believe it
to be in the highest degree improbable. In this city
the pipes are always full, and consequently no sounds
of "trickling" could be heard ; yet I know of more
than one instance of pipes being gnawed by rats and
mice, even the pipes conveying gas are sometimes
bitten through, of which an instance came under my
notice a few days ago. I think a much simpler ex-
planation can be given than that the rats detected
the presence of water and reasoned upon it, viz., that
the pipes happened to be in their way. — F. Killon.
Intelligence in Animals.—" It is quite clear "
(says Dr. Whately) "that if such acts were done by
man they would be regarded as an exercise of reason,
and I do not know why, when performed by brutes,
evidently by a similar process so far as can be judged,
they should not bear the same name. To talk of a
cat having instinct to pull a bell when desirous of
going out at the door .... would be to use words
at random." And I think many would agree with
the learned archbishop if they would carefully read the
testimony and researches of such eminent naturalists
and thinkers as Lockslie, Bacon, Burns, poet ; Pro-
fessors Darwin, Huber, Brehm, Rengger and Kirby ;
Cuvier, the naturalist ; J. K. Lord, Lubbock, and the
lately recognised genius, Edward, of Banff, &c. As
an example, of which so many can be adduced, let
us take the incident related by Mr. Edward. He
saw two birds vainly trying to turn over a large fish
on the sands, to get the vermin beneath. After many
futile attempts, extending over half an hour or more,
and after attracting a third bird who helped them to no
purpose, they stood together, and apparently by their
noise were engaged in some mysterious process of
conversation and reasoning. They again set to work
and dug a large hole in the sands from one side of the
fish, even to undermining a certain distance, and then
with evident expressions of triumph, rolled it over
with ease and commenced the feast they had worked
for. That fish measured 3J feet, being a fine cod,
and those birds undoubtedly used their reason to
elaborate a scheme to accomplish their object. With-
out running off into Darwinian theories, I would
remind Dr. Keegan, as he lays so much stress on the
capacity of the brain, that one of our great physiolo-
gists tells us " that every chief fissure and fold of the
brain of man has its analogy in that of the ourang,"
whilst Huxley adds " whilst in those things in which
the brains of men and apes do differ, there is also a
great difference amongst various men." It is true
structure is not all— the machinery may be perfect in
every detail, yet if it lack the motive power of what
avail is it ? Still is it not reasonable to suppose
that structure being so similar, God intended the
ape to use her brain like man's but in a less
degree ? The chief obstacle to belief in reason in
animals lies in the fear of what the admission may
lead to, but surely we need not grudge these poor
brutes the possession of a feeble development of
reason, when man, and man alone, can thank his
Creator for giving him a hope of a future which no
animal is destined to enjoy.
HARD WICKE'S SCIENCE- G OSSIP.
141
Birds and the Hard Weather. — The various
notes which have appeared on this subject have been
read with much interest by us, especially Air.
Bingham's paper, Science-Gossip, page 70. We
also, during the long severe winter, just experienced,
have diligently fed twice a day our poor feathered
friends ; very delightful and pleasant it has been to
watch the instinctive knowledge, almost amounting to
reason, which appeared to bring them at the exact
time their food was regularly put out for them. At
the first appearance of the frost and snow, about the
end of November, we had not only large numbers of
sparrows, robins, and tom-tits, but also a good gather-
ing of blackbirds, male chaffinches, and thrushes ;
eagerly they assembled on the trees to watch for the
first crumbs thrown out, their bright, intelligent eyes
quickly detecting the breakfast or dinner on the table.
Soon, however, the cold of our northern climate was
too severe for the thrushes, and about the middle of
December they quite left us, but not before two of
their number came to an untimely end : one was
caught by the cat, its poor wings being too much
frozen to fly away from pussy's reach, the second
came into the house, as if to ask for help, but before
it could be given it fell down dead. Both were evi-
dently not only frozen, but starved to death. As
the cold weather continued, we had, about Christinas,
the magpies and rooks, in addition to our other birds.
The rooks gradually increased in numbers each day,
until on one occasion thirty-one were counted on the
trees. Their favourite food appeared to be meat ; we
threw out some fowls' bones one morning, which
seemed to be a great treat to them, for they carried
away both the flesh and the bones. In the early part
of December we had the starlings, but they soon left
us, and have only recently (March 2) returned to us.
Also on that day four thrushes again appeared, and
regaled us with their sweet, thrilling song. It may
not be without interest here to remark that we believe
the thrushes do not leave England, but the late
severe winter has driven them south. A lady friend
living in Buckingham, who has been feeding the
birds this winter, told us in a letter that she had
twelve thrushes each morning. The blackbirds have
remained pretty much with us, though they have
been, with other small birds, greatly thinned by our
neighbours, during the frost and snow, amusing them-
selves by shooting our valued feathered friends. And
most cruel it appears, so to take advantage of their
half-starved state, especially as they have come to us
in confiding trust to have their unspoken wants re-
lieved ! The fieldfares have been numerous, and the
heron has been seen flying over this neighbourhood,
rather an unusual circumstance. We also were
visited by a rat, which not only partook of the food
thrown out for the birds, but burrowed close to the
window. We were not quite so kind to him as was
Mr. Bingham to his rat, for we set a trap, which,
though it was not strong enough to secure him, had
the effect of driving the poor fellow to seek a home
elsewhere. — Elizabeth Edwards, Stoke, Stafford.
Cuckoo's Visits.— It may be interesting to know
that during the last summer and for the preceding
four or five years, I have noticed a cuckoo frequenting
this locality (a suburb of London). I have seen it
repeatedly upon the trees overhanging and adjoining
my small garden, and upon one occasion it remained
perched upon a rail in front of my fowl-house for
more than half an hour. I cannot say positively that
it was the same bird, but it was (or they were) always
small, and as cuckoos vary considerably in size (I
have shot many) I have no doubt that such was
the case. — y. I., Brixton.
The Cuckoo's Eggs.— Having had a good deal
of experience with regard to cuckoos and their eggs,
perhaps the following remarks, the result of my own
observations, may not be without interest to " Junior "
and others of your correspondents. My experience
agrees with that of the writer in the April number,
p. 95, for out of all the numbers I have discovered I
never took one from a nest built on the ground. With
one exception, to be mentioned presently, I found
them all in the nests of the hedge-sparrow and wag-
tail. Those from the latter were generally similar to
the eggs in the nest (but larger of course), and had
streaks, and not spots. The exception to which I
have referred just above was one taken from a common
wren's nest, which was built in furze placed in hurdles
in order to make jumps for horses. This egg was
smaller than any other cuckoo's which I have seen.
There were six wren's eggs in the nests with it. I
have never found more than one egg in the same nest.
— F. Anderson, Chichester.
Black Bullfinches. — Hemp seed will, I know
from experience, darken the plumage of most birds,
and bullfinches are especially liable to change colour
if much of this seed is given to them, although they
are particularly fond of it. I had a bullfinch that
turned black in the same way as "St. Austell" de-
scribes his to have done, but my bird did not lose his
vocal powers, and was in perfect health. I saw a
black bullfinch not long since in a cottage window,
and went in to ask the mistress, who keeps a village
shop, if she gave the bird hemp seed, but she said it
had grown up black. She had taken it, I discovered,
from the nest, and its plumage had from the first
been black. — Mrs. Alfred Watney.
Tree Sparrow. — In looking over some odd
numbers of an old periodical, I saw a short account
of this bird. Amongst other particulars, it stated
that it had only been found breeding in seven English
counties ; and as I have frequently found it nesting
here (North Yorkshire), I thought the following
notes concerning it might not prove uninteresting to
the ornithological readers of Science-Gossip. It
most usually constructs its nest in the hollow parts
of trees, especially where a hole has been formed by
the breaking away of a branch. But this is not in-
variably the case, for in the year 1876 I found a
perfect colony of them nesting in the roof of an
implement shed attached to a farm. There had been
a heap of thorns laid upon a few cross beams, and
upon these the usual thatch of straw had been laid.
It was in the thorns that the nests were found. There
were over a dozen of them, besides several of those
of the house sparrow ; and all of them contained
either eggs or young. On revisiting the place again
last year, I only found one or two nests, all the
"good holes" being apparently occupied by the
house sparrow, to the exclusion of its smaller relative.
— y. A. JVheldon, North Allerton.
Curious Sites for Birds' Nests. — Your corres-
pondent on the above subject does not mention the
prolific site that an old magpie's nest affords, and the
number of birds that make use of it after the original
builders have done with it ; from my own experience
as a "birds'-nester," I have taken the eggs of kestrel,
sparrow, hawk, brown owl, blackbird, thrush, starling,
stock-dove, pied wagtail, redstark, nuthatch, creeper,
great tit, blue tit, and once, built in the cross sticks
of the dome, the nest of the long-tailed tit ; when
magpies were more plentiful than they are here now,
their old nests were an almost certain find for stock
doves, and many a pair of eggs and young have I
taken from them. — G. T.
142
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
Plates of Birds' Eggs. —Could any reader of
Science-Gossip inform me whether there are any
tolerably cheap, but good coloured plates of British
birds and eggs, or eggs separately, and if so where
obtainable ? — T. J. IV. Oakley, Stoney Cross, Boitrnc-
mouth.
A Strange Place for Marsh Plants. — Had
not Mr. A. Craig-Christie's remarks (p. 16) appeared
to require some comment, I would not have reverted
to this subject. But as he says all the plants in the
list " are to be found all along the coast from Bowness
to North Berwick (in damp and marshy places)," and
as this includes Leith and its neighbourhood, any one
who has not an opportunity of examining the place,
will naturally infer that they have sprung up from the
seeds of plants in the immediate vicinity, and that,
far from being unusual, their speedy appearance is
only a natural sequence of the exclusion of the salt
water. But this is not the case. The Leith and Porto-
bello branch of the North British Railway runs close
to the shore for about a mile east of the town, and is
bounded on the north by a sloping sea-wall, that was
formerly washed by every tide, and on the south by
the turnpike road between Leith and Portobello ; this
again being bounded by dwelling-houses, gardens,
and fields. So it will be seen that hardly any vegeta-
tion, other than marine, could or did grow there.
Again, Mr. Christie says : — " Most of them used to
grow at the Figgat Whins, between Leith and Porto-
bello." It may be so ; but both they and the Figgat
Whins have long disappeared, and of fifteen species
observed, only three, namely, Ranunculus sceleratus,
Veronica beccabunga, and Catabrosa aqualica are
now found between the two towns, a distance of
three miles ; so far as I can see, after a careful
examination of the coast ; while between Leith and
Granton, about an equal distance in the opposite
direction, none of them are found at all. As my
previous note was forwarded in July, a few additional
species were subsequently observed before their growth
was finally stopped by autumnal frost. And several
littoral species, not recently found near Leith, also
made their appearance. Among these I may men-
tion Aster tripolium, Salicornia herbacea, Triglochin
maritimum, Juncus Gcrardi, and Scirpus maritimus.
All these were probably at one time common here,
till their gradual extinction from alterations made on
the coast, through the exigencies of trade and com-
merce. In conclusion, I have recently received infor-
mation that appears to afford a satisfactory explanation
of the matter. A native of Leith tells me that the
overflow water from Lochend Loch at one time
entered the Firth at the place where the plants now
grow, but that several years ago it was drained away
in another direction, and now runs into the Firth
much farther eastward. — D. Douglas.
Interesting Plants in the Royal Gardens,
Kew. — On the west-side of the Economic house is
Sckinus Molle, the Peruvian Mastic, introduced into
this country about 1597, and included in the natural
order Terebinthacere, tribe Anacardiese, of Hooker's
" Genera Plantarum." It is a small dioecious shrub
with unequally pinnate leaves, and white flowers in
panicles. The cells in the leaves contain a great
quantity of volatile oil or resinous matter, which is
violently expelled if the leaves be placed in water, the
recoil causing a motion that appears to be spontane-
ous. In Italy, where this plant succeeds well in the
open air, a shower of rain renders the air fragrant
with the discharged oil. The young leaves of several
species of Rhus exhibit the same phenomena when
immersed in water. The Peruvians employ the roots
as an astringent medicine, and in Chili a kind of wine
is prepared from the fruits. Schinus is the Greek term
for Pistacia Lentiscus, and was applied to the present
plant from the similarity in their medicinal properties.
The specific name Molle is not the neuter form of
mollis, as might be supposed, but an adaptation of the
native term Mulli. On the same side is the notable
manchineel {Hippomane Mancinella) found on the sandy
shores of tropical South America and some islands in
the West Indies — a Euphorbiaceous tree, with ovate-
elliptical shining leaves, and inconspicuous unisexual
flowers. The milk-white juice of this plant has a
volatile poisonous principle ; which, however, is not
sufficiently virulent to render credible the innumerable
marvels related concerning its effects. The man-
chineel is said to rival the upas-tree of Java in the
number of wonderful tales with which it is connected.
We have reliable evidence of one property in the
works of Dr. Leeman, who states that he and some
sailors were affected by temporary blindness through
getting some of the juice in their eyes, when on shore
at Veraguas. The statement that persons have died
through sleeping under the tree, was doubted by
Jacquin, who judged from his own experience ; but
Ad. de Jussieu thought, very reasonably, that its effects
might vary on differently constituted persons. The
fruit is fleshy, and closely resembles an apple in shape
and colour, but as it contains the same noxious
principle as other parts of the plant, we can readily
imagine what an extremely disagreeable surprise
would greet the unfortunate individual who might
attempt to eat it. The name Hippomane, from hippos
and mania, was given by the Greeks to a plant that
grew in Arcadia, which had the reputation of render-
ing horses furious. At the other side of the house
we have Physostig/na venenosum, the "ordeal bean"
of Old Calabar ; a leguminous plant included in the
Phaseolese. It has a climbing stem with alternate,
pinnately trifoliate, stipulate leaves ; the leaflets
acuminate, and base of the common petiole swollen ;
the purplish flowers are borne on pendulous axillary
racemes. The style is very long, bearded, and taper-
ing, to near the apex, where it is broadly dilated into a
triangular hood above the stigma ; from this peculi-
arity the generic name and character are derived.
Although valuable nutritive qualities characterise
leguminous plants generally, yet a deleterious principle
occurs in several species, and in none is it more
strongly marked than in Physostigma, which is certainly
the most poisonous of this vast order. The active
properties are concentrated in the seeds, and are
found to be owing to the presence of the alkaloids
eserine and physostigmine. The seeds are used by
the natives of west tropical Africa as an ordeal,
similarly to the Tanghin described in the last paper.
The extract and alkaloids have a peculiar effect upon
the eye, causing contraction of the pupil ; hence, of
late years they have become valuable ophthalmic
medicines. — Leivis Castle, West Kensington Park.
' "Stock-Frost," &c. — What are the phenomena
which go, in the Norfolk district at least, by the
name of "stock-frost," "stock-ice?" I have heard men
whose veracity is unimpeachable, and not unintelli-
gent men either, assert that in certain frosts the
bottoms of streams and "broads " will freeze, and at the
giving of the frost, a substance something like ice-
cream in appearance will come to the surface, this
substance having imbedded in it the weeds that grew
near the bottom of the water, and often the stones
and brickbats that might be resting on the mud. I
don't understand the phenomena, but if those who
know would kindly insert an answer to my query,
they would much oblige— Ignoramus.
HARD WICKE 'S S CIENCE- G OSSIP.
i43
" Honey-Stalks."— It is generally supposed that
the writer of "Titus Andronicus " referred to clover
flowers in the lines quoted by C. Foran. The long
tubes of the corolla in the flowers of Trifolium pratense
abound in honey. It is, I believe, an error to suppose
that the clover flower produces rot in sheep, though
the author of " Titus Andronicus " leads us to suppose
so, as the lines concerning the "honey-stalks" seem
to show :
"With words more sweet, and yet more dangerous,
Than baits to fish, or honey-stalks to sheep ;
When as the one is wounded with the bait,
The other rotted with delicious feed."
I may here remark that the play " Titus Andronicus "
is very generally believed not to have been written by
Shakespeare at all. I think I am right in asserting
that in modern editions of Shakespeare this play
is omitted as spurious. — Charles F. IV. T. Williams,
Bath.
" Honey-Stalks."— (No. 173, p. 118) : the flowers
of white clover {Trifolium repens, L.). It is an in-
teresting fact that this is still the local name of the
plant in Shakespeare's native country. — Robert
Holland.
" Honey-Stalks." — Nares in his Glossary quoting
the passage from Shakespeare's " Titus Andronicus "
referred to by your correspondent, C. Foran, says
" honey-stalks " are clover flowers, which contain a
sweet juice, and that it is common for cattle to over-
charge themselves with clover and die. I may add
that country children often suck the flowers for their
sweet juice, which they call honey. — W. Thompson,
Sedbergh.
"Honey-Stalks." — I find under this head in
Nares' " Glossary of Shakespeare," " Clover flowers,
which contain a sweet juice ; it is common for cattle
to overcharge themselves with clover and die." I
hope that this explanation will satisfy your corres-
pondent. — F. A. Bather.
Cossus AT Sugar. — In answer to the query in
May number of Science-Gossip, I may say that in
July 1876 I saw a specimen of the above insect on
sugar at Willans, near Lea Bridge, Hackney, but it
flew off the tree immediately the light came upon it.
The same incident occurred last year, but I was un-
successful in bottling the insect, which was a very
shabby specimen. However, the next night he paid
us another visit, and we captured him, but owing to
bad condition gave him his freedom. I also met a
collector who had a freshly-emerged specimen which
he assured me he took at sugar, at the same locality.
— Arthur J. Rose.
Cossus at Sugar. — Your correspondent, W. H.
Newberry, inquires for instances of Cossus ligni-
perda coming to sugar. A few summers ago I took
. a specimen near Semley, "Wilts, in an oak-tree which
I had painted with a mixture of treacle and beer, it
crawled up from the ground to the first drop down
the base of trunk ; this, however, is the only occasion
I have noticed the species attracted by sweet fluid. —
H. P. Stock.
Abnormal character of the Season.— It may
be worth putting on record that this year the palm-
tree, and the blackthorn, only began to blossom in this
neighbourhood on May 2. According to the Rev. L.
Jenyns, the flowering of the former tree ranges from
March 17 to April 19, as that of the blackthorn from
March 15 to April 20. The return of birds of passage
has been little affected. Swallows were first seen
here on April 20, and the cuckoo was first heard on
April 25, dates by no means exceptionally late. This
fact disproves the old notion that migratory birds
have a mysterious foreknowledge of the state of the
weather in the country to which they are going, and
time their movements accordingly. — J. IV. Slater,
Aylesbury.
Sleep of Ants. — I should be obliged if any of
your correspondents could give me the following in-
formation. Mr. Emerson in chapter iv. (entitled "Lan-
guage ") of his essay on " Nature " says : " The in-
stincts of the ant are very unimportant, considered as
the ant's, but a moment a ray of relation is seen to
extend from it to man, and the little drudge is seen
to be a monitor, a 'little body with a mighty heart,'
then all its habits, even that said to be recently ob-
served that it never sleeps, become sublime." What •
I wish to know is whether there is any evidence to
prove that the ant never sleeps ? I should be much
obliged if any correspondent can give me this informa-
tion. — S. T.
The Thermal Sources of Carlsbad. — I am
very glad to see in the Science-Gossip recently,
that a local cause for hot water has been discovered
at Carlsbad. Will you allow me to offer you a quo-
tation from my " Interior of the Earth," 1870, " Hot
Springs" p. 51 ? "It is sufficiently proved by the
analysis of the waters, that the materials carried with
them are conducive to heat. As then these trickling
subterraneous waters work downwards, they come to
the materials which had long ago been subjected to
the natural heating causes ; these materials gathered
over, and upon the faces of the harder strata, offer
themselves to the perpetual erosion of every trickle,
so that the alluvial valley is kept perpetually supplied
with the bases of the metallic alkalies, with water to
create the heat, and with the acids to modify that
heat." The cause of heat in all hot springs is local
It has suited science to assign the cause to a hot
interior, founded on the nebular hypothesis of Laplace,
but this is not proved, while the local cause for hot
springs is proved. — //. P. Malet, Florence.
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS.
To Correspondents and Exchangers. — As we now
publish Science-Gossip a week earlier than heretofore, we
cannot possibly insert in the following number any communi-
cations which reach us later than the gth of the previous
month.
To Anonymous Querists. — We receive so many queries
which do not bear the writers' names that we are forced to
adhere to our rule of not noticing them.
E. J. Ockenden. — See chapter in " Collecting and Preserving
Natural History Specimens" (London: Hardwicke & Bogue,
price 2 s - 6d.) It is written by Professor Ralph Tate, and gives
you full instructions for removing mollusca from their shells.
Gwyn Jeffrey's " British Conchology," published by Van
Voorst, is the best work we have on this subject.
A. Seinad (Colchester).— Get Taylor's "Aquarium : its
history, principles, and management," price 6s. London:
Hardwicke & Bogue ; where you will find full instructions as to
the details you enquire about.
L. Hawkins. — We have forwarded your specimens to be
named, but you could easily identify and name them for yourself,
by getting Cooke's " Microscopic Fungi," price 6s., from Hard-
wicke & Bogue, 192 Piccadilly, W.
J. R. Corder. — The common cray-fish (Astacus fluviatilis)
can be kept in aquaria. Its food consists of aquatic mollusca,
insect larvae, &c, and the cray-fish would even be useful in a
large aquarium, in consuming and removing dead garbage.
See an account of a domesticated cray-fish in Bell's " British
Stalk-eyed Crustacea." The smooth newt (Lissotritcn punc-
tatus) is soonest adapted to an aquarium. Mr. King, Sea Horse
House, Portland Road, London, could supply you with material
and objects for aquaria.
E. Viles.— The "slimy substance" on the gravel paths was
no doubt the Nostoc commune.
144
HA R D WICKE ' S S CIE NCE- G SSI P.
M. W. T. (Cardiff).— Get "Notes on Collecting and Pre-
serving Natural History Specimens," price 3-r. 6d. published by
Hardwicke & Bogue, 192 Piccadilly, London, and study chapter
on "Botanical Specimens," by James Britten, F.L.S.
G. C. D. — You do not say what kind of objects you wish to
mount. Canada balsam can be used in India, but requires
hardening by heat before putting on the cover glass.
Edward Ward. — Your fresh-water algas are — 1. Zygnema
rizmlare, Hassall : 2. Zygnema [? sp.) ; 3. Z. nitidum ; 4. Vesi-
ciilifera Candollii, Hassall.
J. B. — Your mounted specimens are, — x, Lyngbia (? sp.}; 2.
Rivttlaria gra?iulifera ; 3. Rivularia.
F. S. St. A. — If our correspondent will send us isolated
specimens of the algae she wishes to have named, we will en-
deavour to get it done, but we cannot ask those gentlemen to
whom we are indebted for the identification of specimens, to
search over a quantity of crude material, in order to find some
particular form, and to which no clue has been given.
J. Severs. — Our "Exchange column" is open gratuitously
to subscribers of Science-Gossip for their mutual advantage,
but we limit the length of the exchanges to about three lines of
letter-press.
J. S. Dickin. — Pritchard's " History of Infusoria " is an old
and antiquated book, but the only one in our language before
the public. It is rare, and can only be obtained through a
secondhand bookseller. Mr. Saville Kent is, we believe, pre-
paring a revised manual of " British Infusoria," a work long
wanted. Slack's " Pond Life," and Gosse's " Evening's at the
Microscope," are both good books for a young amateur.
W. Roberts. — Your specimens of weevil are Otiorhynclais
picipes. O. sulcatiis is a distinct species, easily distinguished
from the former. Both are destructive foes to gardeners, al-
though the larvae of the latter have a peculiar predilection for
potted plants.
Botanical Exchange Club. — Rules of membership, &c,
may be obtained by application to 192 Piccadilly, W. It is time
that intending workers should send in their names, addresses,
and subscriptions, with a view to work this summer.
William Bennett (Clehonger). — Your bat is a remarkable
earless specimen of the common Rittzr-mouse ( Vesperlilio pipz's-
trellus).
EXCHANGES.
A specimen of the rare shining moss [Schisiostega pennata),
containing many diatoms, sent for really well-mounted slide. —
T. Watson, Bank Parade, Burnley.
Stephen's " British Insects," with coloured illustrations. I
have the first four volumes of part i. (i.e. Mandibulata) and the
first three volumes of part ii. (i.e. Haustellata) of the above work.
Want remainder. Apply to George T. Baker, Hagley Road,
Birmingham.
Microscope (Baker) in case with condenser, polariscope, &c.
complete. For .£15 or smaller instrument and cash. Also
" Beale on the Microscope."— Rev. C. L. Williams, Aston,
Birmingham.
Authenticated British, European, Asiatic, Indian, American,
African, Labrador species bird's eggs. Lists forwarded. Ex-
change offers requested. Foreign correspondence specially
wished for.— John William, n Priory Road, Sheffield.
Fine slides of the rare SpJiaroploa annulina, showing fructifi-
cation, in exchange for other authentically named freshwater
algae, or first class material, diatomaceous preferred. — J. Tem-
pore, 249 Moss Lane East, Manchester.
Wanted, fossils, in exchange for sponges and fossils from the
white and red chalk of Yorkshire ; also recent shells, in exchange
for British land,- fresh-water, and marine species. Send lists to
Rev. George Bailey, Seaham Harbour.
For unmounted palates of L. litorea, and B. undatum ; send
unmounted objects to J. M., 12 Porchester Street, near Clifford
Street, Birmingham.
Well-mounted slides of Aulacodiscus littoris, Aulac. mar-
garitaceus, Heliopelta mollis, Trinacria regina, several species
of Hemiantus and Isthmia, and a large number of diatomaceous
deposits from all countries for slides or gatherings of rare diato-
maceae.— Otto A. Witt, 2 Gunnersbury Terrace, Turnham
Green, London.
Good slides offered in return for insects, living or freshly
killed, in spirit. More especially the less common Diptera,
gadflies, sawflies, mole crickets, and other orthoptera and
neuroptera.— G. N. W., 10 Edinburgh Place, Weston-super-
Mare.
Well-mounted slides of anchor, and plates of Synapta gal-
licrcna, in exchange for good unmounted material. — W. E. C,
Mr. Greasley, White Cottage, Gregory Street, Old Lenton,
Nottingham.
Numbers of "Astronomical Register," "Microscopical
Journal," "Nature," and others, to exchange for British bird's
eggs.— George W. Coultas, High Street, Bridlington, Yorkshire.
Am breaking up my noted collection of exquisite and rare
exotic butterflies and moths. Also British coleoptera, 8000
specimens, 4000 species, mounted on cardboard without pins.
Also bird's eggs. Full particulars sent. Wanted in exchange,
European eggs. No post cards.— Henry Sissons, Brinclifte,
Sheffield.
Wanted, unmounted material of all kinds, in exchange for
microscopic or lantern slides, or cash. — Joseph Severs, Aireth-
waite, Kendal.
In exchange for mounted sections of "Golden Osier " and
holly-stems, double-stained, send good slides to A. Alletsee
u Foley Street, London, W.
"The Microscope," by Hon. Mrs. Ward, new cloth gilt, for
Suffolk on " Microscopical Manipulation," or Gosse's " Evenings
with the Microscope," or Martin's " Manual of Microscopic
Mounting," or Cook's "Rust, Smut, Mildew, and Mould."—
A. C. King, South Parade, Ledbury.
Offers in exchange (either in foreign land, or foreign marine
shells, the former most acceptable) for any of the following
British land and freshwater shells, which I have duplicate speci-
mens of at present — namely, J 1 , oblotiga, L. involuta, L.
Burnetii, P. ringens, V. pusilla, V. substriata, V. alpestris,
V. minutissima, V. angnstior, V. Monlinsiana.—W. Sutton,
High Claremont, Newcastle-on-Tyne.
Exotic insects of every description from India, Peru, China,
America, Java, Africa, Ceylon, &c, exchange arranged by
letter. Foreign correspondence specially requested. Selections
forwarded on approval, before exchanging.— Sissens, Sharrow,
Sheffield.
Living water newt (Lissotriton palmipes) in exchange for
living polyzoa, &c— J. B., 36 Windsor Terrace, Glasgow.
Wanted, in exchange for fossils, seaweeds, and other natural
objects, any old MSS. deeds, books, prints, &c, relating to
Kent, Thanet, or Margate. — F. Stanley, Margate.
Pathological crystals, cystin, leucin, tyrosin, &c, in
exchange for good mounted or unmounted objects. — J. W., 10
Evering Villas, Clapton, E.
Small packet of diatomaceous earth (Stoneyford, Ireland)
sent upon receipt of stamped envelope ; any object of interest
will be thankfully accepted. I have some very fine selected slides
of diatoms, some arranged in pattern, that I will exchange for
fragments of Hyalonema mirabilis, or other good spicula bear-
ing sponges.— W. White, 18 Convent Street, Nottingham.
Offered Hooker and Baker's " Synopsis Filicum," 2nd ed.,
coloured plates. Wanted, Sach's "Text Book of Botany."—
Jephthah Makin, Pendlebury, near Manchester.
Wanted to exchange for rare plants, the Gagea lutea, and
Chrysosplenium alter nifolium — George Hastwell, Darlington.
Coral sections, British and foreign shells, fossils, minerals,
and polished sections of madrepores ; will take fossils, rough
corals, and foreign shells in exchange.— A. J. R. Sclater, Teign-
mouth.
Newt's eggs (living) in exchange for living polyzoa, melicerta,
and similar objects. Send to J. B., 36 Windsor Terrace,
Glasgow.
BOOKS, ETC., RECEIVED.
"Evolution, Old and New." By the author of "Erewhon/
London : Hardwicke & Bogue.
"Electric Lighting, and its Practical Application." By
J. W. Shoolbred, B.A. London : Hardwicke & Bogue.
" Organic Chemistry." By Hugh Clements. London : Blackie
& Son.
Noad's " Student's Text Book of Electricity." Revised by
W. H. Preece. London : Crosby, Lockwood & Co.
"Proceedings of the Literary and Philosophical Society of
Liverpool," vol. xxxii., 1877-78.
" Entomological Papers." By C. V. Riley.
" The Silkworm :" being a brief manual of instructions for
the production of silk. Washington : Government Printing
Office.
" Midland Naturalist." May. J
" Land and Water." May.
" Ben Brierley's Journal." May.
"Journal of Applied Science." May.
" Animal World." May.
"American Quarterly Microscopical Journal." April.
"American Naturalist." April.
" American Journal of Microscopy." April.
"Characeae Americanae." By Timothy F. Allen, LL.D.
Part I.
" Feuille des Jeunes Naturalistes." March.
" Bulletin de la Societe Beige de Microscopic" February.
" Marine Engineering News." May.
&c. &c. &c.
Communications received up to 12TH ult. from : —
E. D. M.— C. H. D.— T. B. W.— D. D.— A. B. F.— E. E.—
W. H. W.— W. K.— C. F. W. T. W.— D. W.— E. M— E. V.—
H. P. S.— J. W. S.— C. L. W.— G. T. B.— R. D.— M. W. T.—
G. B.— W. B.— L. H.— C. J. W.— J. R. C— F. A. B— J. B.—
J. M.— J. G.— E. J. O.— O. N. W.— C. P.— H. W. S.— J. W.—
T. W. D.— H. J. G.— W. N.— T. S.— A. J. R W. G.— W.T.—
E. B. K. W.— F. A— J. P. G.— H. M. J. S.— J. H. G.— W. E. C.
— G. W. C— S. J. I. A— H. M. H.— H. S.— W. B. S.— A. M.
-G. C— A. A.— A. C. K.— J. S. D.— W. S.— R. M.— H. C. B.
— \V. L.— J. B.— F. C.-C. W. B.— W. B.— F. S.— H. J. W—
J. M.— F. J. G.-A. M. P.— C. B.— W. D. S.— Dr. P. Q. K.—
R. H.— W. R.— E. E. E.— G. H.— J. H.— J. 0. B.— H. W. H.
-A. J. R. S.-J. W. jun.-&c.
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
i45
HOLIDAY RAMBLES.
GLEN CALLATER.
By G. C. Druce, F.L.S.
ERY different was
the scenery and
atmosphere of
Deeside from that
of Jersey, but the
same attractive
spell of botanical
rarities hung round
each, although the
flora was as dif-
ferent as the at-
mosphere and
scenery. Here,
instead of head-
lands shining like
opals from the
profusion of Sedum
angliaim, we had
hills of dusky
brown, in places
flushing into ame-
thystine tints from the half opened heather, or
darkened into sombre olive-green where the pines of
Mar and Invercauld grew in rich luxuriance. But
the point of most attraction, as we lingered about the
gardens of the Fife Arms, or strayed by the Cluny
side, was the road leading to Glen Callater, although
such mighty rivals as Ben na Bourd, Ben A'an and
Ben McDhu, all celebrated for their rarities, were
around. So it was towards Glen Callater we first
started, following for a time the river Cluny, gathering
close to the hotel Hieracium praiauthoides — and
admiring the little stream as it fell in tiny rapids
down to the Dee, but after proceeding some couple
of miles, the glimpse of snow on McDhu, now
appearing over Braemar, gave new object for our
admiration, till this gave place to the pleasure of
seeing Pyrola rotundifolia and Listera cordata grow-
ing within a few feet of each other. The common
plant of this portion of our walk was Alchemilla
alpina ; Empetrum nigrum later on, however, dis-
puted its claim. Leaving the Cluny for its tributary,
No. 175.
the Callater, after some little time we noticed right
ahead precipitous cliffs, down one of which was
pouring a tiny stream, the far-famed "Break Neck
waterfall " of Glen Callater, where some elderly
botanist got into such a dangerous place that he
dared not go down and could not go back, and was
thus imprisoned for more than a day. The Hieracium
vulgatum was common by the steep sides of the
stream till shortly before reaching the loch ; on more
level ground, where the stream only slowly crept, it
became bordered with bog plants, such as Drosera,
Pinguicula, while in some of the more stagnant pools
Chara syncarpa occurred, the quicker running stream
yielding Chara pulchella.
The lake itself contained Isoetes cchinospora and
Lobelia Dortmanna. Here, six miles from Braemar, we
commenced the ascent of Loch na Gar, gathering Poly-
gonum viviparum and Carex binervis, and then were
brought to a standstill by the abundance of Trientalis
europtra, dwarfed to an inch or two in height, but with
lovely large flowers. The ascent of the mountain is
not particularly interesting, the best views being the
corrie of Loch Kander and the waterfall, but several
good plants were picked, among them being Hieracium
aesium and chrysanthum, Caltha minor, Sibbaldia
procumbens, and Saxifraga aizoides and stellaris, the
two latter very common. At still higher elevation
Luzula spicata, Carex rigida, and Juncus trifidus
occurred, a great abundance growing among the stony
debris, and then appeared the tiny Salix herbacca
with its bright chestnut-red fruit, which with the
three former continued nearly to the summit, from
whence a splendid view was obtained over Deeside
to Balmoral and Ballater, with the Scotch Alps
Ben McDhu, Ben A'an, Cairntone, rather uninteresting
in outline, being rounded and dumpy in appearance,
and wanting the sharp peaks and fantastic outlines of
Arran or Snowdonia ; but still very beautiful were
the snow patches appearing now a blue grey as some
passing cloud obscured the sun and now shining with
dazzling brilliancy ; down below us was Loch Muick,
while over by Glen Callater could be discerned the
H
146
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
black Loch Kander with its precipitous corries, the
rocks at the head of Glen Callater, and above these
appeared the hill forming the watershed of the Clova
mountains. Descending to the snow corrie, where in
the water running from the snow we got some
saxifrages, we soon came to Azalea procumbens and
JSpilobium alpinum, and coming down by some
roughish descent the ground near Loch Callater was
covered with Arbutus Uva-ursi.
Another day was spent in walking from Braemar
to Loch Callater, and following the western side of
the lake, near the head of which we came upon
Veronica becca'ounga, dwarfed to a couple of inches,
and with bright blue flowers contrasting beautifully
with Saxifraga aizoides, with which it occurred.
On the moorland leading up to Loch Kander, Carex
pauci/lorus and RubusChamixmorus, the latter in flower,
were gathered ; by the stream issuing from the loch
Salix arenaria and Lapponum occur, and in the
lake itself grew Callitriche hamulata. The corries
round the lake were rich with rarities, rolypodium
alpestre being especially fine. Rhodiola rosea, Saxi-
fraga hypnoides, with the varieties gemmipara and
sponkemica, Epilobiitm anagallidifolium, A /sine
vertia, Polygala vulgaris approaching grandiftora,
J uncus trifidus, triglumis, Carex pulicaris, pilulifera,
and strange dwarfed specimens of Carex jlava, and
some fine Asplenium viride, were soon gathered. At
some elevation on the precipitous rocks were gathered
Salix reticulata, lauata, and herbacea, Carex capil-
lars, and abundance of Cochlearia alpina, Saussurea
alpina, not quite in flower, and Hieracium pallidum,
chrysanthum, nigrescens, and ccesium. This dark lake
Kander, like so many of our British mountain lakes,
is situated on the east side of the mountain, and it is
probable that their position may be owing to glacial
action, the great amount of snow and ice remaining on
the colder side. Lakes in this position are to be
seen on Ben Nevis, Cairngorm, Loch na Gar, and in
many of the Welsh mountains. In the Lake District
the difference between the south-western and north-
eastern sides of the mountains is very marked, and
High Street, Helvellyn, Scawfell have also these
mountain tarns on the eastern side.
To return, however, to the cliffs about Loch
Kander, where some good scrambling was enjoyed in
getting on to the rocks about the Break Neck water-
fall, where magnificent J uncus triglumis and Carex
atrata occurred. Then came a grassy place of a less
steep inclination, where A spidium lonc/iitis grew almost
by hundreds ; here too were found Lcontodon pratense,
Carex alpicola and speirostachya. By the waterfall
grew Veronica alpina, not in flower but with a
bluish purple about the capsule ; the variety mon-
tana of Alchemilla vulgaris ; the cudweeds G. supiuum
in both its states pusillum and fuscum; a form of
Carex binervis, which at first looked like frigida, and
Salix nigricans, phylicifolia, andpseudo-glauca; Hiera-
cium anglicum, Vaccinia m uliginosum, Air a montana.
Silene acaulis and Saxifraga oppositifolia both occurred
in flower, although very sparingly. At the boggy head
of the lake Carex vesicaria, Potamogeton polygonifolius,
and other common plants occurred, but after such
a feast of rarities our botanical ardour required stronger
stimulus than these to linger on our homeward walk»
THE HYPOTHETICAL PLANET.
By J. J. Plummer, M.A., F.R.A.S.
THERE are few pages in the history of astronomy
that will read more strangely in the future
than the belief which has been entertained so firmly
during the last twenty years in the existence of a
planet interior to Mercury, and which is generally
known by the name of "Vulcan." No doubt much
of the tenacity that has been shown in this matter is
attributable to the respect due to the genius of the
late M. Leverrier, who had a profound belief in the
reality of its existence, and than whom there was
none other more capable of estimating the value of
the evidence in its favour. He subjected, one after
another, the motions of all the major planets to the
test of the most refined analysis, and had shown in
every case how accurately the law of gravitation
accounted for all the minor disturbances (technically
called perturbations) which the several planets produce
upon each other by their mutual attractions. One,
and one only, appeared to defy his treatment and
the Newtonian law alike, and this, the planet Mercury,
the smallest of the larger planets, and the nearest to
the sun. The direction of its elliptical orbit is
certainly shifting slowly, and the attractions of the
neighbouring planets were by him deemed insuffi-
cient to account for the fact. No one had better
reason to remember than Leverrier, how similar
outstanding perturbations had been reduced to order
by the discovery of the planet Neptune at the other
extremity of the solar system, and it is, therefore, not
surprising to find him confident that a like result
would be achieved in this case. Indeed, so far as the
theoretical side of the question is concerned, the case
appears to be completely in favour of an undiscovered
planet interior to Mercury, and the full weight of this
evidence was doubtless not only felt, but exaggerated
in the mind of the great French astronomer.
The difficulty of verifying practically these conclu-
sions by the actual discovery of a planet is very con-
siderable, owing chiefly to the close proximity to the
sun which such an object would constantly maintain,
and the only hope of bringing the telescope to bear
upon the actual body would necessarily be during an
eclipse of the sun, or on the occasions when the planet
might project itself on the solar disc. There are not
wanting records, more or less definite and precise, of
the appearance of minute spots upon the solar orb
unlike the well-known sunspots, but unluckily no
practised astronomer has yet succeeded in securing a
HA RD WICKE'S S CIENCE- G OS SIP.
147
glimpse of these strange objects, so very like planets in
transitu. A number of them, some five or six, group
themselves round a particular day in the month of
March or October, in such a manner as to render it
possible, at least, that they might be transits of the
same body, for it is to be remarked that a transit of a
planet can only be seen when the object is near one
of the nodes of its orbit, that is, when it is crossing
the ecliptic, and thus can only have place when the
earth is in the same longitude as the node, or twice a
year at an interval of six months. But now the diffi-
culties begin to accumulate. If these five or six obser-
vations of spots be really transits of a single planet, it
should be possible to predict the recurrence of like
transits, and Leverrier, believing in the trustworthi-
ness of five of them, did predict a transit of Vulcan for
the month of March 1877. The supposed planet,
however, failed to put in an appearance, and Leverrier
died while the question was still unsettled.
Somewhat later M. Oppolzer has taken up the
subject, and using eight observations of spots made at
various times during the present century as bond fide
transits of Vulcan, found that these could be reconciled
by a second hypothesis differing considerably from
Leverrier's, and which could readily be tested, as
transits must occur very frequently, and he fixed the
18th March of the present year as one of these crucial
occasions. Just as previously, however, astronomers
in all parts of the world anxiously scanned the sun
upon the day named, and met with the same ill-success.
Probably this would have been the last attempt of the
kind, and astronomers would have remained content
with this negative evidence as proving the non-exist-
ence of Vulcan, but the question in the meantime had
assumed a new phase.
We have stated that Vulcan should be visible in
all probability to the naked eye, and certainly with
the aid of small telescopic power during a total
eclipse of the sun. Frequently as these phenomena
have been observed of late years by the most ex-
perienced astronomers, none have glimpsed the
doubtful Vulcan, although in justice it must be said
that these precious moments have generally been
fully occupied by the investigation of a variety of
other important questions. As these, however, have
gradually neared to a solution, the last total eclipse
visible in America in July 1878 was devoted by several
able astronomers to this task, and the search for
Vulcan was perhaps the most prominent feature of
the observation. Two of the observers alone claim
to have seen planetary bodies near the sun, though
perhaps in consequence of the haste in which their
respective positions were noted it has not been found
possible to identify and reconcile the remarks of the
two discoverers, so that whether there were one or
two or three or four Vulcans seen during the eclipse
is regarded by some as an open question. One point,
however, is conceded, viz., that none of the four can
possibly be the theoretical Vulcan of Leverrier, nor
the inferred planet of Oppolzer, and we are thus
afforded valuable evidence that the cause of the
erratic movements of Mercury has not been discovered,
and in all probability is not discoverable in the shape
of a planet nearer to the sun than it.
It would be useless, however, to deny that much
interest attaches to what was actually seen in America
last year, and it is with a certain amount of relief
that we find the examination of the observations then
made has been taken in hand by so eminently able a
mathematician as Dr. C. H. F. Peters, and a result
evolved that admits of no cavil. He has shown to
the satisfaction doubtless of all unprejudiced persons
that the discoverers were themselves mistaken, and
had fallen into the error of taking conspicuous stars
to be minute planetary bodies, and without impugning
either their ability or their honesty, the excitement
and hurry of the moment are amply sufficient to
account for the erroneous announcement which startled
the world a few months since. At the very moment
when the believers in Vulcan thought they had their
hands on the object of their search have their hopes
been dashed to the ground ; and as if to crush the
last lingering remains of life entirely out of this hope-
ful hypothesis the same astronomer has been able to
show incontrovertibly that the most trusted observa-
tion of the supposed planet on the solar disk is utterly
unreliable. It is seldom that so fatal a stroke has
been aimed at a long-cherished scientific fallacy.
But it must not be forgotten that the change of
position of the axis of Mercury's orbit is an ascertained
fact and needs explanation. We require continually
to improve by observation the data upon which our
theoretical results are based, and should it be found,
as there is already some ground for believing it may
be, that the planet Venus is a denser and more
powerfully attracting body than it has hitherto had
the credit of being, the difficulty will be solved, and
the theory of gravitation will stand in as proud a
position as it could have done had the conjectures of
Leverrier been confirmed by the discovery he so
ardently longed for.
ON THE STUDY OF INFLORESCENCE.
By H. W. Syers, B.A. Cantab.
THE consideration of the manner in which flowers
are arranged on the axis which bears them is
a very interesting and a very important division of
botanical study. Not only do we find that flowers, in
their position and arrangements, are far from occupy-
ing merely haphazard and chance positions, but, on
the contrary, in all cases the arrangement follows
such simple and definite forms, that systematic
botanists have found the inflorescence or antitaxis a
most valuable assistance and guide in classification.
The study of inflorescence teaches us not only the
relative positions of the flowers to each other and to
H 2
148
HARDVVICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
the axis, but also the order in which they open, and
this is called their evolution. We must remember
that in all cases a flower-bud is like a leaf-bud ; and
that the flowers, like the leaves, arise from the axis in
one of two ways : that is to say, the buds are either
produced in the angle formed by the inclination of a
leaf to the stem (axillary), or else they arise from the
termination of the axis (terminal). But in the axillary
mode of inflorescence the leaf which forms the angle
with the axis is called a bract. In many cases these
bracts are not to be distinguished from leaves, and
their structure is similar. Such instances occur in the
from below upwards — those situated lowest expanding
first, the axis itself being carried on indefinitely. Thus
the expansion of the flower is centripetal — centre-
seeking. The simplest form of the inflorescence is
seen in the currant, fumitory, &c. In this the pedicels
(secondary axes) are of equal length, and each has a
bractlet at its base. The corymb is simply a slight
modification of the raceme — the lower pedicels being
longer than the upper ones, and thus forming a more
or less flattened surface. It should be noticed that an
inflorescence which at first appears to be corymbose,
may ultimately become racemose — e.g. in Crucifera;.
Fis
119. — Forget-me-not (Myosotis palustris), showing
scorpioid inflorescence.
periwinkle (Vinca), pimpernel (Anagallis) &c. But
in other cases these bracts assume a very different
appearance, so that even the most superficial observer
would notice the want of resemblance to true leaves.
Spathes, glumes, the involucre of Compositse and
scales are all so many modifications of bracts, and it
should be borne in mind that all these are but
different forms and arrangements of leaves — the leaf
being the morphological type on which the whole
structure of the flower is founded. It is noticeable,
in passing, that the presence or absence of bracts
constitutes a valuable classificatory medium. Now, as
has been mentioned above, flowers are either axillary
or terminal in their relation to the axis. And it is this
relation which gives origin to the two great divisions
of inflorescence : indefinite and definite. In the former
division the axis gives off axillary buds, which expands
Fig. 120. — Comfrey (Symphytum officinale), showing scorpioid
inflorescence.
The umbel is another form of this inflorescence, the
primary axis being shortened, and the secondary axes
coming off from the same points (radii), so as to be
nearly equal in length.
Notice also the bracts forming the involucre and
involucel in Umbelliferse. There is a term to which
different meanings have been attached by different
writers — the panicle. Perhaps the best definition of
a panicle would be an inflorescence in which the
secondary axes give rise to tertiary ones which bear the
flowers. But it is frequently used to express a totally
different kind of inflorescence (the definite), and, like
all terms which are ambiguous, has become unsuited
to the requirements of true science. The spike is simply
a sessile raceme, and the spadix a succulent spike.
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
149
We now pass on to the second great division of
inflorescences, the determinate or definite. Here the
primary axis ends in a solitary bud ; and if but a
single floral axis is formed the inflorescence is of the
simplest possible description. Should there be more
than one axis, the others arise from the first in an
axillary manner, but lower down and farther away
from the central axis. The flowers expand in a
centrifugal manner (centre-flying) and later, as
secondary axes are three in number, and the arrange-
ment is three-divided. It should be noticed that the
cymose inflorescence is frequently associated with
opposite leaves, though this is not always the case.
A very interesting and most curious modification of
the cyme is seen in the scorpioidal cyme. This is
simply a dichotomous cyme, in which the buds on one
side are not developed, thus becoming unilateral. A
study of this mode of inflorescence, as seen in the Bora -
Hg. 121. — White Dead-nettle (Lamium album), with cymose inflorescence
regards time, than the flower terminating the pri-
mary axis. The best example of a definite inflores-
cence is the cyme, and can be well studied in the
order Caryophyllacece. This cymose inflorescence
may be either dichotomus or trichotomous. In the
former, the primary axis gives rise by axillary buds to
two secondary axes, and each of these again to two
others. Thus there is a sort of division by pairs ;
hence the term (Si'xa, by twos). In the latter the
122. — Centaury (Erythrcra Cen/aurea),
showing trichotomous cymes.
ginaceoe {Myosotis, &c. (figs. 119 and
120), will be found most interesting
and instructive. Should any one feel
doubtful as to his correct apprecia-
tion of the term cyme, let him at
once examine this form of the in-
florescence, and his power of inter-
preting the mode in which the
flowers come off will afford a sure
test of his accuracy in this respect.
The last form of definite inflorescence
that we shall notice is the verticil-
laster. Here a pardonable mistake
is easily made by the tyro in botany.
For to all appearance the flowers
are simply arranged in a circle or whorl around the
axis. But more prolonged observation shows that this
is not the case. In point of fact the inflorescence is
cymose — though withal the cymes are nearly sessile —
and, of course, the expansion of the flowers is centri-
fugal. For this mode of inflorescence the common Dead-
nettle {Lamium album, fig. I2l) and other Labiate may
be studied. And now we must just touch on the
subject of mixed inflorescence. In some cases the
i5°
HARD WICKE'S SCIENCE- G OSS IP.
two kinds of inflorescence, definite and indefinite,
may be observed on the same plant. For the inflores-
cence, taken as a whole, may be definite, and the
individual inflorescences may be indefinite, and vice
versd. An example of this occurs in the genus
Senecio, and in other genera of Composite. If a head
of groundsel be examined it will be noticed that the
aggregation of florets forming the capitula or heads,
taken together, have a centripetal expansion, the
general inflorescence being indefinite. But if the
expansion of the individual heads be observed, it will
at once become clear that the inflorescence is centri-
fugal, and therefore definite. Here, then, in the
same plant are found two distinct forms of inflores-
cence, hence the inflorescence is said to be mixed.
Another instance may be cited, that of the verticillaster
of Labiatse. As explained above, the partial inflores-
cence is definite and centrifugal ; but the general
inflorescence is centripetal. There are many other
examples of these mixed inflorescences, all of which
are well worthy of careful study. The names of a
few genera with mixed inflorescences are subjoined :
horse-chestnut (/Esculus), flowering-rush (Butomus),
Sparmannia, Veronica, &c.
A review has now been taken of all the chief forms
of inflorescence, and to one or other of these nearly all
the inflorescences of the British orders may be referred.
There are, however, some irregular forms which
cannot be classified under any of these heads ; but
they are comparatively few and unimportant. A
noticeable form is that occurring in the butcher's
broom (Ruscus aadeatus). Here the flowers are
borne on those curiously modified stems to which the
name of cladodes has been applied. On taking a
survey of some of the natural orders, we see in how
many a certain marked form of inflorescence obtains.
For example : the prevailing form in Crucifene is the
raceme or corymb ; in that interesting order Caryo-
phyllacese, or Clovewort order, the cyme is the typical
mode of inflorescence, and in no order can the di- and
tri-chotomous cyme be studied in greater perfection.
In Linaceae the inflorescence is cymose, and the genus
Linum is peculiar in having this mode of inflorescence
associated with alternate leaves, not opposite, as is
usually the case. It is hardly necessary to refer to
the inflorescence of the Umbelliferae, for it is so
characteristic that it is impossible to mistake it. In
Rubiacece (the Madder family) the flowers are often
arranged in sessile or peduncled cymes. The in-
florescence of Compositse has been already explained
— as affording an instance of a union of the two great
types. The cyme is again seen in great perfection in
Gentianete — the Gentian order — and the beautiful little
flowers and delicate trichotomous cymes of the Centaury
(Erythma Centaurea, fig. 122) must be familiar to
all. It is not necessary to describe the inflorescence of
the Labiatse, as it has already been referred to.
Other orders worthy of notice are Primulaceje,
Lentibulariaceae (containing the curious genus Utri-
cularia, supposed to be carnivorous) Plantaginacese,
Urticacese, etc. A study of inflorescence in these
and kindred orders, is of the highest interest and
importance, giving not only enlarged and comprehen-
sive views of the different flower-arrangements ob-
taining in the different groups, but also training the
mind to exact and precise methods of observation and
comparison. And the writer has endeavoured, by
drawing attention to this subject, to point out to all
lovers of nature in general and of flowers in particular,
how far preferable it is to start from the very first in
a truly scientific and accurate spirit of enquiry. For
in this single instance of flower-arrangement, an im-
mense amount of mischief has been wrought to true
botany by the ambiguous, loose, and inaccurate use
of such terms as raceme, thyrsus, panicle, &c, so
that since the time of MM. Roper and Bravais (to
whom the first accurate observations of flower-ar-
rangement are due) an immense vocabulary, totally
meaningless and useless, has arisen on the subject of
inflorescence. The writer hopes that some readers
of Science-Gossip at all events will turn their
attention to this most interesting subject, the study of
which, in an intelligent and comprehensive manner
must be attended with the best results.
THE NEW FOREST.
By E. D. Marquand.
{Continued from p. 125.]
AND now as to the flora of the New Forest. In
richness and variety it yields to no other spot
of equal area in the kingdom, though it is possible
that a few specially-favoured localities may slightly
exceed it in the number of species. Within the limits
defined at the outset of this paper, I have found and
catalogued very close upon seven hundred and fifty
phanerogams ; besides these there are several which
I know on excellent authority to exist, but have not
as yet come upon them— and not to speak of those
given in books as occurring, but which have not been
traced, we have a total which does not fall far short
of eight hundred ; that is, one half of the entire
British flora as enumerated in the "London Catalogue."
This is a goodly number for a district something
under fifteen miles square.
Some of the rarer and most interesting species
which have come under my observation deserve a
passing note, and it will facilitate reference and at
the same time be more methodical, to follow the
order adopted in the " London Catalogue."
Number 1 first calls for notice : Clematis Vitalba,
a plant common enough on the chalk, but one would
scarcely expect to find it here, yet it flourishes in the
hedges of a lane on the coast, a few miles from
Lymington. Among the Crucifene only two need be
mentioned : Diplotaxis muralis and Draba vema ;
the latter (usually so abundant) being exceedingly
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
151
rare in these parts ; I searched for it in vain during
three seasons, and at last found it on a wall in the
vicinity of Ringwood. Viola lactca occurs on many
heaths, and I fancy I once found V. stagnina, but
am not certain. Another generally common plant is
hereof great rarity : Malachium aquaticum. Claytonia
perfoliata grows in profusion in the sand at Mudeford
and its neighbourhood, where in the salt marshes may
be seen Altluca officinalis, and occasionally in the
hedges (but always introduced, of course) Lavatera.
The Leguminifera; include some rare species : no one
walking across any of the forest heaths and moorlands
in the month of August can fail to notice the trailing
golden-blossomed Ulex nanus, which in some places
attains a height of three feet or more. On the coast
we get that very small plant with a very long name,
Trigonella ornithopodioides, and Medicago macula/a.
Trifolium glomeratum I discovered here last summer,
and Vicia orolms, a northern plant, was pointed out
to me ; as far as I know it only occurs in one spot,
not easily discoverable, but when once seen its deli-
cate pale green fern-like leaves are not to be mistaken.
Though it is miles from any habitation I cannot, for
various reasons, consider it truly indigenous. Agri-
monia odorata I discovered two years ago ; it is a
much larger plant than its congener, and may always
be recognised by its lemon-like fragrance. I almost
believe now that Isnardia palustris is extinct, in this
part of the county at least. Tilliea mnscosa is
frequent on sandy heaths.
The Umbelliferse do not furnish anything very
good, as far as my experience goes, except, perhaps,
CEnanthe pimpinelloides, a rather common plant in
this neighbourhood, Fceniadum, about Christchurch,
and Crithnmm maritimum on the sea wall. Rubia
pcregrina seems only to occur under the shade of the
clematis before alluded to, so both may possibly have
been introduced from the Isle of Wight. Tanacetum
vulgare is rare ; Inula crithmoides grows here and
there all along the sea wall, and Crepis biennis I
have found on the coast. The delicate little Wahlen-
bergia hederacea grows profusely in some boggy
ground not far from Lyndhurst ; almost all over the
Forest the tiny golden stars of Cicendia filiformis peep
among the turf; and the splendid large blue corollas
of Gentiana Pneumonanthe gleam among the heather
on a few moist heaths. Linaria repens is common in
hedges at Marchwood, and near Brockenhurst, and,
in a few other places, Bartsia viscosa. Orobanche
minor also grows near here, though sparingly, while
0. major seems peculiar to Beaulieu.
As everyone knows, Pulmonaria august if olia is one
of the great botanical features, and is so widely and
plentifully distributed throughout the forest that
there is not much fear of its eradication. The lovely
little Pinguicula lusitanica is common enough in the
bogs, where may be seen the delicate threadlike
branches of Utricularia minor, but U. intermedia,
though abundant where it exists, is rare. In a few
bog pools I have met with Sparganium minimum,
and in one locality only the singular Actinocarpus
damasonium. Of orchids we have a good number :
Orchis incur nata I have seen growing with O.
latifolia and O. macitlata in the bogs at Holmsley.
Since writing my note in Science-Gossip, vol. xiv.
p. 138 on Spiranthes ccstivalis, I have been so fortu-
nate as to discover it in another part of the forest,
well established and in great plenty. It is quite
unnecessary here to specify the locality. The tiny
Malaxis paludosa I find pretty widely distributed,
though doubtless it frequently escapes observation.
The habitat of Gladiolus illyricus is in the heart of the
Forest, apparently flowering only once in two years —
at any rate in some seasons not a single flower is to
be seen. Luzula Forsteri, a handsome woodrush,
grows both near Brockenhurst, and very abundantly
in a wood near Beaulieu.
The Cyperacerc include some very interesting
plants : Rhynchospora fusca grows in almost all wet
bogs, Scirpus uniglumis on many heaths, and Sc.
Savii commonly in roadside ditches. The Carices
are well represented : I have found thirty-three
species, and know of three or four more. Among
the best I have seen are Carex limosa, C. GSderi, and
C. moutaua. The last flowers very early and was
almost past when I discovered it last year. It is a
rare sedge, and a good addition to the county flora.
Lastly, the grasses. Among the best I know
are : Leerzia oryzoides, in two or three parts,
always on river-banks ; Phalaris canariensis, ap-
parently wild on the sandy shore at Mudeford ;
Gastridium lendigerum, frequent, mostly near the
coast ; Agrostis setacea, on heaths near Brockenhurst ;
Calamagrostis lanceolata, at Holmsley and Ringwood;
Aira setacea (A. uligbiosa "Lon. Cat.'') in several of
the bogs near Brockenhurst ; Sclerochloa procumbens
near the sea ; Briza minor, occasional, and nearly
always in cultivated fields ; Bromus madritensis,
not far from the shore, and Triticum acutum at
Mudeford.
Twenty species of ferns are said to occur, but I
cannot say whether quite as many are to be had
within the district about which I am writing ; I know
of sixteen only. The stately Osmunda regalis is well
distributed ; I have seen it in half-a-dozen places
within a couple of miles of Brockenhurst, sometimes
forming large clumps, with fronds three or four feet
long, sometimes helping to make the hedge of a field.
Lastrea oreopteris is frequent in old woods, and so is
L. spinulosa. In most hedgebanksin the south grows
Scolopendrium vulgare frequently side by side with
Asplenmm trichomanes, which here luxuriates in dry
shady banks rather than old walls, for one simple
reason — old walls are exceedingly scarce. Asp.
ruta-muraria grows sparingly on the ruins of
Beaulieu Abbey, and Ophioglossum vulgatum on
Ashley Common. Lastrcea thelypteris grows some-
where in the vicinity of Lyndhurst ; the exact spot I
i5 2
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
have not hitherto been able to discover. The Fir
Club-moss (Lycopodium selagd) occurs on Setley
Heath and near the old Beaulieu Road station.
Of mosses I have collected many fine and interest-
ing species. Anomodou viticulosus is frequent on
trees, and so is Neckera pumila, which fruits at
Knyghtvvood. Campylopus brevipilus is common on
the borders of some woods ; near the sea we have
Orthotrichum phyllanthum, and at Sway Leptodon
Smithii. About fifty species of Hypnitm have come
under my notice, and probably several others occur.
Among these are H. arspitos/tm, H. glareosuni,
H. megapolitanum, H. illecebrum, and H. chryso-
phyllum. In some of the woods near Brockenhurst
H. triquetriim fruits abundantly, and H. scorpioides
grows to a very large size ; I have seen it nearly a
foot in length. Splachnum anipitllaceiim occurs in
the bogs, and the Sphagnums include some very
curious forms, which it will probably be less difficult
to identify when Dr. Braithwaite's new work is
published.
The New Forest may perhaps be regarded as the
metropolis of corticolous lichens, while the saxicolous
sections are either very poorly represented or alto-
gether absent. The Graphidei are very abundant,
and in this tribe I have collected such species as
Gr aphis dendritica, Opegrapha leutiginosa, O. viridis,
and Arthonia pimctiformis, some of which are common,
and I have found many of the rarer Calicia generally
distributed. At Knyghtwood, not far from the famous
Knyghtwood Oak, the largest oak in the Forest, may
be seen within a few yards of each other three interest-
ing cryptogams : Pannaria rubiginosa, Stictina limbata,
and Hypnitm loreum, and at no great distance Ricasolia
latevirens fruits abundantly. On Roydon Common,
near Brockenhurst, grows the curious Pycnothelia
papi llaria with inflated podetia, and in the Hinchelsea
woods the delicate little Normandina pulchella, which
has something of the appearance of a pale blue scale-
moss. The species of Lecidea, Lecanora and Verrucaria
are " too numerous to mention."
And now in conclusion I have just two words to
say as to the Diatomacese, of which I have collected a
considerable number of species in this neighbourhood.
I find my notes have already stretched to such a
length that I cannot even mention the names of many
interesting forms ; three species, however, on account
of their rarity, deserve brief mention. The first is the
pentagonal variety of Amphitetras antediluviana ; the
discovery of which I recorded in Science-Gossip in
January, 1877. It is rare, and always accompanies
the more common form, the var /3. All those who
have seen it will, I am sure, agree that it is one of
the most striking and beautiful of British diatoms.
The next is Sitrirella elegans, figured in Science-
Gossip, vol. iv. p. 132, a diatom identical with the
Sur. sclesvicensis of American deposits, but which as a
British species appears to be very little known among
diatomists. It has occurred in almost all my bog
gatherings, sometimes in abundance and of very large
size ; indeed I look upon it as about the commonest
oiowx Surirelhc, excepting perhaps S. biseriata. Lastly,
another of the same genus described and figured as a
new British diatom in Science-Gossip, vol. v. p. 61,
under the name of 'Sitrirella Capronii, a species differing
from all others of the genus by the possession of two
hornlike processes springing from the median line.
I found it in small numbers in a salt-marsh gathering,
and my specimens are very much larger and finer
than the ordinary forms of S. splendida. The only
British locality for it then given was Shere, in Surrey.
This brings my remarks on the fauna and flora of the
New Forest to a close. Very imperfect they cannot
fail to be, since only a few species have been selected
to illustrate each section ; and even my own lists,
compiled from personal observation and comprising
some thousands of names, are in almost every
department still far from approaching completeness.
But there are many naturalists devoted to special
branches who might add largely to our knowledge
of the rich natural resources of one of the most
delightful, interesting, and exhaustless districts in the
United Kingdom.
NET LIGHTNING.
By the Rev. S. Barber, F.M.S.
HOW glorious and awe-inspiring a spectacle is
presented to the student of nature's mysteries,
when, flashed in an instant through the impenetrable
gloom of night there stands out before his unsuspect-
ing sight a varied and sublime expanse of cloud
scenery, distinctly revealed ; towering crags, dark
abysses, and every lineament of its gorgeous struc-
ture, traced sharply out by the dazzling and unearthly
splendour of the lightning.
By daylight, in such a condition of the atmosphere,
when the electrical tension of the individual cloud
masses towards each other and between these and
the earth is unusually strong, we cannot fail to observe
the sharpness of definition, apparent solidity and
great volume which the cumuli exhibit. There is,
however, no more remarkable characteristic observ-
able at these times of electrical disturbance than the
individuality of structure, if I may so express it,
which they present to view ; an individuality of form
which appears to be intimately related to the electrical
tension of each mass of vapour. This may be well
seen when two highly condensed and vertically posed
peaks rise aloft, and drawing into close proximity to
one another, leave a long narrow interstice with
jagged edges between them. (See fig. 123.)
Such an appearance is probably never seen in settled
weather, being, in fact, one of the most striking in-
dications of electrical excitement. The forms illus-
trated in the sketch are perhaps rather evidences of
repulsion than attraction between the masses.
HARD WICKE 'S S CIENCE- G OSSIF.
i53
Sir \V. Snow Harris, in his treatise on electricity,*
suggests the following as a brief explanation of the
discharge between the clouds and the earth: "If,''
says this writer, "we consider attentively the elec-
trical conditions of a thunderstorm, we may observe
in them all the elements of the Leyden experiment :
the atmosphere in fact becomes a great coated pane,
regard to the air which forms their base. Thus one
large, leading cumulus may become a centre of
force ready to operate, not only on the earth beneath,
but on various collateral masses of the surrounding
vapour, when the general equilibrium is disturbed.
The tension, then, becoming too great, and the
balance of forces being disturbed, the discharge
Fig. 123. — Approach of Electrical Cloud-masses.
Fig. 124. — Approach of Electrical Cloud-masses, seen in perspective.
or fulminating square, of which the charged cloud is
the insulated and the surface of the earth the unin-
sulated, terminating conducting planes ; the phenomena
of thunder and lightning are neither more nor less than
disruptive discharges through the intervening air."
In explaining the thunderstorm by reference to the
principles of electrical induction, and of the disruptive
discharge, the reader will observe that much depends
upon the condition of the air contiguous to the earth and
subjacent to the cloud — in regard to conductive power.
And it may well happen that large masses of cloud,
separated, perhaps by intervals of several miles, may
be very differently situated in this respect, with
* Sixth ed. Virtue & Co.
ensuing would connect together the different points — •
centres of the masses — and these again with the earth.
The instantaneous dissolution of a polygon of forces
in this way, would, through the electric current,
darting from point to point, involve an interlacing or
net-work pattern in the lightning flash.
Vast, however, as is the force which the lightning
wields, an apparently slight circumstance may direct
its course. The configuration of the earth beneath
as affecting the upward vapour currents ; the presence
of smoke or metallic dust might be responsible for
effects most disastrous to man ; so delicately balanced
are the forces of nature.
Such atmospheric conditions may perhaps be
154
HARDWICKKS SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
suggested as the origin of that rare and magnificent
phenomenon which we have here denominated
" Net " * lightning — one of the most glorious
evidences of the power and majesty of Him who
creates and upholds the universe ; every atom in the
dust of the balance being, as Charles Kingsley
beautifully puts it, " distinctly and deliberately
divine." Each particle is, indeed, if we but knew one
half of the laws by which it is actuated, as much a
witness to the science and the "Art of God,"'f as
the Kosmos itself; as distinctly the handiwork of
the Great Artificer as is the majestic expanse of the
starlit sky.
THE HISTORY OF THE CUCUMBER
(CUCUMIS SATIVUS).
By H. G. Glasspoole.
THE cucumber is known to have been cultivated
for more than three thousand years. In ancient
Egypt it was extensively grown, and is so at the
present day ; the succulent nature of the plant en-
abling it to resist the drought of the sandy plains,
while it flourishes well in the richer soils watered by
the Nile. The want of this vegetable was one of the
grievances complained of to Moses by the Israelites
in the wilderness ; we also find it mentioned in other
parts of Scripture. The cucumber is mentioned in
a particular manner by some of the early Greek
writers on plants. Theophrastus, writing on the
cucumber, enumerates three varieties— the Boeotian,
Scytalic, and Laconican ; the last, he states, thrives
better with watering than the others. Diodes, of
Carystus, an ancient town of Greece, tells us that
the cucumber eaten with sium at the first course of a
meal makes the eater uncomfortable, for it gets into
the head as the radish does, but that if eaten at the
end of supper it causes no uncomfortable feeling and
is more digestible. We are told that the farmers of
those days considered that if their seed was steeped
in the juice from the root of the cucumber it would
be protected from the ravages of insects.
Cucumbers grown in the neighbourhood of Antioch
were considered by the ancient Greeks the finest.
Columella, one of the oldest Roman writers on
agriculture, mentions that the inhabitants of Mendes
in Egypt were accustomed to take the largest bramble-
bush they could find, transplant it to a warm, sunny
spot, cut it down at about the time of the vernal
equinox to within a couple of fingers of the ground,
then insert a seed of the cucumber into the pith of the
bramble, the roots of which were well covered over
with fine earth and manure to withstand the cold.
By this plan they were enabled to have cucumbers all
the year round. This same author states that cucum-
bers ought to be propagated from seed that has been
* A reticulated pattern, instantaneously impressed upon a
large expanse of sky. q
f Such is the term applied to Nature by Sir Thomas Browne.
steeped in milk and honey for a couple of days, this
method having the effect of rendering them sweeter
and pleasanter to the taste. He also gives directions
to his own countrymen for forcing this plant by
artificial means. Those who wish to have them
early, he says, should plant the seed in well-dunged
earth, put into osier baskets, that they may be carried
out of the house and planted in warm situations when
the weather permits. The baskets may be put upon
wheels so that they may be brought in and out with less
labour, and as soon as the season advances the baskets
may be sunk in the earth. Pliny states that in Italy
the cucumbers are small, but in some countries are re-
markably large and of a wax colour or black. Those
from Africa are most prolific. He mentions that by
nature the cucumber has a wonderful hatred of oil,
but has a great affection for water. Of this fact, he
says, we may be satisfactorily convinced in a single
night, for if a vessel filled with water is placed four
fingers distant from a cucumber it will have descended
into it by the following morning — but if the same is
done with oil it will assume the curved form of a
hook by the next day. This same author tells us
that the Emperor Tiberius was so fond of cucumbers,
and took such pleasure and delight in them, that they
were served up at his table every day all the year
round. The beds and gardens wherein they grew
were made upon frames so as to be removed every
way with wheels, and in winter during the cold
frosty days they would be drawn into certain high-
covered buildings exposed to the sun, which was
admitted through frames or lights covered with lapis
specularis, probably talc or some transparent mineral,
which the Romans knew well how to split into thin
laminae, so that light might be transmitted through
it. This appears to be the earliest account of forcing
plants which we read of in ancient times (Phillips,
" Pomarium Britannicum ").
The Romans, from the remains of their villas found
in this country, appear to have been acquainted with
the art of heating their rooms with flues and hot
water, and from this we are led to believe that cu-
cumbers and other vegetables were extensively forced
during the days of Roman splendour. Pliny men-
tions that a new variety of this plant had accidentally
been produced in his time in Campania, the fruit of
which was of the form of a quince ; it did not grow
hanging, but assumed its round shape as it lay on
the ground ; the seeds from this produced similar
plants. The name given to this variety was Melopepo
(Fee says that this is the melon, the Cucumis melo of
Linnaeus). Pliny appears to have considered this
vegetable unwholesome in an uncooked state, as he
tells us it will live in the stomach until the next day,
and cannot be reduced to food, but when boiled and
served up with oil, vinegar, and honey they make
a delicate salad ; he also recommends a pinch of the
seed beaten up with cummin and taken with wine
as a good remedy for a cough.
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
i55
We have no precise date when the cucumber was
first cultivated in England. It may have been intro-
duced with other fruits and vegetables at the time
the Romans were masters of this country. According
to a note in Gough's "British Topography," vol. i.
p. 134, it was, with the melon, commonly cultivated
in the reign of Edward III. (1327), but in consequence
of the wars between the Houses of York and Lancaster
the cultivation of them, like other plants, became
neglected, and at last entirely lost. It was introduced
again at the later part of the reign of Henry VIII.
Our old friend Gerard mentions them thus in his
Herbal (1596) : "There be divers sorts of cucum-
bers, some great, others lesser, some of the garden,
some wild, some of one fashion and some of another.
There be also certain long cucumbers which were
first made (as it is said) by art and manuring, which
nature afterwards did preserve, for at first when the
fruit was very little it is put into some hollow cane,
or other thing made for the purpose, in which the
cucumber groweth very long by reason of that narrow
hollowness, which, being filled up, the cucumber in-
creaseth in length. The seed of this kind being sown
bringeth forth not such as were before, but such as
art has framed which of their own growth are found
long and ofttimes very crookedly turned, and therefore
they have been called Anguine, or long cucumber."
Gerard extols the cucumber "mixed with oatmeal
pottage and eaten at every meal for three weeks as
a perfect cure for persons afflicted with flegme and
copper faces, red and shining fierie noses (as red
as roses) with pimples, pumples rubuse and such-
like precious faces ; but at the same time they are to
be sure to wash their faces with a decoction of vinegar,
orris root, camphor," etc. This old author also gives
the earliest direction in this country for making hot-
beds for cucumbers. He directs that they should
be covered with mats over hoops, as glasses were
not known at that time.
Lord Francis Bacon, who wrote about 1598, says
cucumbers "will prove more tender and dainty if
their seeds be steeped in milk. The cause may be
for that the seeds being mollified in milk, will be too
weak to draw the grosser juices of the earth, but only
the finer." He adds, "cucumbers will be less
watery if the pit where you set them be filled half
way with chaff or small sticks, and then pour earth
upon them ; for cucumbers, as it seemeth, do
exceedingly affect moisture, and over-drinketh them-
selves, which this chaff or chips forbiddeth." He
also states that in his day " it was the practice to cut
off the stalks of cucumbers immediately after bearing,
close by the earth, and then to cast a pretty quantity
of earth upon the plant that remaineth, and they
would bear fruit the next year, long before the
ordinary time. The cause may be for that the sap
goeth down sooner, and is not spent in the stalk or
leaf, which remaineth after the fruit ; where note,
that the dying in winter of the roots of plants that are
annual, seemeth to be partly caused by the over-
expense of the sap into stalks and leaves, which being
prevented, they will superannuate, if they stand warm."
Parkinson, in his " Paradisus," 1656, tells us that
in many countries they do eat cucumbers as we do
apples and pears, paring and giving slices of them as
we would to our friends of some dainty apple or pear.
The cucumber was not generally cultivated till almost
the middle of the seventeenth century, and it is stated
that the first successful forcer of this plant in England
was Thomas Fowler, gardener to Sir Nicholas
Gould, of Stoke Newington, who presented a brace
of well-grown fruit to King George I. on New Year's
Day, 1 72 1 ; the seeds from which they were raised
were sown on the 25th of September. Some years
ago the cucumber was cultivated in large quantities in
the outskirts of London, and it is stated in Dr.
Wynter's "Curiosities of Civilisation," page 229, that
fourteen acres might be seen under hand-glasses in a
single domain, and that it has been known that
200,000 gherkins have been cut in a morning for the
pickle merchants. It is also stated that cucumbers
have refused to grow well around London ever since
the outbreak of the potato disease. In Loudon's
time large quantities were grown in the fields of
Hertfordshire without the aid of glass for the London
markets during the summer months. The village of
Sandy in Bedfordshire has been known to furnish
10,000 bushels of gherkins in one week for pickling
purposes. The cucumber, notwithstanding its
extensive use among all classes in this country, is
considered unwholesome by most medical practi-
tioners. Dr. Doran, in his " Table Traits," mentions
that in the days of Evelyn (1699) tne cucumber was
looked upon as only one remove from poison, and
adds that it had better be eaten and enjoyed with that
opinion in memory. Abernethy also gave a quaint
recipe for its use, which was to peel the cucumber,
slice it, pepper it, put vinegar to it, then throw it out
of the window. The extent to which the cucumber
is consumed by the inhabitants of Egypt and the
South-west of Asia, but also in European Russia
and Germany would scarcely seem credible in this
country. A correspondent of the "Daily News," in
the summer of 1874, returning from the fair of Nijni-
Novgorod, was struck with the (profusion of water
melons and cucumbers everywhere offered for sale.
Pyramids of melon and water-melons, like cannon-
balls in an arsenal, were heaped up in every direction,
and as for cucumbers, you could not help fancying
that a plague of them, like locusts, had descended
upon the earth. You never see a Russian peasant at
dinner but you see the lump of black bread and a
cucumber. The cucumber seems certainly a singular
dish to be so national in a country with a climate
like Russia. It is the last that one would have
selected a priori for the post ; but this is only one of
the great many singularities one meets with. The
cucumber costs about the thirtieth part of a penny about
i56
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
the Volga ; perhaps this fact will explain the anomaly.
(See "Gardener's Chronicle," 24th Oct. 1874).
Some writer says there used to be a great annual fair
at Leipzig for cucumbers, when the streets were heaped
up a story high with that precious element of German
cookery. In Germany barrels of half and also full-
grown cucumbers are preserved from one year to the
other by immersion in deep wells, where the uniform
temperature and exclusion from air seem to be the
preserving agents.
Nothing can be more agreeable to our olfactory
nerves on a hot summer's day than the refreshing and
cooling scent of a fresh-sliced cucumber, but perhaps
it is not generally known that in the art of perfuming
it finds its way to the toilet-table under the form of
cold cream and milk of cucumbers. The large seeds
of this tribe are employed instead of almonds in
making cheap sugar-plums. The word cucumber is
derived from the Latin cucuniis, meaning the same
thing. Some time since there was a controversy
carried on in " Notes and Queries" as to the proper
pronunciation of the first syllable, whether it should be
cow or at. Parkinson (1656) writes it " cowcumber,"
by which name it is called by the uneducated, but
people with any education would never think of
writing or pronouncing it otherwise than " cucumber."
Tartary has been assigned to this species of cucumber
as its native country, but upon what authority is
equally questionable with that of the melon. No
modern traveller appears to have found it wild.
OUR COMMON BRITISH FOSSILS, AND
WHERE TO FIND THEM.
No. VII.
By J. E. Taylor, F.L.S., F.G.S., &c.
IT is with a sense of delighted relief that we once
more resume this series
of articles ; which have been
Fig. 125. — Extinct kind of Free
Crinoids (Marsitpiics Milleri),
from White Chalk.
unavoidably interrupted by a
too prolonged pressure and
strain of other literary work.
We propose in the present
article to call attention to the
commonest fossils belonging
to the Star-fish and Sea-
urchin family. Few fossils
have a prettier or"more attractive aspect than they,
and none exceed them in the singular beauty of their
structures, and their marvellous adaptation to their
ancient habits of life.
Now that we have got rid of the useless term
"Radiata," and are beginning to arrange animals in
their natural relationship to each other, we have
Fig. 127. — Astcrias tcssellata, one of the Cushion-stars.
:'"ig. 126. — Pentrcmitcs flo-
rcalis, one of the Blastoi-
dca, from Carboniferous
Limestone, n, Profile ; b,
summit ; c, base or pelvis.
Fig. 128. — " Five-fingers " Star-fish (Uraster rubens).
begun to learn comparative zoology. To this most
interesting study the whole science of paleontology —
or that which deals with the extinct life of our globe —
contributes equally with zoology. In surveying such
a large natural group as that formed by the annuloid
animals, we are frequently surprised by the singular
way in which otherwise extreme types spring from
almost common or neutral ground. Thus, the extinct
groups of Cystideans and Pentremites, peculiar to
the Palaeozoic rocks, and which severally represent two
different orders, in some measure come as near to the
Encrinite family on one side as the Pouch Encrinite
(Marsupites) of the chalk formation does both to them
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
iS7
and the Echini on the other. The Cushion-stars
(Goniasters), run very near to the Cake-urchins or
Clypeasters, although the former are star-fishes and
the latter sea-urchins, and perhaps both these touch
as nearly as any of their class to the Cystideans,
Pentremites, and Marsupites.
Both star-fishes and sea-urchins are, geologically
been in existence throughout all the silent revolu-
tions, physical and biological, which have so often
taken place on the surface of the globe, and our
modern star-fishes are as lineal and directly uninter-
rupted descendants of these early Cambrian fossil
forms, as mankind are from their " first parents."
The upper part of the skin of such star-fishes as the
Fig. 130. — Separate hooks of "Brittle Star'
Tosula), much magnified.
speaking, exceedingly ancient. With the exception
of certain Brachiopoda, we know of no other group of
animals which have maintained their peculiar shapes
for a longer time than the star-fishes. As far back as
the Cambrian period we find two well-differentiated
orders in existence, one represented by the modern
"five-fingers" (Uraster) and the other by the brittle-
stars (Ophiura). Evidently these two types have
Fig. 133.— Fossil Star-fish (PaUrocotna Marstotii), Lower
Ludlow Rocks.
"five-fingers" {Uraster nibens) is thickened and
roughened and strengthened by the presence of grains
or irregular spicules of carbonate of lime. If each
of these grains had gone on increasing in size by
addition to its margin, they would have grown until
they touched each other, but would not have fused,
and then we should have had regular plates instead of
grains, and the whole body would have been covered
by a kind of tessellated pavement. This is exactly
i58
HARD WICKE'S SCIENCE- G OSSIP.
how the amis of the Brittle-stars (Ophiuridae) and the
margins of the arms and body of the Cushion- stars
(Goniaster and Asterias) have been so regularly and
beautifully armed, the former even more effectually
than a mediaeval mail-clad knight. The two groups
so anciently separated, are easily recognised. Thus
the "five-fingers" and "sun-stars" (Solasters) so
abundant on our British coasts have the under
surfaces of their arms grooved. In and out of these
grooves we perceive rows of small, white, grub-like
objects which slowly wriggle to and fro if we turn
a star-fish on its back, and finally end by bending
over and attaching their tips to the rock by means
of suckers. Then by an united exertion they pull
over the star-fish to its proper position. A young
observer has not long to experiment on living star-
fishes before he finds that these grub-like objects
serve all the purposes of feet— that the star-fishes can
glide along even perpendicular surfaces by their
means. They are hundreds in number, but all are
fashioned alike, and the mechanism which renders
them locomotive organs is of the most wonderful
character. These feet are termed by naturalists
ambulacral, but we defer a detailed description of
them until we come to speak of the Sea-urchins. The
stomach of this kind of star-fish is continued up each
arm, and this fact naturally groups together genera
which may have a greater number of arms than five,
as the "sun-stars" (Solaster) which have twelve.
In the "brittle-stars" (Ophiuridae), on the con-
trary, the stomach does not extend to the arms,
although the nervous branches of the ganglion sur-
rounding the mouth do. The "sun-stars" have only
two rows of suckers, whilst the "five-fingers" possess
four. In the "brittle-stars" we have the central
disc covered with jointed calcareous plates, and the
arms defended by four rows of the same. There are
no sucking feet, however, but the arms are employed
as organs of locomotion, in which they are aided, as
Mr. Fred. Kitton has shown, by short hooks which
take hold of the surface and thus obviate the
necessity of sucking-feet. Nature has usually more
than one way of meeting a difficulty, and this is a case
in point with the progression of the star-fishes.
Many star-fishes are characteristically deep-sea
animals, and perhaps the Echinodermata, to which
both star-fishes and sea-urchins belong, range to and
continue over deep parts of the ocean-bed, more
than any other group of marine animals. Thus,
during the deep-sea dredgings of the " Challenger "
we find such genera as Opliiomiisium, Arc/iaster, &c,
dredged up, the latter from more than a mile and a
half depth of sea water. A large star-fish, called
Leptychaster, allied to our Luidia, was brought up off
Cape Maclear, Kerguelen's Island, in very deep water.
Another genus, Hymenaster, was found to be very
widely distributed over the sea-floor, and at depths
ranging from about half a mile to more than three
miles. Star-fishes and their allies, sea-urchins, are
usually the commonest fossils of the Chalk formation,
which we know was an oceanic deposit formed under
very similar circumstances to the " globigerina ooze "
of the mid- Atlantic. Dr. Wallich showed, when sound-
ing in the "Bull Dog" for the first Atlantic cable,
that the ocean floor was occupied by star-fishes, for
these animals came up attached to the sounding-lead,
and this incident first broke people's faith in the old-
received notion that absence of light in the deep sea
rendered it a desert for all bottom animals except the
Protozoa.
The Asteridce (represented by our common "five-
fingers "), and the Ophiuridae or " brittle-stars," as
we have said, are found in Cambrian rocks. We
have seen specimens better preserved in the fossil
state than dried recent specimens usually are in
museums. Sea-urchins also lived in the Palaeozoic
epoch, but they do not appear to have thriven well.
Only two genera are known, and these are represented
by but few species during periods long enough to form
strata thicker than all the Secondary deposits taken
together. But when we come to the Secondary period
we find the Sea-urchins gaining ground. By-and-
by, as in the Chalk formation, they are wonderfully
common, and of multitudinous shapes and types. But
by this time the Encrinites, which we have seen were
so plentiful on the floors of primaeval seas, had begun
to decline. Broadly, therefore, it may be stated that
the Sea-urchins begin to flourish just when the Encri-
nites commenced to decline.
The fossil star-fishes are not as a rule abundant,
unless perhaps, we except a particular stratum in the
Middle Lias, where they are so plentiful that the
seam is called the " star-fish bed." At Leintwardine,
where the Lower Ludlow rocks crop up and are
quarried, we meet with both the kinds of fossil star-
fishes of which we have been speaking. Speaking of
Protester Miltoni (one of the ancient " brittle stars "),
Mr. Salter says it is "abundant, and of all sizes,"
meaning, we suppose, in various stages of growth.
Few localities are better worth a geological pilgrimage
than this part of Shropshire. It is only six miles
from Ludlow, where the celebrated "Bone-bed" of
the upper Silurian rocks may be advantageously
studied. The Lower Ludlow rocks at Leintwardine
are not much quarried, for they are a kind of " mud-
stone," of little commercial value. Otherwise there
is no doubt the number of fossil star-fishes which would
be exhumed would be immense. Unfortunately, since
Mr. Salter's time, the quarry where the fossil star-
fishes were once so abundantly found has been either
worked out, or excavation has been discontinued.
Mr. Marston, of Ludlow, has a splendid series of these
fossils, among them Prolaster Marstoni. Shepherd's
Quarry, near Ludlow, is another good hunting-ground.
In some respects, one species, perhaps the most
beautiful of the entire group, named after Professor
Sedgwick (P. Sedgwickii), is allied to the "Feather-
stars" (or rather to one division of them called Euryale
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
r 59
on account of the peculiar spines on the plates of its
arms. This species is found only in the older rocks,
such as the Caradoc beds at Bala, on the west side of
the beautiful lake. At Benson's Knot, Docker Park,
and other places near Kendal, in Westmoreland,
where the upper Ludlow rocks crop out and quarries
are opened in them, a student may expect to find
Palasterina primava, and Uraster Ruthveni, the
latter named after one of the most diligent and devoted
of amateur geologists that ever lived. Both the latter
fossils belong to the same group as our modern " five-
fingers," and they have been beautifully preserved
(as any one may see, who pays a visit to the Kendal
Museum), in spite of the skin being only thickened
and not plated, with calcareous spicules. Two
species of fossil star-fishes have been found rather
plentifully in the Cambrian rocks at Welshpool,
Meifod, and Corwen. Next we come to the Lias
strata for abundant star-fishes, and we have seen
that one bed is especially rich in them. The Liassic
species usually belong to the "brittle-stars," and the
commonest of these fossils is Ophiolepis Egertoui,
found at Staithe, near Whitby ; and also abundantly
in various places in Dorsetshire, especially at
Seaborne. Specimens of this star-fish may be seen
in nearly every museum in England.
The marginal plates or ossicles of star-fishes allied
to the cushion-stars (Goniaster), are not uncommon
in the Chalk, and in the flints which come from that
deposit. In the chalk quarries atGravesend, Charlton,
many places in Kent and Sussex, as well as Norfolk
(particularly about Norwich) remains of these Echino-
derms may be found, but only by practised eyes.
We have seen perfect specimens imbedded in the flint
nodules obtained from Ipswich and Norwich. In the
London Clay of the Isle of Sheppey we find similar
remains of Goniasters ; ossicles, plates, &c, in a more
or less perfectly preserved condition.
We should be glad to hear from any of our geo-
logical correspondents further details respecting the
" star-fish bed " in the Lias— its locality, extension,
species, &c. ; and, indeed, concerning any fossil star-
fish locality.
MICROSCOPY.
EUGLENA VIRIDIS AND ITS SUCKER-BULB.— I am
glad to note further confirmatory evidence in your
columns with reference to the existence of a bulb or
sucker at the extremity of flagellum in Euglena viridis,
and may further remark that Mr. George Harkus
notes a central darkening or marking, indicating a
tubular structure in this organ (this gentleman's
sketches were enclosed to the Editor with original
query, and no doubt their accuracy would be observed).
Will Mr. F. Jas. George say if he has detected the
bulbous termination in all examples, or only in those
obtained from special localities ? In some quarters the
statement of its existence has been received somewhat
dubiously, but this may arise from the certain fact
that only an objective of the best defining and re-
solving power will determine it. We (Mr. Harkus
and I) found a Ross quarter inch, and a Swift's eighth
to work well upon it, an immersion sixteenth had not
sufficient penetration, but still revealed the bulbs
coarsely. Perhaps the following observation may
explain to your correspondent how the Euglena
became metamorphosed into rotifers. Last autumn
I obtained from a pond Euglena sanguined in pro-
fusion. Griffiths and Henfrey regard this as the
perfect form of Euglena viridis : the gathering was
placed in a vessel covered with a sheet of glass, and
in a few weeks assumed the still or protococcoid form,
gradually in this interval changing in colour from
red to green, the whole mass sunk to the bottom of
the vessel, and during the winter continued to
segment and increase by division, until now a portion
lias reverted to the Euglena viridis in its motile form,
this confirms the opinion of authorities named above.
I can substantiate Mr. F. Jas. George's remark,
that the place of the Euglena ' ' was taken by the
common Funnel Rotifer." In my experiment, I find
a fine and most interesting variety of rotifers, but
I also invariably see the internal cavity of these
individuals well stocked with what may be regarded
as the zoospores, into which Euglena in its still con-
dition segments, divides, and then breaks up. In
fact these rotifers subsist upon Euglena. Could it be
shown that Euglena was the larva of anything, the
question of its animalism would of course be settled ;
will the existence of the bulb siphon, sucker, or what-
ever it is, assist in determining it ? — M. H. Robson,
Newcastle-upon- Tyne.
A New Method of Preserving Infusoria.
— Would T. C. kindly furnish more particulars of the
mixing solutions ? I do not understand what he means
by chromic oxydichloride acid. Is it dichloride of
chromium ? I have some of this in solution saturated
and slightly acid ; but he does not state the strength
or percentage either of this or of the permanganate
of potash, so that I am puzzled to know how to mix
it.— T. B.
Microscopic Cleanliness. — Amongst the many
difficulties with which the working microscopist is
surrounded, none (in a small way) is more general
and annoying than the difficulty he experiences in
keeping his hands perfectly clean. Let him be as
particular and careful as he may, stains of balsam,
pigments and varnishes, and smears of the thousand
and one sticky and discolouring materials with which
he has to deal will get upon his fingers, and to
remove them he often finds to be a matter involving
much time and trouble. Soap and water won't touch
them, ether is expensive, and turpentine or benzole
is dirty and offensive in smell. Mr. Archer, of
Liverpool, has recently patented a small slab or block
i6o
HARD WICKE ' 6" S CIENCE - G O SSI P.
of pumice stone, the surface of which is chased into
quadrangular facets or dice, and which has been
christened the Patent Chequered Pumice Tablet.
In this little article the practical microscopist will
find a true friend. All he has to do, whilst washing
the hands, is to use this little scrubber with its
faceted surface well covered with soap, and he will
find all stains and smears vanish under its action, as
if by magic. Such, at any rate, is my experience,
and I have been so well pleased with it that I have
thought it worth while thus to bring it under the
notice of my fellow-workers, in order that they may
share the satisfaction which I have experienced from
its use. — Dr. M.
Another Method of Staining Microscopical
Specimens. — Dr. G. Brosicke, of Berlin, recom-
mends a combination of osmic acid and oxalic acid
for staining the tissues, instead of osmic acid alone.
Small pieces of the tissue, or prepared sections, are
placed for an hour in one per cent, osmic acid solu-
tion, and then carefully washed to remove all super-
fluous acid. They are then immersed for twenty-four
hours or longer in a cold saturated aqueous solution
of oxalic acid (one to fifteen), and are ready for
examination in water or glycerine. The result is that
while certain substances, such as mucin, cellulose,
starch, bacteria, the outer coat of certain fungi, &c,
are scarcely at all coloured, other tissues, such as the
vitreous humour, the substratum of the cornea, the
walls of the capillaries, and various intercellular con-
nective tissues, appear of a bright carmine ; and
muscular fibres, tendon, hyaline cartilage, the inter-
fibrillary substance of decalcified bone, and most of
the tissues rich in albumen are stained a darker
carmine. The grey substance of the central nervous
system, most nuclei, and many cells assume a dark
Burgundy red tint. In all these cases, however, each
particular tissue is stained a slightly different shade,
so that it can be readily distinguished from its neigh-
bours. None of the objects treated by this method
swell up, or exhibit signs of internal coagulation.
The oxalic acid produces darker or lighter shades in
proportion to the length of time the specimen had
previously been immersed in osmic acid, and if the
latter has once completely blackened the tissue, the
oxalic acid is powerless afterwards to redden it.
Mixed solutions of osmic and oxalic acids stain pro-
portionally to the relative strength of each. The
chief drawback to this method is the small penetrating
power of osmic acid, which prevents the whole thick-
ness of a specimen from being equally stained.
"Centerer" for Slides.— In your September
number, 1875, y° u inserted a sketch of my " centerer."
As I have altered and, I believe, improved it, I enclose
a sketch of what I now use. The shaded part is a piece
of wood about j, inch thick, screwed on the bed,
which is about \ inch thick ; sycamore is a good
wood for it. I use a piece of paper about 2 inches
long, and can thus have two different-sized holes
punched, which I place under the centre of the
slip. Under this I have a similar piece with two
colours on each side, so that I can use either. I find
black, white, blue, and red useful. The advantages
Fig. 134.— Improved Centerer for Slides.
of these alterations are that from the narrow neck
and the shortness of the paper the glass is more easily
handled, whilst we have more varieties on the same
paper of colours or holes. I use a round button,
putting the screw about ^ inch from the centre.—
W. Locock, Clifton.
Lead Cells.— Mr. M. A. Veeder, of Lyons, New
York, recommends cells made from the thin sheets
of lead with which tea boxes are usually lined. The
depth of the cell may be increased, by placing several
lead rings one upon another. Shallow cells may be
formed with the greatest ease in this manner.
ZOOLOGY.
Mistakes of Instinct. — As a contribution to
this subject, I may mention a failure of instinct in
Anthocharis Carda/nines, which has just come under
my observation. I always find the eggs here laid on
Cardamine pratensis, and always on the pedicel of the
flower. When the flower-bud is very small, it is
almost sessile ; but still the egg will be found so
placed as to avoid the floral envelopes, which being
very caducous will have fallen before the egg is
hatched, while it is the growing seed-pod which the
young larva wants to get at. I had some A. Car da-
mines this year which were bred and laid eggs in a
gauze cage upon cut flowers of Cardamine, and in
one instance the egg was deposited upon the sepal of
the flower, where in the natural course of things it
must have perished. — J. A. Osborne, M.D., Mil/ord,
Letterkenny.
f Simulation of Death by Insects. — In an
interesting paper read not long ago before the Ento-
mological Society, the simulation of death so frequently
observed among insects was regarded not as an in-
tentional stratagem to escape danger, but as a species
of catalepsy due to terror, and was, if I mistake not,
compared to the so-called fascination which certain
birds and small mammals experience in presence of a
serpent. It seems to me that the tendency to such
simulation in different species is, roughly speaking,
IIARDWICKKS SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
161
inversely as their locomotive powers. Thus as far as
the true insects are concerned, shamming death is
most common among the Coleoptera, the order
whose locomotive faculties are upon the whole lowest.
Looking again at the different groups of Coleoptera,
we find the tendency to simulate death absent, or at
least very rare, among the tiger-beetles, carabs, and the
Geodephaga generally ; among the long-horns, which,
when alarmed, rise in the air almost as readily as do
bees or Diptera ; among the Staphylini, which both
fly, run, and fight well, and among the Elateridse,
which escape danger by a sudden leap. On the
other hand, the semblance of death is often put on by
the Lamellicornes, which are slow crawlers, blunder-
ing flyers, and are incapable of taking wing without
some time for preparation. All these properties are
still more decided in the genus Byrrhus, and here
accordingly we find simulation at its height. At the
mere sound or vibration caused by an approaching
footstep, human or brute, a Byrrhus draws in its legs
and assumes very effectively the appearance of a small
stone or rounded clod of earth. Has a Byrrhus ever
been taken on the wing, or recognised when flying ?
Among spiders the same distinction may be traced.
The slower and more sedentary forms, if in presence
of a powerful enemy, roll themselves up in a ball, and
may easily pass unobserved. On the contrary, the
wandering ground spiders, such as the Lycosse, which
in warm weather bound with such rapidity that they
are sometimes by careless observers supposed to fly,
rarely resort to this stratagem except when very
persistently teased and intercepted. — C. R. Slater.
Pearls in Pecten maximus. — Lately my friend,
the Rev. H. F. Edge, was indulging in a dish of
scallops, when he found something which he con-
sidered extraneous and improper in his food, but
which on examination proved to be two perfectly
spherical pearls, one considerably larger than the
other, in fact as large as a small green pea, the other
smaller, in colour milky white, similar to what I
have from Ostrea ediriis. Never remembering to
have met with a similar case in Pecten maximus,
nor of the circumstance being mentioned in Jeffrey's
"British Conchology," I thought it would be of
interest to Science-Gossip. — John E. Daniel, 6 The
Terrace, Epsom.
Helix lapicida, var. minor. — My young friends,
the Misses, are again to the fore ; they were anxious
to find Helix lapicida; they were successful, and more
than so, for they brought me a number of the variety
H. I. minor. Personally I do not remember having
ever seen it before. The type, as most of your
readers are aware, is, although not rare, very local.
The locality is a wall in Downside, Epsom. I have
no doubt they would gladly supply other collectors
in exchange for other British land and fresh-water
shells. — John E. Daniel, 6 The Terrace, Epsom.
Capros aper, or Boar-fish. — In last month's
number of Science-Gossip you have a record of
specimens of Capros aper having been taken at Exmouth
and Swanage, and I can now add to these Eastbourne,
as two of my children found a fine specimen about
5f inches in length, on the beach close to the town,
which was alive when caught, and retained its
brilliancy of colour until put in spirits on the following
Monday. I believe it is the first time it has occurred
here. — F. C. S. Roper, F.L.S. &>c, Eastbourne.
Boar-fishes at the Brighton Aquarium. —
Perhaps the following brief notes on the boar-fish
{Capros aper) may interest some of the readers of
Science-Gossip, as the subject has recently attracted
attention in your columns. Its occurrence in the
British Channel seems to be hardly so rare an event
as supposed by your correspondent in the May number.
In vol. ii. of Dr. Giinther's "Catalogue of the
Acanthopterygian Fishes in the British Museum," the
Mediterranean is given as the usual habitat of the
boar-fish, which is further stated to occur occasionally
off Weymouth, Plymouth, and Brighton, and more
rarely on the Irish coast. Its appearance on the
Sussex coast is noted in Mrs. Merrifield's "Natural
History of Brighton," and I believe Dr. A. Giinther,
F.R.S., caught the first specimen obtained off that
town. There are at present two healthy boar-fishes
in the Brighton Aquarium, captured about a month
ago. In the summer months, the tank generally
occupied by several beautiful specimens of varieties of
the wrasse is rendered additionally attractive by the
presence of this pretty little bright-coloured genus,
which is by no means a bad show fish, despite an
occasional preference for rocky corners. Its habits
seem to resemble those of the dorys (Zeus), for, like
them, it often remains nearly motionless in the water
about halfway from the surface, and swims in the
same stately manner. The boar-fishes once acclima-
tised are tolerably hardy in captivity, thriving well
on a shrimp diet, but, as might be expected, they are
very sensible to cold. They seem to have been more
than usually plentiful this season, for Mr. Lawler, the
curator of the Aquarium, informs me that twenty were
caught together a short time back. The occurrence
of the "poisson sanglier," according to M. Eugene
Deslongchamps, is a much rarer event on the
Normandy coast. — Agnes Crane, Brighton.
"A Wonderful Discovery." — Under this title,
the " Brisbane Courier " published a long and
matter-of-fact-looking account of suspended anima-
tion, which has been republished in the English
newspapers, and given rise to no small amount of
comment. The "Courier" now acknowledges it
has been the victim of a hoax, and all those people
who have been contending for the possibility of sus-
pending animation for months and years at will have
been " sold."
162
HARD WICKE'S SCIENCE- G OSS IP.
Plates of Birds' Eggs. — An excellent coloured
plate (27 inches by 16 inches, on sheet 29 by 21
inches) of European birds' eggs is published by
Bouasse-Lebel, 29 Rue St. Sulpice, Paris, at two
and a half francs. It contains 184 figures, natural
sizes. Any French bookseller would supply it in
London for about half-a-crown. The plate in question
is No. 141 of the " Tableaux Synoptiques." The
series comprises nearly 200 plates illustrative of almost
every branch of scientific, mechanical, historical,
social and domestic inquiry — which, so far as I know,
are not equalled for quality and price. — R. T. Lciois.
Birds singing at Night. — On Monday, May 13,
I heard several birds singing in the park here as late
as half-past ten, the night being quite dark. On
Tuesday, May 14, I also heard one or two about the
same time. As there were (on the first night) several
singing, I was unable to distinguish any but the
thrush.— F. W. J., Reigatc.
Birds singing at Night. — Having seen several
notices of birds singing at night in Science-Gossip,
I thought this might be worth mentioning. While
staying at Maidstone last month (May), I heard a
cuckoo distinctly at about 10.30 or 11 p.m. ; the night
was fine, and the nightingales were singing loudly. —
J. M. Ward.
Birds of India. — At a recent meeting of the
Zoological Society, the secretary exhibited and made
remarks upon two volumes of original drawings of
the birds in India, which had been deposited in
the Society's library by Brigadier-General A. C.
McMaster. The volumes contained about 270
figures of the birds of India, most of which had been
drawn by soldiers in General McMaster's house at
Secunderabad.
"Nature cared for, and Nature uncared
for," is the title of a shilling pamphlet published
by West, Newman, & Co., London. It is in reality
a lecture by Mr. H. B. Hewetson, M.R.C.S., on
" Ornithology," and is a thoughtful and reverent and
well-expressed series of utterances on the mode in
which natural phenomena impress the hearts of
men. We have much enjoyed its perusal, although
we do not always commit ourselves to the opinions
of the author.
The Great Atlas Moth. — We have received a
copy of a monograph by P. H. Gosse, F.R.S., on
the " Life-History of the Great Atlas Moth of Asia"
(Attaais Atlas, Linn.), the largest known species of
Lepidoptera, containing a beautifully finished coloured
plate of its transformation. The work is published
by West, Newman, & Co., London. The monograph
is a careful study of the moth from specimens
reared by Mr. Gosse from the egg to the adult
stage.
The teaching of Natural History. — In a
recent address Mr. Gladstone spoke as follows in
favour of natural history teaching in schools : — I can-
not help saying one word upon that subject which I
think, on the whole, has been worse used in the
schools of this country than all the other branches of
knowledge. I mean that which is called Natural
History. I speak of natural history, such as is open
to you both by the study and by the observation of
living objects and of dead objects in nature, such as
continually come around and solicit your attention.
I do not myself believe that natural history has had
quite fair play, and I have always felt it most grievous
among the many blanks of our early training that we
were totally ignorant of it. I will just give you these
four points in connection with natural history. In
the first place, it is a continual lesson — a lesson at
once easy and profound — of the wisdom and bene-
ficence of Providence, a continual confirmation and
belief, when you find the wonderful hand of that
Workman descending to the smallest objects with
the same care with which He mounts to the greatest.
The religious use of natural history is one that all
must delight in. The next point is this. Learning
is an admirable thing, but it does not always make
itself agreeable at the first introduction, at least that
was my experience ; I don't know whether it is yours.
Much has been done, I believe, to improve these
initial stages. It certainly is a marked advantage in
the study of natural history that it leads you on by
the hand ; it inveigles you, if I may say so, into
learning what is good and what is useful. Many a
one might have his mind first opened to the attractions
of natural history, which mind, if once opened, might
perhaps be capable of applying itself beneficially to
harder and more repulsive studies. Another point is
this, natural history is one of the best and most
efficient means for the education of the senses. Some
may perhaps tell us that our senses are educated well
enough already, and claim quite large enough a
portion of our existence. Of course that is perfectly
true so far as the grosser forms of enjoyment are
concerned ; but so far as the senses are concerned as
organs for the acquisition of knowledge, they are
very indifferently educated indeed. This habit of
minute, careful, and accurate observation, which is
inseparable from natural history studies, gives to the
senses that habit of accurate distinction which is
invaluable as an assistant in the pursuit of every
branch of knowledge. Lastly, let me say that these
analogies of natural history are invaluable ; they
have a most gracious effect in developing the finer
faculties of the mind ; they establish a connection
between the different portions of creation.
How to establish a Rookery. — We wish to
establish a rookery in the churchyard garden of St.
John's, Waterloo Road, Lambeth. Will any of
your readers kindly assist us by telling us the best
plan to pursue ? — Arthur J. Robinson.
BARBWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
163
GEOLOGY.
The Pre-Cambrian Rocks of Caernarvon.—
A paper on this subject lias just been read by Professor
T. M 'Kenny Hughes, in which the author divides
these rocks into (1) the volcanic series, (2) the felsitic
series, (3) the granitoid series. He traces the former
of these, consisting of coarser and finer varieties, from
Caernarvon to near Port Dinorwig. Beyond these
comes the felsite series, which is overlapped by grits
and conglomerates as far as the Bangor road, north-
east ofBrithdir. Above the latter comes the "volcanic
series," well developed in the neighbourhood of
Bangor. The author is of opinion that the Cambrian
conglomerate, with associated grits, may be traced in
the edge of the older massif from Twt Hill, Caer-
narvon, to Garth Point, Bangor, and that the beds in
each of these places and near Brithdir, recently de-
scribed as separate, are identical ; also that the bed
with purple fragments near Tairffynnon and the
Bangor Poorhouse are only Cambrian conglomerate
faulted down. Further, he considers that the strata
of the above three series are fairly parallel throughout,
and that they only form three subdivisions of one
great series.
The Geological Society. — The following were
among papers recently read at the monthly meeting :
" On a fossil Squilla from the London Clay of High-
gate, part of the Wetherell Collection in the British
Museum." ByH. Woodward, LL.D., F.R.S., F.G.S.
The specimen described is preserved, as usual, in a
phosphatic nodule, and exhibits five well-preserved
abdominal segments (xiv.-xvm.), a portion of the
carapace, traces of the thoracic appendages, and the
appendages of the twentieth segment preceding the
telson. The abdominal segments increase in breadth
posteriorly as in modern Squillse. The species is most
nearly allied to a recent Australian Squilla (unnamed)
related to S. Desmarcstii. The author proposed the
name of Squilla Wetheretti for the London-clay fossil.
" On A T ecroscilla Wilsoni, a supposed Stomatopod
Crustacean from the Middle Coal-measures, Cossall,
near Ilkeston, Derbyshire." By H. Woodward, Esq.,
LL.D., F.R.S., F.G.S. The specimen described was
found by Mr. E. Wilson, of Nottingham, in a nodule
of clay-ironstone. It consists of the four posterior
abdominal somites and the telson. The author dis-
cussed its zoological characters, which led him to
regard it as approaching the Stomatopoda rather
than the Isopoda. He thought it probable that Dr.
Dawson's Diplostylus is allied to this newly discovered
form, for which he proposed the name of Necroscilla
Wilsoni.
"On the Discovery of a fossil Squilla in the
Cretaceous Deposits of Hakel, in the Lebanon." By
H. Woodward, LL.D., F.R.S., F.G.S. This fossil
Squilla occurs in a collection, chiefly consisting of
fossil-fish, but also including several Crustacea and
some beautifully preserved Cephalopods, obtained in
the Lebanon by Professor E. R. Lewis, of Beirut.
The specimens are in a compact cream-coloured lime-
stone, most of the slabs of which contain examples of
Clupea brcvissima and C. Bottcv, fragments of Eury-
pholis Boissieri, and other fishes. Like the London-
clay form, the species seems to be most nearly allied
to the Australian species collected by Professor Jukes,
and the segments are not ornamented with spines and
ridges. The author proposed for it the name of
Squilla Lewisii.
"On the Occurrence of a Fossil King-Crab
(Limulus) in the Cretaceous Formation of the
Lebanon." By H. Woodward, LL.D., F.R.S.,
F.G.S. This was another of Professor Lewis's
discoveries, and was of much interest as helping to
bridge over the interval between the Jurassic Limuli
of Solenhofen and those now living. The author
described the characters presented by the single
specimen, for which he proposed the name of Limulus
syriacus.
Gigantic Reptiles of Colorado. — Professor
Cope describes the bones of a species of Camarasaurus,
which he says represent a most gigantic animal. The
transverse diameter of the neck vertebra; is fifty-six
inches, and the diameter of the distal end of the
femur is twenty-one inches. This reptile is found in
the Oolitic formation of Colorado.
The Midland Union of Natural History
Society, held their second meeting at Leicester, on
May the 20th and 21st, and the proceedings were of
a most satisfactory character. The societies in the
union number about 3000 members. An address was
delivered by Mr. George Stevenson ; field excursions
were conducted under the able leadership of Mr. W. J.
Harrison, F.G.S., the energetic curator of Leicester
Museum, and Mr. F. J. Mott ; and conversaziones
were held in the evenings. Next year the annual
gathering will take place at Northampton.
Remains of Iguanodon in the Kimmeridge
Clay. — Professor Prestwich has just described the
occurrence of part of the skeleton of an Iguanodon
found in the Kimmeridge clay near Oxford. The
remains are evidently those of a young animal. The
occurrence in this stratum proves that the Iguanodon
was not confined to the lower Cretaceous and Wealden
period as has been supposed, but that it existed
during Oolitic times.
The Physical History of the English Lake
District. — When the fittest man can be got to do
required work, the result must be satisfactory. The
Rev. J. Clifton-Ward, F.G.S., has just concluded a
series of articles on the above subject in the "Geo-
logical Magazine," and they unquestionably form the
best geological history of the Lake District which has
yet been written.
164
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
The Geology of Northumberland. — Pro-
fessor Lebour, F.G.S., of the College of Physical
Science, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, has prepared an ex-
cellent geological map of the county of Northumber-
land, which is published by Andrew Reid, Newcastle.
This map will be of great service to geological students.
The Royal School of Mines. — The appoint-
ment of Professor F. W. Rudler, of the University
College of Wales, to be curator of the Museum of
Practical Geology, and registrar of the Royal School
of Mines, Jermyn Street, in succession to the late
Mr. Trenham Reeks, will give great satisfaction to
all geologists throughout the United Kingdom.
Underground Geology. — In a deep well-boring
at Ware, Plerts, the chalk and the gault were passed
through, but the lower greensand was absent, and
the boring tool at once struck upon upper Silurian
rocks, lying at an angle of forty degrees, although
unfortunately the direction of the dip is unknown.
These rocks were found to be rich in characteristic
fossils, twenty-eight species of which have been
properly catalogued.
BOTANY.
Orchis Morio. — In an upland meadow in South
Beds, I have just obtained about a dozen spikes of this
Orchis, showing every gradation of colour, from dark
purple, through various shades of red and pink, to a
pure white, with the exception of the characteristic
green lines on the side sepals. The higher the
general hue, the brighter was the green of these lines.
The pollinia also varied with the colour of the flower.
Those in the darkest varieties were tinged with
purple, and those in the white one were a rich golden
yellow. Very few insects had apparently visited
these flowers, for in most of the spikes none of the
pollinia had been removed, in others only two or
three, and in no case were both removed from the
same blossom. The visits of insects may have been
prevented by the excessive rains of the last few days.
— y. Saunders, Lnton.
Nutrition in relation to Flowers.— At
a recent meeting of the Linnean Society, a paper
by Mr. Thomas Meehan, the well-known American
botanist, was read, in which the author's observations
on Wistaria sinensis, W.frntescens, Catalpa syringes-
folia, and Limina perenne were given. Mr. Meehan
thinks that the struggle for power between the vege-
tative and the reproductive forces decides fertility,
and suggests that the perfection of the polliniferous
organs, and the consequent potency of pollen, is
dependent on phases of nutrition involved in this
struggle. Thus, in the above mentioned plants, it is
seen that potency in pollen, the main element in
reproductive force, operates only when there has been
some check given to the force of vegetative growths.
Insects destroyed by Flowers. — At a recent
meeting of the Entomological Society, Mr. J. M. Slater
sent a short paper on the above subject, in which he
stated that, whilst it is generally admitted that the
gay colours of flowers are mainly subservient to the
purpose of attracting bees and other winged insects,
whose visits play so important a part in the process
of fertilisation, one important fact had scarcely received
due attention. Certain gay-coloured or conspicuous
flowers are avoided by bees, or, if visited, have an
injurious and even fatal effect upon the insects.
Among these are the dahlia, passion-flower, crown-
imperial, and especially the oleander. That the
flowers of the dahlia have a narcotic effect, was first
pointed out by the Rev. L. Jenyns, who mentions
that bees which visit these flowers are soon seized
with a sort of torpor, and often die unless speedily
removed. Mr. Jenyns also quotes a writer in the
"Gardener's Chronicle," who pronounces the culti-
vation of the dahlia incompatible with the success of
the bee-keeper. The passion-flower also stultifies
bees, and bees of all kinds avoid the crown-imperial
and the oleander, for the honey of the latter is fatal
to flies. Mr. Slater did not remember ever seeing a
butterfly or moth settling on the flowers of this shrub
in Hungary and Dalmatia, and he thinks it important
that observers should ascertain whether the above-
mentioned phenomena be true, and, whether any
insects in such cases undertake the functions generally
exercised by bees, and whether flowers have a simi-
larly noxious or deadly action upon insects.
NOTES AND QUERIES.
Slow Worm. — Mr. E. D. Marquand in his interest-
ing article on "The New Forest," mentions "a
bright reddish-purple variety" of the slow worm. A
few particulars respecting this variety as to its rarity
or otherwise, whether found in any other locality,
&c, would, I think, be interesting toother readers of
Science-Gossip as well as for myself. No mention
is made of it by Bell in his work on British reptiles.
Has Mr. Marquand met with Coluber (or Coronella)
Levis ? I find the New Forest mentioned as one of
its localities in the volume of Science-Gossip for
1872.— IV. G. TuxforJ.
Cat rearing a Rat. — Even a more extraordinary
thing than a cat bringing up rabbits, is the following
case of a cat taking care of a rat for a month, when
the rat escaped. Last summer, a cat, a famous
hunter, was kept in a grocer's shop in Helensburgh.
She had a litter of kittens, of which three or four
were drowned. A day or two after this the cat came
upon a nest of young rats, six of which she killed, while
she carried off two, and put them in a basket beside her
remaining kittens. Her owner then put the kittens and
rats in a long barrel to prevent their getting out. For a
fortnight or so they all lived happily together, the
rats getting no food, so they must have been suckled
by the cat. One of the rats being a weakly one was
overlaid. A shopman took the remaining rat out of
the barrel when it ran away, but the cat found it,
and took it back to the barrel. Getting annoyed by
people who came to inspect the happy family, the cat
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
165
moved them all, rat included, to a corner of the shop,
and a board was put up to keep them in. The rat
several times tried to escape by either climbing over
or making holes in the board. One night after it had
been about a month under the care of its natural
enemy, a piece of curtain having been left hanging
over the board, the rat which had now grown pretty
large escaped, and was never seen again. I pass
through Helensburgh nearly every day, and saw the
rat lying in the nest with the kittens. — E. L. F.
Under what Circumstances is the Yew
Poisonous to Horses and Cows? — In my garden
there are some yew-trees, planted forty or fifty years
ago, which hang over a wall into an adjoining yard,
where van-horses have constantly been in the habit of
standing while the vans were loaded and unloaded,
and I have never known any of the horses to have
suffered. There is also in a park in this neighbour-
hood a long row of yew-trees exposed to the deer,
cows, and horses, which graze there, but I have never
heard of any harm having resulted. On the other
hand, I understand that in a gentleman's grounds near
here, two valuable cows last year got access to, and
ate some cut branches of yew, and died in consequence ;
and I am told that in the case of a horse which died
from eating yew, a post mortem examination shewed
that death resulted from irritation of the intestines,
caused by the sharp prickly points of the leaves, rather
than from any poisonous property in their juices. I
shall be much obliged by any information on the
subject. — T. If. G., Kettering.
The Natterjack Toad. — I am glad to hear from
Mr. J. Campbell in your issue of January, that the
malodorous charge against our little friend, the
natterjack, is a calumny. I was deterred from trying
to obtain a specimen on account of what I had read.
Mr. M. C. Cooke gives him a bad character in his
book on " British Reptiles," and the late Mr. Harland
Coultas in a work entitled " The Home Naturalist"
says, " When pursued, the cross (or natterjack) toad
draws itself together, so that the glands of its skin
empty themselves, and its body becomes covered
with a whitish moisture, giving out an intolerable
stench which has been aptly compared to the smell
of an old tobacco pipe ; this is undoubtedly a means
of defence with which the animal has been provided
by the Creator." No wonder then after reading this
description of the reptile, I did not attempt to obtain
a specimen, but addressed a query to the editor, who
transferred the question to the Notes and Queries
column, where a reply appeared from Mr. W. R.
Tate to the effect that the reptile gave off a strong
sulphurous scent when frightened. Mr. Campbell's
experience of the animal is still more favourable,
which would lead one to suppose that some only are
able to give off this smell, whilst others do not possess
the power to do so. I beg to thank Mr. Tate and
Mr. Campbell for their kindness in answering my
question, and as the latter gentleman has actually
kept the animal, he would greatly add to his kindness
if he could give me some particulars with regard to
its food, &c. As very little seems to be known about
this species of toad, such information would, I think,
be of general interest. — j. Perrycap.
Dogs affected by Sound of Music. — A black-
and-tan terrier that we kept for some time was par-
ticularly sensitive to music. Although scales played
on the piano made her yell piteously it was by the
concertina's sweet influences that she was most affected,
flying before it and if unable to leave the room, whin-
ing until the tune was stopped. A Spitzbergen dog-
friend of ours is much excited by music, but when
I one tune is played its excitement is more marked — the
' tune is " Bonny Dundee." Dogs are not peculiar in
J their feeling for music, witness the fact that retired
j cavalry horses obey the call of the bugle when acci-
: dentally heard.— C. J. W.
Blackcap in December. — On December 17 last
I was surprised and interested by seeing a blackcap
busily engaged searching for insects among the
bare branches of a vine trained against my house.
There had been a hard, I should say unusually
severe, frost for more than a week, and many even
of our winter birds seemed to be pinched and sadly
in want of food. The frost was then beginning to
give, but I little expected to see so thoroughly a
summer visitant able to endure such unusually wintry
weather. I watched it for some minutes, and, as it
was not three yards from my face, I had no doubt
of its being a veritable blackcap. During the months
of November and December last a hawfinch was
seen nearly every day upon my lawn. — IT. M. M.,
Badgworth, Weston-super-Mare.
Cornus sanguinea. — I think it is not unusual for
this plant to flower in autumn. I noticed one of our
hedges quite gay with its blossoms at that season in
last year. — J. M., Neio Brompton, Kent.
Tea Stains. — Can you tell me why tea produces a
blue stain when coming in contact with steel ? A
little black tea dropped from the tea-pot on a table-
knife has this effect.— R. H. N. B.
Nuthatch. — I observed on Friday, March 28, a
Nuthatch (Sitta enropiea) on Barnes Common. Is
this not rather a rare bird so near London ? — E. V.
Seebohm, A r assau School, Barnes, S. W.
Parrots and their Eggs. — The note in May
number on this subject has attracted the attention of
a gentleman resident in this neighbourhood, whose
parrakeet has lately laid three eggs, with an interval
of a day or two between each laying — the dates
of the events being April 18, 21, 25, of this present
year. Thinking that possibly some Manchester
naturalists might be glad to see them, he has kindly
placed them in my hands to show. — E. Ward, 29 Bur-
lington Street, Manchester.
Intelligence of Animals. — A very worthy and
candid old clergyman of my acquaintance used to tell
the following story about some sagacious little dogs
of his, in proof, as he was wont to admit, that
"they knew, better than himself, how to observe
Sunday." In the doctrine of his life he was in the
habit of taking a constitutional ride daily ; but on
Sundays, when he went to perform the service in a
neighbouring church, his little dogs, who were his
faithful companions on the other days of the week,
were not allowed to accompany him. On one
special Sunday, having a clerical son staying with
him, he gave himself a holiday, and instead of going
to serve his church, indulged himself with his ordi-
nary ride. No invitations, however, could persuade
the little dogs to go with him. In vain he called ; in
vain he whistled. They would not break through
their good habits, at the cost probably of some little
self-denial, and in defiance of the lax example of their
master. — C. W. Bingham.
Instinct or Reason. — I am not a little sur-
prised that so many of your correspondents question
the reasoning powers of animals, or treat as a moot
point that on which nearly all the best authorities are
agreed. In Professor Huxley's admirable little volume
on Hume, recently published, we find the following :
" We must admit that Hume does not express him-
self too strongly when he says, ' no truth appears to
i66
RARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
me more evident than that the beasts are endowed
with thought and reason as well as men. The argu-
ments are in this case so obvious, that they never escape
the most stupid and ignorant.' In fact this is one of
the few cases in which the conviction which forces
itself upon the stupid and the ignorant, is fortified
by the reasonings of the intelligent, and has its
foundation deepened by every increase of knowledge."
(Huxley's " Hume," p. 104.) From the same
volume I must quote another very amusing and
suggestive passage. "One of the most curious
peculiarities of the dog mind is its inherent snobbish-
ness, shown by the regard paid to external respect-
ability. The dog who barks furiously at a beggar
will let a well-dressed man pass him without opposi-
tion. Has he not then a ' generic idea ' of rags and
dirt associated with the idea of aversion, and that of
sleek broadcloth associated with the idea of liking ? "
(Ibid. p. 106.) Probably this trait of canine character
has struck most persons who have any dog friends :
it is very noticeable what an ineradicable hatred of
uniforms dogs show, and very few postmen of any
ength of service can be found who will not testify
to the doggish detestation which is manifested
towards them, however friendly their bearing. In
this connection it is interesting to notice how Miss
Cobbe finds elevation of character where Professor
Huxley finds "snobbishness;" here is her verdict,
" A clever dog is one of the best discriminators of
character in the world. He distinguishes at a glance
a tramp or swell-mobsman from a gentleman, even in
the most soiled attire. He has also a keen sense of
the relative importance of persons, and never fails to
know who is the master of the house." ("False
Beasts and True," p. 158.) Although, as all the
world knows, Miss Cobbe is an ultra-enthusiastic
pleader for the brute-world, the little work just
quoted from affords a storehouse of arguments for
the existence of reason in brutes ; certainly it is
hard to deny them this attribute when we even find
them giving way to superstition. " Superstition,
or the awe of the unknown, has been treated by some
thinkers as the primary germ of religion, and by
others, far more justly as its shadow. This shadow
certainly falls on the dog no less than on man.
The bravest dog will continually show signs of terror
at the sight of an object which he does not under-
stand, such as the skin of a dead animal, the snake of
a hookah, a pair of bellows, or a rattle. That the
brute fancies there is something uncanny and preter-
natural about such things, is apparent from his
behaviour, which in a real case of clanger is
aggressively daring, and in that of imaginary peril
abjectly timorous." (Ibid. p. 146.) Turn we to Mr.
Darwin, his opinion is very clear, and will have
with many the weight of a decision. "Of all the
faculties of the human mind," he says, "it will,
I presume, be admitted that reason stands at
the summit. Only a few persons now dispute that
animals possess some power of reasoning. Animals
may constantly be seen to pause, deliberate, and re-
solve. It is a significant fact that the more the habits
of any particular animal are studied by a naturalist,
the more he attributes to reason, and the less to un-
learnt instincts." (" Descent of Man," 2nd ed. p. 75.)
Does not Mr. Wheatley hit on the true distinction
between man and the brute-world, when he assigns
it to language ? And does not Mr. Gilliard venture
on a very rash assertion when he says, " it is capable
of proof that man cannot act at all intuitively ? " It
is well known that Professor Max. Muller has urged
with his usual eloquence that language will yet prove
the hard and fast barrier between spirit and matter,
between man and brute ; let us note then what he
says on the almost settled case of Reason versus
Instinct. "Some philosophers imagine they have
explained everything if they ascribe to brutes instinct
instead of intellect. But, if we take these two words
in their usual acceptations, they surely do not exclude
each other. There are instincts in man as well as in
brutes. A child takes his mother's breast by instinct,
the spider weaves his net by instinct ; the bee builds
her cell by instinct. . . . But what if we tear a
spider's web and see the spider examining the mis-
chief that is clone, and either giving up his work in
despair, or endeavouring to mend it as well as may
be ? Surely here we have the instinct of weaving
controlled by observation, by comparison, by reflec-
tion, by judgment. Instinct, whether mechanical or
moral, is more prominent in brutes than in man, but
it exists in both, as much as intellect is shared by
both." ("Lectures on the Science of Language," 9th ed.
vol. i. p. 402.) Perhaps the latest and most startling
theory, stated with a grotesque naivete which has a
bewildering charm, is that of Mr. Samuel Butler, who,
in his powerful book called "Life and Habit," boldly
says that " instinct is inherited memory." It is unfair
to tear from the texture of his ingenious argument
and elaborate illustration isolated passages, but the
following samples will perhaps whet the appetites of
those interested in the subject. Touching on the
inveteracy of habit, and the difficulty of breaking
away from " The grey nurses Use and Wont," he
says, " In our own case, the habit of breathing like
a fish through gills may serve as an example. We
have now left off this habit, yet we did it formerly,
for so many generations, that we still do it a little,
it still crosses our embryological existence like a faint
memory or dream, for not easily is an inveterate
habit broken." ("Life and Habit," p. 70.) Again,
"The action of embryo making its way up in the
world from a simple cell to a baby, developing for
itself eyes, ears, hands, and feet while yet unborn,
proves to be exactly of one and the same kind as that
of a man of fifty who goes into the city and tells his
broker to buy him so many Great Northern A shares."
And this, "The duckling hatched by the hen makes
straight for water. In what conceivable way can we
account for this, except on the supposition that the
duckling knows perfectly well what it can and what
it cannot do with water, owing to its recollection of
what it did when it was still one individuality with
its parents, and hence when it was a duckling before."
Taking such passages as this by themselves we might
be tempted to doubt with the "Saturday Review,"
whether Mr. Butler was not palming off a big joke
on the public, but carefully read, the impression is
more likely to be that of Mr. Wallace, and this
distinguished naturalist sees in "Life and Habit"
much sound speculation and vital truth. — James
Hooper, De?unark Hill, S.E.
Intelligence in Animals. — "It is quite clear"
(says Dr. Whately) " that if such acts were done by
man they would be regarded as an exercise of reason,
and I do not know why, when performed by brutes,
evidently by a similar process, so far as can be judged,
they should not bear the same name. To talk of
a cat's having instinct to pull a bell when desirous of
going out at the door .... would be to use words
at random." And I think many would agree with
the learned archbishop if they would carefully consider
the testimonies and researches of such eminent
naturalists and thinkers as Locke, the philosopher,
Bacon and Burns, Professors Darwin, Huber, Brehm,
Rengger, Kirby and Lord, F.Z.S., Rev. F .O. Morris,
Lubbock, and the lately recognised genius Edward,
of Banff, &c. As an example, of which so many can
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
167
be adduced, let us take an incident related by Mr.
Edward : he saw two birds vainly trying to turn over
a large fish on the sands to get the vermin beneath ;
after many futile attempts, extending over half an
hour or more, and after attracting a third bird who
helped them to no purpose, they stood together and
apparently by their noise were engaged in some
mysterious process of conversation and reasoning,
they again set to work eagerly, and dug a hole in the
sands from one side of the fish, even to undermining
a certain distance, and then, with evident expres-
sions of triumph, rolled it over with ease, and com-
menced the feast they had worked for. That fish
measured 3^ feet, being a fine cod, and those birds
undoubtedly used their reason to elaborate a scheme
to accomplish their object. Without running off into
Darwinian theories, I would remind Dr. Keegan,
seeing he lays so much stress on the capacity of the
brain, that one of our great physiologists tells us —
' ' That every chief fissure and fold of the brain of
man has its analogy in that of the ourang :" and
Huxley adds, "Whilst in those things in which the
brains of men and apes do differ, there is also a great
difference among various men." It is true structure is
not all — the machinery may be perfect in every detail,
yet, if it lack the motive power, of what avail is it ?
Still, is it not reasonable to suppose that structure
being so similar, God intended the ape to use his
brain like man's, but in a less degree ? The chief
obstacle to belief in the reasoning power of animals
lies in the fear of what the admission may lead to, but
surely we need not grudge to these poor brutes the
possession of a feeble development of reason, when
man, and man alone, can thank his Creator for giving
him a hope of a future which no animal seems destined
to enjoy. — yohn H. Wilson.
Intelligence in Animals. — I heard a singular
story of a Skye terrier, which was told me by a lady-
friend who knows the dog well ; it was a great
pet with its master. On one occasion its master
brought home a puppy of another breed. On its intro-
duction into the house, the Skye terrier appeared to
take no notice of it whatever. After a few days the
puppy could nowhere be found, and on making
inquiry, the gardener said he remembered seeing the
Skye terrier smoothing some earth down on the top
of a rubbish heap in the garden, and on examining the
said heap, the body of the puppy was found buried
some depth. The Skye terrier, being jealous of the
notice the puppy received from its master, had enticed
the puppy to the heap, killed and then buried it. —
Edmund Durrant.
Sagacity of a Tree-creeper. — Anecdotes tend-
ing to show some sort of reasoning power in the
more sagacious quadrupeds are not uncommon, but
the following having reference to that diminutive
bird the common creeper ( Certhia familiaris) is in-
teresting as proving these faculties to be possessed
by others than dogs, horses, and animals of com-
paratively complicated brain-structure. Within the
last few days we have seen the nest of one of these
creatures very snugly placed within a hole in a wall
caused by the removal of an entire brick, the breach
being partially and to all appearance almost entirely
filled up by a portion of the same placed loosely in
front. As the movements of the small parents were
a source of interest to the proprietor, the loose piece
had frequently been removed, and the privacy of the
hen bird had been invaded by more than one pair of
curious eyes, until she was so far familiarised to the
intrusion as to remain undisturbed on her eggs while
under inspection. Her mate, however, does not
seem to have shared her confidence and determined
to put an end, if possible, to these unwelcome visits.
He would fasten the half brick as other bricks were
fastened, and, failing mortar, placed in the crack as
much well-kneaded clay as he could accumulate.
This is the more remarkable as the bird uses no
cement of any kind in making its nest. The work
though small in extent was as well executed as though
a swallow had been the engineer. But alas ! it was
easily broken by human hands, and the work of the
architect must be recommenced. I grieve to add
that, after a second earthwork had in like manner
been constructed, the ingenuity and perseverance of
the bird could no longer be tried, for at this stage
some unknown person robbed the birds of the eggs.
J. J. Plummet:
Can Worms crawl Backwards ? — My atten-
tion having been drawn to this subject by a note in
the May number of this valuable magazine, I have
experimented with the result that they can crawl
backwards, though very reluctantly. When experi-
menting, I tried to make a worm crawl along a narrow
path, and every time it turned its head from the
straight course, I gave it a gentle reminder on the
head with a piece of stick. After sundry knocks, it
came to the wise conclusion that it would rather
crawl backwards than be hit in this way. It then
crawled backwards about three feet. I have experi-
mented on other worms, and in different ways, always
with the same result, viz. : that they can crawl
backwards. — Percy A. Ramage, Stoneclough, near
Manchester.
Snakes. — I caught an ordinary brown snake in
Epping Forest lately, and as it was rather longer
than ordinary (2 feet 6 inches) I determined to stuff
it. As I could not get any ordinary naturalist to
undertake it (!) I did it myself. After skinning it, I
threw the skin into some hot water with some wash-
ing soda in it to get off some of the fat adhering to it ;
immediately it was immersed, all the brown scales
changed to a bright light blue and the darker shades
to a beautiful black. How is this to be accounted
for 1 It was not the new skin, but a perfect change
of colour. — y. D. Hardy, Clapton.
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS.
To Correspondents and Exchangers. — As we now
publish Science-Gossip a week earlier than heretofore, we
cannot possibly insert in the following number any communi-
cations which reach us later than the 9th of the previous
month.
To Anonymous Querists. — We receive so many queries
which do not bear the writers' names that we are forced to
adhere to our rule of not noticing them.
To Dealers and others. — We are always glad to treat
dealers in natural history objects on the same fair and general
ground as amateurs, in so far as the " exchanges " offered are fair
exchanges. But it is evident that, when their offers are simply
disguised advertisements, for the purpose of evading the cost of
advertising, an advantage is taken of our gratuitous insertion of
"exchanges" which cannot be tolerated.
G. H. Steward. — You will find an outline of all the great
changes which our planet has experienced, physical and vital,
in Taylor's " Geological Stories," 4th edition, published by
Hardwicke & Bogue, 192 Piccadilly, W., price 4^.
J. C. Glough. — Your plant is the beautiful Water avens
(Geum rivalej.
J. W. and others. — Egg-drills, &c, may be procured of
Mr. R. B. Spalding, 46 High Street, Notting Hill, London, W.
R. T. Lewis — Many thanks for your generous and prompt
answers.
L. Hawkins. — We are always willing to assist students in
naming specimens, and it is a genuine pleasure to do so. The
remarks made were those of the gentleman to whom your speci-
mens were forwarded.
i68
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
W. A. Firth. — Your seaweed is Ptilota phtmosa.
F. H. Arnold. — We do not think it "hopeless" to secure
you the sedges you require.
To Botanical Exchange Club Members. — The former
list of desiderata will remain open for the present year.
. W. M. H. — The "knots" in the straw of wheat are the solid
nodes which are common to all the grass family throughout the
world.
E. Pritchard. — Dr. Carpenter's "Animal Physiology "(last
edition) ; Huxley & Martin's " Text-Book of Physiology ;" Dr.
Nicholson's "Manual of Zoology;" Huxley's "Lessons in
Elementary Physiology," and Wilson's "Zoology" (published
by Chambers) are all good books for the object you seek.
H. K. Moiser. — The list of desiderata for the Botanical
Exchange Club has not been sent out this year, as it was thought
that of last summer might stand.
T. W. Harris. — Your shells are Clausilia rugosa. Get
Tate's "British Mollusks," coloured illustrations, price 6s.
London : Hardwicke & Bogue.
J. Elkingtov. — The specimens are (i) the round sea-urchin
(Echinus spha-ra), and (2) the purple-tipped sea-urchin (Echinus
miliaris).
P. R. V. — Your flower is Fritillaria meleagris.
J. J. T. — The only place where coralline crag fossils can be
obtained is Orford in Suffolk.
R. Brown. — Get Dr. Cooke's " Microscopic Fungi," published
by Hardwicke & Bogue, with coloured plates, &c, at 6s.
W. B. Scott (Chudleigh). — Wishes some reader of Science-
Gossip to send him specimens of the natterjack toad and the
crested newt ( Triton cristatus).
B. M. W. — Your specimen is not a lichen, but the mycelia
of a fungus which is common on the walls of wine-cellars.
Mrs. Edwards and Rev. C. F. W. T. Williams. — Accept
our best thanks for the botanical specimens forwarded to us.
Mr. J. G. Osborne, who is engaged in some observations
on the development of the embryo in invertebrate ova, wishes
to know of some preparation which would render the structures
more transparent, and arrest and preserve them at different
stages (see article in our March number on " Preserving delicate
Organisms," and paragraph in this number under head of
"Microscopy").
EXCHANGES.
Wanted, unset specimens of British Spiculiferous Hymenop-
tera, especially the Chalcididae. Well-mounted slides of vege-
table tissues stained in two colours, offered in exchange. — Charles
Vance Smith, Carmarthen.
For specimen of Periderniiwn Pini (rare in England), send
stamped addressed envelope and object of interest to Charles
F. W. T. Williams, 4 Darlington Place, Bathwick Hill, Bath.
Fine American Lower Silurian and Devonian fossils, in ex-
change for British Mesozoic fossils. — A. B. Baker, 2 College
Ave, Rochester, New York, U.S.A.
The " Dictionary of Mechanics " (E. H. Knight), 29 numbers
to date, offered in exchange for 1874, 1875, and 1876 of Science-
Gossip, or work on natural history. — R. L. Hawkins, Hastings.
Liberal exchange in first-class objects, offered for a pure
gathering of Volvox globator. Communicate before sending. —
E. Wheeler, 48 Tollington Road, Holloway, N.
Wanted, freshly-collected insects for microscopic purposes,
in exchange for unmounted objects, curiosities, &c; four varieties,
Japanese cloth, for one well-mounted slide, curious structure. — ■
Tylar, 165 Well Street, Birmingham.
Wanted, Turton's " Linnaeus," vol. i. 1806. — W. E. Milner,
47 Park Road, Haverstock Hill, N.W.
Duplicate eggs of capercaille, common sandpiper, common
snipe, blue-tailed godwit, spoonbill, heron, little bittern, moorhen,
coot sheldrake, razor-bill, guillemot, and black-headed gull, all
side-blown. List of what is required in exchange, will be sent
on application to R. Davenport, 124 Georgiana Street, Bury,
Lancashire.
For micro slides, saloon pistol, by Hollis & Sons, with
ammunition, new in February. — J. G. Johnson, 93 St. James'
Street, Newport, Isle of Wight.
British Shells. Duplicates for exchanged. List sent on
application to J. W. Cundall, Carrville, Alexandra Park, Redland,
Bristol.
Wanted, Sciopticon, or other good form of lantern, also
Darwin's " Insectivorous Plants," loan or otherwise. Have
many things to offer, such as micro slides, first-class, unmounted
prepared material, mostly marine organisms in great variety.
Marine algse for balsam or herbarium specimens, living plants,
alpines, ferns, Drosera, &c. State wants ; will take cash or other
exchanges.— T. McGann, Burren, Ireland.
Want ed, Devonian corals, named or unnamed. Fossils from
other formations given in exchange. — William Quarterman,
2 King Street, Borough, S.E.
Splendid specimens of Marcasite var, cockscomb, for other
minerals (cabinet specimens) or fossils. A few fine large speci-
mens of flexible corals (Pterogorgonia pinnata). Want fossils or
minerals.— J. McKenzie, Nursery Cottage, Berkby, Hudders-
fie'd.
For well-mounted slide, I will send diatomaceous mud from
peat, very rich. — W. Sim, Gourdas, Fyvie, N.B.
Live moles wanted. — J. E. Palmer, 35 James Street, Dublin.
Good specimens (side blown) of the following eggs, in exchange
for other good eggs or Lepidoptera. Eider duck, guillemot,
lesser B. B. gull, herring gull, cormorant and sandwich, Arctic
and common tern. — Adamson Rhagg, 21 Grainger Street, New-
castle-upon-Tyne.
Pollen of Calla /Ethiopica, A7>iaryllis, &c, mounted in
balsam. Also several hundred silkworms f .5. 7/iori), to exchange
for algje, herbarium, zoophyte, shells, or any unmounted
objects of interest. — Mrs. Skilton, 21 London Road, Brentford,
Middlesex.
[* Morris' "British Birds," and "Nests and Eggs," wanted
in numbers. Books or cash in exchange. — G., 44 Hillmarten
Road, Holloway, N.
For specimen of C. hastaia (Australian zoophyte) for mount-
ing, send well-mounted slide. Having means of sending parcels
to, and receiving from, foreign countries free of charge, I am
anxious for foreign correspondence. — B. B. Scott, 24 Seldon
Street, Kensington, Liverpool.
Verv fine slides of anchors, and plates of Synaptce Gallienica,
selected and arranged in various symmetrical patterns, likewise
a few diatom slides arranged in different designs, in exchange
for really good unmounted microscopic material. Would like to
correspond with some microscopist in the locality of Torquay,
with a view to mutual exchanges. — W.White, 18 Convent Street,
Nottingham.
Nicelv-finished slide of Acilius sulcatus, dissected (several
pieces under cover) offered for first-class slide of picked diatoms,
or rock sections. — J. Neville, Wellington Road, Houndsworth,
Birmingham.
Part of a jaw of an Ichthyosaurus from Lyme Regis. Will
take exchange in fossils. Write for particulars. — W. T. Ord,
13 Royal Park, Clifton, Bristol.
For /Ecidium tragopogonis (goats' beard cluster cap), send
stamped envelope to T. Brittam, 52 Park Street, Green Heys,
Manchester. No exchange required.
Well-mounted slides, good unmounted material, and British
shells, offered in exchange for shells, British and foreign, and
books (on plants and natural history subjects preferred). —
E. R. F., 82 Abbey Street, Kaversham.
British Birds' Eggs. — Guillemot, razor-bill, kittiwake,
oyster-catcher, redshank, carrion crow, magpie, red-backed
shrike, &c, to exchange for owl, plover, tern, woodpecker, or
any not in collection. Only side-blown eggs required. Lists
to J. Wrangham, 93 Tyrwhitt Road, New Cross, London, S.E.
BOOKS, ETC., RECEIVED.
" Outlines of Field Geology." By Professor Geikie. London :
Macmillan.
" Practical Photography." By O. E. Wheeler. London :
Bazaar Office.
" Greenhouse Flowers." Part i.
" II Principio della Sapienza," per A. P. Mauro. Naples."
" Proceedings of Academy of Natural Sciences." Philadelphia.
" New Remedies," 3 and 4, vol. viii. New York.
" Science News." New York.
" Feuille des Jeunes Naturalistes."
" Bulletin de la Societe Beige de Micrographie."
" Journal of Forestry." No. 26.
"American Naturalist." June.
" Canadian Entomologist." June.
" Land and Water." June.
Natural History Rambles.
" Lane and Field." By the Rev. J. G. Wood, M.A.
"The Woodlands." By M. C Cooke, M.A., LL.D.
" Lakes and Rivers." By. C O. Groom Napier, F.G.S.
" Mountain and Moor." By J. E. Taylor, Esq., F.L.S.,
F.G.S. , Editor of Science-Gossip.
"Underground." By J. E. Taylor, Esq., F.L.S., F.G.S.,
Editor of Science-Gossip.
"The Sea-shore." By Professor P. Martin Duncan, M.B.
(London), F.R.S.
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge 77 Great Queen
Street, London.
&c. &c. &c.
Communications received up to ioth ult. from :—
T. W. D.-G. C. D.— E. E. E.— J. W., jun.— J. O. B.— Dr.
P. Q. K.— F. I. G.— J. H. W.— W. L.— J. D.— W. R.— J. H.
— W.T.-A. C— E. D.-C. R. S— F. W. R.-G. H. S.-C. B.
_ E w.— J. G. B.— J. G. D.— A. B. B.— H. R. M.— G. C—
j. w. T.— Dr. J. A. O.— P. A. R.— E. M— W. B. S.— A. J. R.
—I. C. T.-R. L. H.— H. M.—J. J. P.-W. W.— J. H. A. J.—
A. W.— E. V. S.— J. D. H.-F. W. I.— W. M. T— J. C. C—
G. D. S— J. W.— T. B.— J. H.— A. H. H.— W. E. M.—
R.T. L.-J.R H.— A. T.-S. B — J. G. J.-R. S. G.— R. D.—
M. H. R.-A. W— H. D. B.— T. McG.— J. W. C— G. O. H.
— R. L. H.-L. C.-W. A. F.— J. N.-W. T. O.-W. W.—
W. H. G.— B. B. S — W. S— B. M. W.-W. W. T— M. S.—
A. R.-G. S. D.— J. M. W— J. E. P.— J. S.- J. McK.-J.W. S.
— W. Q— T. B.— F. H. A.— Dr. M.— W. B.— E.P.— K. M. J.—
E. R. F.— J. C, jun.— F. W. H— &c.
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
169
THE GEOLOGY OF SHEFFIELD.
By T. V. HOLMES, F.G.S., H.M.'s Geological Survey.
HEFFIELD is se-
lected this year as
the meeting- place
of the British
Association, and
as geological
excursions always
form one of the
pleasantest parts
of the Associa-
tion's programme
to the majority of
members, the fol-
lowing notes on
the geology of
the district may
possibly be of
service.
It is true that
the recently-pub-
lished Memoir of
the Geological Survey on the Yorkshire coalfield
leaves little to be desired by the mining engineer or
colliery proprietor, to whom full and accurate informa-
tion on all points connected with the coalfield is the
one thing needed. But its size and price must ever
deter persons simply desirous of making the most of
their week at Sheffield with the British Association
from attempting to acquire information from such a
source. In addition, the geology of the Ordnance
quarter sheet (82 N.W.) in which Sheffield stands, is
not explained in a brief memoir of thirty or forty
pages, on account of the Derbyshire part of it not
having yet been mapped by the Ordnance Survey on
the scale of six inches to a mile.
A glance at a general geological map of England
and Wales, such as that of Professor Ramsay, shows
Sheffield standing not far from the centre of the great
Yorkshire and Derbyshire coalfield. This coalfield,
measured along a line ranging north and south from a
point about ten miles west of Nottingham to the eastern
suburbs of Leeds, is about sixty-five miles in length.
Its breadth at the northern end, immediately south of
No. 176.
Leeds and Bradford, is twenty-one or twenty-two
miles. It gradually narrows southward, being at
Sheffield about thirteen miles wide (due east and west),
and varying in Derbyshire from seven to ten miles.
On its eastern margin it is overlaid unconformably by
the magnesian limestone (Permian). On the west the
coal measures rest on the series of thick coarse sand-
stone with interbedded shales, and occasionally a
thin coal, known collectively as millstone grit.
This millstone grit forms the high bare moorland
which, from the Peak of Derbyshire northward, divides
the coalfields of Yorkshire and Lancashire. South of
the Peak the underlying Yoredale beds and carboni-
ferous limestone are exposed, but too far from
Sheffield to come within the scope of this paper. The
five great sandstones of the millstone grit here-
abouts are : the first (or highest) grit, or rough
rock ; the second, third, fourth, and fifth grits ; the
two last being also called the upper and lower
Kinderscout grits. The coal measures are divided
into the lower coal measures, or beds below the
Silkstone coal, and the middle coal measures, which
include almost all the coals of any importance. In
addition may be mentioned the only rocks classed as
upper coal measures, the red beds with coal plants
seen at Conisborough Pottery. Most of the upper
coal measures were removed from the coalfield by
denudation, previous to the unconformable deposition
of the magnesian limestone above the carboniferous
strata.
The lower coal measures are more remarkable for
massive sandstones forming well-marked escarpments
than for coals. Few of the coals are of more than
local importance. The Ganister and Whinmoor coals
are the only ones of this series worthy of notice about
Sheffield. In the middle coal measures the Silkstone
coal, the lowest of the important beds, is perhaps
the first in point of reputation, the Barnsley coal
being held in little less esteem. Other coals exist,
between these two and above the Barnsley, of fair
thickness and quality, but they are not worked in
this locality, from their inability to compete with the
Silkstone and Barnsley seams, which have no rivals
1
170
HARD WICKE'S SCIENCE- G OSSIP.
about Sheffield and Barnsley. Coals with other
names, and on different horizons, are worked about
Wakefield and Leeds, Halifax and Bradford.
Then, above these measures rich in coal, we have,
towards the upper or eastern boundary of the coalfield,
a series of measures with few coals and few thick
or massive sandstones. The escarpments made by the
sandstones in this part of the coal measures are,
consequently, usually feeble and indefinite, giving
rise to a slightly undulating country in which no beds
are traceable for more than a short distance. Two
rocks, however, are not without a perceptible in-
fluence on the landscape east of Sheffield, and are
also largely quarried. These are the Wickersley
Rock, much used for grindstones, and the red rock of
Rotherham. The last is a sandstone of Carboniferous,
and not, as used to be supposed, of Permian age,
which rests unconformably on the beds below, and is
altogether perhaps the most singular geological phe-
nomenon in the district. A more detailed account
will shortly be given of it.
The lowest beds of the district, the millstone grit,
may easily be reached from Sheffield, as the lower
coal measure belt of country is much narrower than
usual due west of that town. Leaving Sheffield in a
westerly direction by the Glossop road, the outcrop
of the Silkstone coal is passed near the spot at which
Cell Street crosses, and we are on lower coal measures.
A gradual ascent in the same direction brings us to
Stephen Hill, near which the fault, ranging north-
east and south-west, crosses the road, which here
divides the lower coal measures from the millstone
grit. The road hitherto has been a gradual ascent,
and is here about 774 feet above the level of the sea,
the height of the alluvial flat of the Don at the
Wicker being 150 feet. Hence a gentle descent of
half a mile brings us to the edge of the Rivelin
valley, and the brow of the fine escarpment of the
Third Grit, which here is conspicuous on both sides
of the valley, and which, though west of Bell Hagg,
and a corresponding point on the north side, has its
base 200 or 300 feet above the stream, soon descends
to its level eastward at Little London Wheel. The
nature of this coarse, massive grit and conglomerate
is shown in Bell Hagg quarry. The view from this
point is very wild and romantic. Few spots, if any,
excel the Rivelin valley as an example of the influence
of subaerial denudation in the erosion of river valleys,
as we now see them, and the production of escarp-
ments. I may here also remark, by the way, that
few influences are likely to be more efficient in
removing any notion that may linger in the mind as
to the influence of faults in the production of river
valleys than an inspection of the Geological Survey
maps of coal measure districts, especially those of
six inches to a mile. Of course, I do not mean that
it will be found that faults never coincide with river
valleys, but that they show no preference for them,
and that the number of faults ranging along them is
not, on the average, greater than in other parts of
the map.
The millstone grit is, about Sheffield, generally
divided from the lower coal measures by faults.
These lower coal measures are somewhat intermediate
in character between the millstone grit and the
middle coal measures. South of the Don and west
of the Sheaf, the middle coal measures occupy less
than a square mile of ground, this being the area
between the Don, Sheaf, and Porter Brook, on which
the chief business streets and buildings are situated.
The lower coal measures occupy all the ground
around the above area. On the south, west of Norfolk
Park, about Heeley and Bannercross ; west, about
Crookes and Crookes Moor, and, crossing the Don,
a large area west of Pitsmoor is all lower coal
measure ground. A short distance south-west of
Sheffield, and north-east of Ecclesall Bierlow, may
be seen the fine escarpment of Brincliffe Edge, the
most striking of those of the lower coal measures in
the immediate vicinity of Sheffield. Parallel to it,
but nearer Sheffield, and consequently above it, is a
sandstone, the escarpment of which, though clearly
defined, is comparatively feeble. These two rocks
are worth noting here, as they are the representatives
of the two most important and persiitent sandstones
of the lower coal measures. The Brincliffe Edge
sandstone is known, north-west of Sheffield, as the
Greenmoor Rock, and further north, again, as the
Elland Flagstone. It is compact and fine-grained.
The uppermost of the two sandstones (which forms
Machon Bank) is known north-west of Sheffield as
the Grenoside Rock. It is a rough gritty stone, and
though not so persistent as the Greenmoor Rock,
makes a much bolder escarpment, and covers much
more ground, about Grenoside and Wortley. East
of the Sheaf at Heeley it rapidly dies away. The
variations in the relative preponderance of these two
rocks in the landscape, and in the heights of the bases
of their escarpments are very remarkable.
North-west of Sheffield few excursions will repay
the lover of geology and scenery better than one to
Wharncliffe Crags. These crags are the escarpment
of a rock of lower coal measure age lying below the
Greenmoor and Grenoside rocks, which are a few
hundred yards east of it, and maybe seen at the same
time. Unlike them, however, the Wharncliffe rock
sinks into insignificance a very short distance north
and south of the crags, though at the crags it is a
hard, massive, thick-bedded sandstone. The view
westward from near Wharncliffe Lodge is very fine,
and will not readily be forgotten. The Don runs
several hundred feet below, but its course is almost
invisible on account of the mass of verdure which fills
the river valley as high as the foot of the crags, and
contrasts with the high bare moorland beyond. It
is also worth while to take a short walk eastward
from the crags, and, crossing the Greenmoor Rock,
here insignificant in appearance compared with the
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
171
Grenoside beyond, to enjoy the view from the crest
of the Grenoside escarpment over the rich but flatter
country on the east towards Rotherham.
Though at Wharncliffe Crags we are at the abode
of the "Dragon of Wantley," the tale of whose
destruction by More of More Hall, is familiar to
readers of Percy's " Reliques," the geologically in-
structed visitor will not expect to find a magnificent
cavern in the sandstone at the spot where the words
"Dragon's Den" appear on the map. All that
exists is an open joint in the crag, large enough for
the accommodation of a serpent, but not for that of
an animal of any size provided with legs. The line of
the ballad describing the locality
" In Yorkshire, near fair Rotherham,"
gives us a glimpse of the relative importance of
Sheffield and Rotherham at the time it was written,
the distance of the " Dragon's Den " from Rotherham
being rather greater than that from Sheffield ; it is
the more noticeable as Sheffield was then, as now, a
seat of the hardware manufacture :
" But first he went, new armour to
Bespeak at Sheffield town."
No other lower coal measure rocks deserve notice in
a sketch like this ; it will therefore be best now to
proceed to consider the middle coal measures.
A glance at the map (one inch) of the Geological
Survey (82 N. W.) shows the strike (that is the
direction of the lines of outcrop) of the middle coal
measures, south of Sheffield, to be from north-west
to south-east. But from Sheffield northward two
great faults, throwing clown the measures between
them, alter the strike of the beds so much that their
outcrops are at right angles to their direction imme-
diately south of Sheffield, viz. south-west and north-
east, which is also the direction of the lines of fault.
These two faults are known as the northerly and
southerly Don faults. The northerly fault ranges
from half to two-thirds of a mile west of the alluvium
of the Don. The southerly fault is, roughly speaking,
parallel to the northerly fault, and for some distance
keeps on or close to the river and its alluvial flats.
The Silkstone and Parkgate coals recover their former
line of strike about three miles north of Sheffield, but
some of the higher beds retain the strike induced by
the faults for a much greater distance. The Parkgate
coal lately mentioned is the first coal of any import-
ance met with above the Silkstone, which is about
300 feet below it. The Silkstone and Parkgate
rocks, which overlie the coals so named, form, with
the measures between them, the steep hillside east of
the Sheaf, on top of which St. John's church stands,
and may be traced in a south-easterly direction,
towards Norfolk Park and Intake. From the top of
this hillside, which is capped by the Parkgate rock, a
fine view may be had both eastward and westward.
From this point there is a gradual decrease, on the
whole, in the average height of the sandstone ridges
eastward, which continues till the magnesian lime-
stone escarpment bounding the coalfield is reached.
The red rock of Rotherham, however, imparts a
more than average height to the strip of ground
covered by it, and forms a more or less picturesque
ingredient in the landscape, though it never attains
a height that would be thought considerable in the
lower coal measures.
To reach the red rock from Sheffield it will be
necessary to cross the outcrops of all the more im-
portant coals lying above the Silkstone, among which
may be mentioned, in ascending order, the Swallow
Wood, Barnsley, and High Hazles coals, whose out-
crops range north-west and south-east, in the tract of
country between the Parkgate rock and the Rother.
The red rock, as already mentioned, rests uncon-
formably on the beds below, and is distinguished also
from almost all other coal measure sandstones by its red
or reddish colour. The only other exceptions to the
uniformly buff, or whitish-brown tint of carboniferous
sandstones, are found in a rock lying above the
Wickersley Rock, in the neighbourhood of Brampton-
en-le-Morthen, and in the Wickersley sandstone in
Ravensfield Park. The Brampton Rock maybe seen
at Sawn Moors and Pickles quarries. This red colour
has never, I believe, been seen except, as in these
cases, in rocks high up in the series.
The red rock covers a strip of country of very
variable width, though seldom more than a mile,
between Rotherham and Harthill, south of Kiveton
Park railway station. It is sometimes found in two
beds, sometimes as one mass of sandstone. In the
excavations made for the Rotherham water- works,
near Ulley, irregular bands of red and purple shales
were seen interstratified with it. Its total thickness
must vary exceedingly. Its carboniferous age is
shown in the cutting on the Midland railway, between
Masborough and Eckington, about one and a half
miles south of the former place. There a coal five
inches thick, lying on twelve feet of sandstone of the
ordinary coal measure type is seen resting on the
red rock ; while, on the other hand, near Harthill,
the Permian beds are seen lying unconformably above
it. At Whiston a coal underlies the red rock, which
is in all probability the Herringthorpe coal. But a
mile north of Whiston the red rock, in two beds, is
seen, judging from the dip, to underlie the Herring-
thorpe coal. The probable explanation of this anomaly
is given in the " Memoir" on the Yorkshire coalfield
before alluded to. The red rock may "abut under-
ground against the slope of a denuded hollow," about
Herringthorpe. At Whiston, however, " the bottom
of the trough is at a higher level than to the north of
Herringthorpe, and the red rock is above the coal."
At Aston the rock on which Treeton stands, and
which may be called the Treeton rock, abuts against
the red rock, having been gradually approaching it
between Treeton and Aston.
The general conclusion to which we are led by the
above facts, and others which might be adduced, is
I 2
172
HARD WICKE ' S S CIE NCE - G O SSIP.
that the Red Rock fills up a great hollow excavated
by denudation ; this hollow having a very variable
and uneven bottom, and that it lies high in the coal
measures, and is unconformable to the rocks below
and above it. The Whitehaven sandstone of the
Cumberland coalfield occupies probably an analogous
position in its locality, and is also, compared with the
other carboniferous sandstones about Whitehaven, a
red or reddish rock.
The red rock may be visited profitably either
about Rotherham or at its southern end, near
Kiveton Park railway station, at Harthill. From
Kiveton Park station, the villages of north and south
Anston with their magnesian limestone quarries,
which supplied the stone for the Houses of Parlia-
ment and the Jermyn Street Museum, may be easily
visited. North of North Anston the spire of Laughton-
en-le-Morthen is conspicuous on an outlier of
magnesian limestone. A mile north-east of Laughton
concerned — as it did when first erected. How much
of this result is due to purity of air, and how much to
careful selection of the stone, can hardly be ascer-
tained by us now.
South of Sheffield, the Midland Railway cuttings,
both north and south of Dronfield, showed some very
interesting coal measure sections ten years ago, when
the line was first opened, and I had the advantage of
visiting them while new, in the company of Professor
A. H. Green. Should any railway-cutting excursion
be practicable, those about Dronfield seem to me to
deserve the first choice, though there is no want of
interesting sections in the railways on other sides of
the town.
Once, some years ago, while waiting in a train
outside the M. S. and L. railway station, and above
the broad street called the Wicker, a fellow-passenger
remarked, as he gazed down upon the street, "That
would be a fine street if there were any fine buildings
Red rock.
Magnesian
Limestone
(Permian).
Millstone Grit Fault Coal measures (Lower and middle).
Fig. 135.— Section from a point a little west of Sheffield to the magnesian limestone escarpment.
o o o o o o
Red rock.
Ordinary coal measures.
\\w\>.\\>.«««»| Millstone grit.
Shales.
■T-TXnttt't I Magnesian limestone.
brings us to the junction of the two beautiful glens at
which the remains of Roche Abbey appear. Here
two little streams unite and traverse the magnesian
limestone escarpment. For the rivers in this part of
Yorkshire, the Don, Went, Aire, and Wharfe, all
show that apparent fondness for crossing escarpments
characteristic of the streams taking their rise in the
Wealden area, and doubtless their course has been
similarly influenced.
On approaching Rotherham, the visitor will not
fail to notice the tree-clad hill at, and southward of,
the town. It is crowned by red rock. The places
near at which it may be profitably studied have been
already mentioned. Continuing our journey towards
Conisborough for the purpose of inspecting the upper
coal measure plant beds, we again find ourselves close
to the magnesian limestone escarpment, which is
well seen for some miles at Conisborough, on the right
hand, looking northward, and forms a part of one of
the most beautiful views in the district. Besides a
sight of the magnesian limestone in situ we have here
a remarkable instance of its excellence as a building
stone under favourable conditions. The venerable
keep of Conisborough Castle, which is built of it, and
is now about 800 years old, looks almost as fresh
now— so far as absence of decay in the stone is
in it " — an odd though true remark. A somewhat
similar reflection will probably pass through the
mind of almost every person who visits Sheffield for
the first time ; he will think, "This would be a very
fine town if there were any fine buildings in it." For
the natural picturesqueness of the site of Sheffield is
very great — second only perhaps to that of Edinburgh
among British towns. Unfortunately its smokiness,
the meanness of its public buildings, and indeed of
the whole business part of the town, are still more
difficult to parallel. The suburbs, however, are
extremely pleasant, especially those to the west and
south-west, and afford an abundance of fine prospects.
A good view of the busy part of the town may be
obtained from the neighbourhood of the M. S . and
L. Station, looking, of course, southward. On the
right is seen the main part of the town surrounding
the old parish church, and standing mainly on the
Silkstone rock which overlies the Silkstone coal.
Farther westward, towards Crookes, are the lower
coal measures, which at Crookes attain a height of
about 800 feet above the sea, or about 650 feet above
the alluvial flats of the Don and Sheaf. Looking, as
we do, on the dip slopes of the various beds (the
dip being from Crookes to the Sheaf) the fall is
gradual and gentle. East of the Sheaf, however, we
look not on a dip slope but on the escarpments made
by the outcrops of the Silkstone and Parkgate rock,
with the measures between them. Hence the contrast
which must strike every visitor to Sheffield who sees it
from this point of view, between the steepness of the
eastern, and the easy slope of the western hillside.
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
173
BOTANICAL WORK FOR AUGUST.
UNNOTICED DIFFERENCES IN OUR COMMON
PLANTS.
WITH the exception of chickweed, we have few
plants so common as the groundsel {Senecio)
and the dandelion [Taraxacum). These are our
favourites, at least favourites for all bird fanciers, for
they can be met with at every season of the year, but,
like most other things which are of frequent occur-
rence, they are liable to be overlooked by the busy
student. Let us, however, bestow a passing thought
on these universal species ; they assume so many
forms and shapes as sometimes to be unrecognis-
able, except to the prying botanist who has often cast
a scrutinising glance upon them.
Common groundsel {Senecio vulgaris (L.). We
think it not needful to enter into a full description of
this well-known species. Many of our readers must
have noticed several well-marked forms ; it is to these
we wish to direct attention.
The type "vulgaris — proper" is about I foot high,
often much branched, withpinnatifid, coarsely- toothed,
and succulent leaves.
Sir J. E. Smith describes a species, S. lividus, as
closely allied to another species, S. sylvaticus (Linn.).
This, however, never has auricles with the leaves ; our
first variation from the above type should bear this
name :
Var. 1. Senecio lividus (Sm.). A much smaller plant
than the type, with slender stem, and narrow leaves ;
very often the flowers are solitary, although we
commonly find it with about five.
2. S. vulgaris (var. \J/). This is a remarkable plant,
which appears to have escaped the attention of the
authors of our "Floras." The leaves are all entire,
lanceolate and with linear auricles. The plant has
the resemblance of S. sylvaticus at a distance. It
occurs near Penrith, also in several places along the
banks of the river Eden.
3. 6". vulgaris (var. /3). A very luxuriant form of
the groundsel, occurs on rich loamy soils ; the leaves
are broad, dark green, sometimes almost pinnate ; we
however, believe this is not permanent. The variety
is certainly reliable, for it comes true from seed. May
we beg our botanical collectors to keep one eye open
during their rambles for the Senecio.
The poor dandelion has been more highly honoured,
for it has had as many names almost as a Spanish
grandee ; here it is known as Taraxacum, there we
see it Leontodon. In the " Student's Flora " the older
name is used, Taraxacum officinale (Wig.). No
common species yields so many varieties as this ;
for example we find :
1. T. Dens-leonis (Desf.). Leaves bright green,
broadly runcinate, outer bracts of the involucre
recurved.
2. T. erythrospermum (Andr.). Leaves dark green,
often glaucous, outer bracts spreading.
3. T. Icevigatum (DC). Leaves dull green, pinnatifid,
or cut up into linear segments, generally small, or
about 3 or 4 inches in length.
4. T.palustre (DC). Leaves, when in rich soil, entire
and deeply- toothed.
The above are all easily recognised ; nay, speaking
with a learned botanist from Narbonne, he pointedly
declared his conviction that Nos. 2 and 3 were good
species. The flowers differ so little from the normal
form that I do not think they are reliable as charac-
ters, although Babington seems to depend much
upon the outer bracts ; however, flowers can be
found where the bracts vary widely on the same plant.
The leaves preserve the same peculiar shape under all
circumstances ; I can with every confidence rely upon
them. T. Icevigatum are very peculiar, being cut to
the midrib into long linear leaflets. The opposite
extreme is seen in T. pahistre ; here the leaves are in
some examples quite entire, whilst the rich emerald-
green tint of T. Dens-leonis can seldom be equalled.
Taking it all in all, I know no species so full of in-
terest. In my British herbarium I have about ten
sheets filled with this species.
J. F. R.
THE DERBYSHIRE CAVERNS.
UNDOUBTEDLY many visitors to the British
Association meeting at Sheffield will avail
themselves of the neighbourhood of the Peak (only
some twenty miles away) to explore its wonderfully
lovely dales and caverns. We extract the following
account of the "Speedwell Cavern," at Castleton,
from " Geological Essays, and Sketch of the Geology
of Manchester and the Neighbourhood," by J. E.
Taylor (published in 1864).
The entrance to the " Speedwell " mine is by a
door in the hillside, strongly reminding one of that
which Bunyan mentions in his " Pilgrim's Progress,"
as shown to Christian by the shepherds. In at this
door one starlight night in February, some four or
five of us entered, each laden with a wardrobe of
miners' clothing wherewith to bedeck ourselves.
Entering at the cottage by the side of the cavern, in
which the guide usually lives, we found a cheerful fire
burning. We speedily converted this into a dressing
room, and then turned out in anything but a photo-
graphicable condition. I may, observe, however,
that the cavern itself, the "Speedwell" mine, does
not require this trouble at the hands of ordinary
visitors. It is, as the handbills advertise, " quite
clean and fit for ladies to visit." There is also an
intelligent guide to accompany them, and to point
out various objects worthy of remark. Entering in
at the door by the hillside, we descended a flight of
upwards of a hundred steps, and at the bottom, to
our astonishment, found a boat ready to row us along
a subterranean passage in which was about three feet
of water. There was just sufficient room to sit upright
174
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
in the boat without knocking our heads against the
top ; and along this passage we were rowed for a
distance of nearly half a mile, lighting the way as we
went by sticking candles against the wall. When
we had gone some distance from the place of embark-
ation we looked behind us and the reflection of the
lights in the still water was beautiful, reminding one
more than anything else of a long street lit up by gas.
This is the passage which was literally hewn out by
the muscle and sinews of the miners in their search
after lead ; and we could see one or two thin veins of
that metal crossing the cavern transversely. The
stillness, at first, seemed almost unearthly, especially
when we coupled with its effect the remembrance
that it was night. But, by-and-by, we could hear a
faint droning sound. On asking whence it came, we
were told to our astonishment, that it was caused by
the water upon which we were sailing falling over a
cataract into what is called the "bottomless pit."
As we proceeded, the noise increased until at length
we had to speak in a different note in order to hear
each other. We were so completely interested with
the uproar that we did not notice the boat had
stopped, until one of the company drew our attention
to it. A large rock had impeded our course, and to
it we moored the boat when we had landed. Raising
our candles over our heads we perceived a mighty
cavern, whose darkness our feeble lights only seemed to
render more obscure. On each side, high as we could
look up, huge rocks hung over, as though ready to
topple on our heads with the least disturbance.
But the sight was inexpressibly grand when, after
lighting a rocket, the hissing and blazing torch mounted
upwards for more than three hundred feet without
reaching the top. As it ascended, the darkness below
became more and more palpable, and the dazzling
light above our heads revealed a similar arrangement
of rock masses to those which we could see below by
the faint light of our candles. The whole effect was
most striking, and had much of the character which
Martin has thrown into his wonderful picture of the
" Great Day of His Wrath." I shall never forget it ;
that sight has haunted my imagination scores of
times since. But we now turn our attention to the
falling volumes of water as they dashed over the
precipice. This is protected by a strong iron "rail-
ing;" and a dazzling "Roman light" held over
showed us a yawning chasm, into which the seething
waters hurried themselves. We could not see the
bottom, although it is known that a communication
exists between this and the " Peak cavern," a mile
away, for sawdust thrown into this stream has been
carried out by the rivulet which flows from the latter
cavern. These sights are those usually shown to
visitors, and well are they worthy of visitation ; for
it is seldom that such great natural phenomena are to
be found within so short a distance. But, as we
passed along by the tunnel to the cavern I have
mentioned, we had noticed several small passages
branching out on our right hand, and now we returned
to make our explorations in them.
Nobody had entered them for years, and we were
making the experiment for the sake of obtaining some
rare minerals, which, we had been told, were found
on the walls. Each of us was armed with hammers,
and with our "toilette" of miner's clothing, were
well prepared to "rough" it. So, in returning, we
stopped at the mouth of the right-hand passage,
called the " Half-way House," and fastened the boat
firmly to the rock — for had it chanced to drift away
we should have had a quarter of a mile to wade
through a stream three or four feet deep, whilst the
owner would have had to perform the same feat
right to the other end to bring it back. As we got
out of the boat we had about a foot of water to wade
through, along a narrow and dripping passage, for
about a hundred yards, cramping our backs with the
constant bending. We were relieved at the end by
being able to stand erect in a vast rent in the rocks,
extending so far above our heads that the dim light
of our candles could not enable us even to guess its
height. Between the walls of this fissure, which was
three or four feet across, there were bars of wood
placed to serve as staves, and fastening our hammers
in our belts and sticking our lights in our hats, we
mounted up one after the other. It was a somewhat
dangerous task, for the bars of wood had been placed
there for more than thirty year;, and were now rotten
from the constant moisture to which they had been
subjected, so that if the leading man had made a false
step and tumbled down, he would have sent us all
before him like a set of skittles. At last, after
mounting some hundred feet or more, we reached the
top, and found a passage similar to the one along
which we had waded, extending in a westerly direc-
tion. Along this we made our way with bended
backs, with the clanger of breaking our shins over an
old waggon, which had been left by the miners years
ago. Here we could see the lead vein crossing the
path, the matrix in which it occurred being filled with
cawk or sulphate of barytes in an uncrystallised
form.
Farther on, the passage was so narrow that we had
to crawl on our knees among mud and debris ; all
this labour being abundantly recompensed by dis-
covering that, a little further, the masses of rock were
covered with crystals of carbonate of lime of various
sizes and forms, but chiefly of the " dog-tooth " shape.
These presented the appearance of having been
dusted with loaf sugar, owing to smaller crystals
having been formed upon them. Here we obtained
some magnificent specimens, the most curious being
a dog-tooth crystal of calcite, with a cubic one of fluor,
perfectly blue, mounted on the very apex. Standing
out in relief were numerous fossils, long jointed stems
of Encrinites, shells of Spirifera, Orthocera, and a
host of others. Already the weight behind had
bulged out the front part, and the whole seemed as
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
i75
though it only needed one of the foot-stones to be
loosened for it to come thundering; down. But if
nothing else had repaid our labours, certainly the
sight of the magnificent cavern into which we now
entered, did so most amply. When we had all got
together, we looked around us, and the surrounding
scenery was most impressive. The wide vault, hid
by the blackest darkness above our heads, the masses
of rock at our feet, made us feel like pigmies when
gazing upon this work of nature. The effect was
more striking when we burnt a Bengal light, which
threw out the light and shade of the overhanging
masses into splendid relief: the thousands of crystals
of various shapes and colours, which reflected the
dazzling light in a thousand coruscations, left us
almost speechless with astonishment and delight.
After attempting to make our way in other directions
we had to give up, owing to the passages narrowing
so much as to prevent us even from crawling along.
In fact, all the hills hereabout are quite hollow, and
the subterranean passages extend for miles, widening
and narrowing alternately as they run along. De-
scending in safety we found the boat moored as we
had left it, and another quarter of an hour brought
us into the clear starlight.
HOW TO FOUND A ROOKERY.
By Mrs. Tilt.
IN answer to the question that has been asked in
your columns as to the best means of founding a
rookery, I can mention an instance in which a large
one was established by the kindness shown to a
solitary rook one severe winter. For many years it
had been our great ambition to have a rookery ; there
were several large ones in other parts of Cheshire,
and what was considered to be the mother-rookery
was about two miles from us. The keeper had
obtained rooks' eggs, placed them in nests in tall
trees thought likely to attract them, but all to no
purpose. But one severe winter there came regularly
every day, with some pet bantams that were fed by the
house-keeper out of the window, a solitary rook and fed
with them, becoming at last so tame as to hop on the
window-sill. In the spring this tame rook brought a
mate, and together they began to build in a small
Spanish chestnut tree, so close to the house that from
the upper windows we could see quite into the nest.
It made great excitement watching the progress of
this nest, as it is considered to bring good luck to a
house when rooks build near it. The nest was about
half finished, when, one morning, a great noise was
heard, and we saw about a dozen strange rooks
violently attacking the old pair, and tearing the nest
to pieces. They did not attempt to build again that
year, but the next spring the same thing occurred.
They got so far as to lay their eggs, when the female
bird was suddenly attacked one morning when she
was sitting by a dozen and more of rooks, and the
noise was such as to collect the whole household to
watch the battle. She made a stout defence, and it
was some time before they beat her off the nest,
dashing it with its contents to the ground. This was
repeated a third year, when we began to despair of
having our rookery, but on consulting a book on
natural history we found it stated that it was generally
four years before a pair were allowed to establish
themselves independently from the mother rookery.
At all events it was so in this case, for the following
year they not only brought up a brood of young birds
without being molested, but each year after the nests
in the same tree increased in number, and eventually
they spread to other trees close by. It was so far
satisfactory to have established our rookery, but un-
fortunately, the grateful rook had chosen the nearest
tree to the window where he had been fed, and their
close vicinity to the house proved at last so objection-
able that it was found necessary to drive them further
off, by gradually cutting down the trees they had
chosen. With the curious instinct that rooks are
supposed to have with regard to trees that are
destined to come down, though they were left in
peaceful possession of the original tree they had
chosen, and which had nine nests in it, they wisely
left it, and established themselves in a clump of large
trees at a more convenient distance. Every year after
this the rookery increased in size, and in the space of
ten years, from the time the parent birds made their
first attempt to build, the rookery has grown so large
that we have been advised to shoot some of them in
the spring, for fear the rooks, "becoming too nume-
rous," should fight and break up the colony.
This is only one more instance of the power of man
over animals, and shows that the secret of that power
is kindness.
ODDITIES AMONG SEA-BIRDS.
By P. Q. Keegan, LL.D.
A STRANGE, odd, fantastic, eccentric appear-
ance or deportment exhibited on the part of a
human being, or by one of the lower animals, is,
under ordinary ciu.. nstances, if not pitifully, at least
ludicrously interesting. We are deeply conscious
that something is wrong somewhere or somehow,
that the ordinary rules and dispensations of nature
are, in this instance, violated or replaced, their pro-
visions unduly restricted, or inordinately and ab-
surdly overstrained, and the contrast thus furnished,
being generally striking, our risible faculties are
excited, and we indulge in a burst of laughter.
Sometimes in the midst of an accompaniment of
differences, we perceive a strange resemblance to
some external object. Thus, for instance, when we
witness the pranks, gambols, and extravagances of a
monkey, we all the while perceive therein a certain
i 7 6
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
resemblance to the human face, hands, and facial
expression, but qualifying this, we observe, at the
same time, fundamental diversities in respect of
shape, colouring, speech, posture, etc.
But independently of such resemblances and other
relations to foreign objects, sundry animals possess
certain curious appendages which, either by reason of
their excessive and disproportionate size, or of their
uncommon shape, colouring, etc., inevitably excite
our laughter. Just in the same manner as we jeer
and laugh at the drolleries, comicalities, and eccen-
tricities of a clown in the circus, or of a comedian on
the stage, so do we feel amused and exhilarated with
certain extraordinary appearances, etc., on the part
of animals ; the extraordinary-looking beaks of the
Fig. 136. — The Puffin (Fratcrcula arctica).
toucans, the hornbills, curlews, etc., seem out of all
proportion to the size and apparent requirements of
these birds. So likewise the long, lank necks and
shanks of the cranes, herons, etc., are provocative of
merriment, especially when we observe them erect on
some desolate sea-shore, as if fixed in thought — in a
"brown study," with the head poked out forwards in
a curious "contemplative" attitude.
Some singular fidgety deportment, some extra-
ordinary aspect of eye or countenance, denoting in
either case an unnatural, unhealthy excitement, or
even an abnormal suppression of animal force, is
often very ludicrous to behold. A bird performs
some operation (such as that of incubating) with an
amount of gravity and an air of importance utterly
disproportionate to the consequence or influence
thereof in the economy of nature. During the breed-
ing season the Common Guillemot may be observed
upon the extremity of some protuberant ledge of rock
perched upon a single egg, in such a manner as if the
whole economy of the world depended upon the
issue of the process. There is a knowing look, too,
about certain animals which is equally interesting.
Thus we often say of a certain cat or dog, that he is
very wise or knowing-looking. Certain attitudes
assumed, or certain movements executed are also
irresistibly funny. A young kangaroo popping its
head and tail out of its mother's pouch, or vaulting
nimbly therein from the ground, furnishes an un-
doubtedly ludicrous spectacle.
Within the necessarily restricted limits of a paper
of this description, it would be idle to endeavour to
,nT>
Fig. 137. — The Common Guillemots (Uria troile).
investigate the primary or fundamental cause of the
aforesaid eccentricities. Nevertheless, in a general
way we declare, that just in the same manner as a
violent disturbance, or an undue depression of animal
or nerve force occasions the extravagant deportment,
opinions, and feelings of insanity, so this same excite-
ment and depression, when manifested in a less marked
degree, induces the less momentous and intense form
of oddity now adverted to. Sea-birds, as a rule, are
not particularly odd or funny-looking, either as re-
spects their appearance or their conduct. Neverthe-
less, there occur very odd and singular creatures
amongst them, some of which, and in the first place,
HARDWICK&S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
177
the Puffin {Fratercula arctica), I shall now proceed to
describe.
Shortly after the occurrence of the vernal equinox,
when azure skies and exhilarating gales betoken the
advent of spring, away, far out upon the deep, where
some desolate, wave-worn islet or islanded cliff towers
above the waves, or fast by some dreary sea-shore,
flanked by a tall, beetling armoury of inaccessible
rocks, vast bands of sea-birds assiduously prosecute
their breeding duties. Xot surmounting all the seats
of the assembled congeners, but ranged in a modest
position about the middle of the cliff, there may
138.— The Black Guillemots (Uria gryllej.
readily be discerned a lengthy array of curious
perforations, somewhat resembling an extensive
rabbit warren. These are the breeding resorts of the
comical little Puffin. Externally everything would
seem to be in comparative repose ; but just let anybody
try the experiment of thrusting his bare hand into one
of these holes, and he will have ample reason to
repent of the proceeding, for assuredly he will receive
a sharp bite from a most formidable, eccentrically-
shaped bird beak. Presently the body of the bird to
which this curious appendage belongs, will appear
and assume a threatening attitude towards the
invader of its chosen haunt.
The Puffin is about a foot in length, with black
wings and back ; a black collar round the throat ;
white cheeks, chin and breast ; orange legs, blackish-
brown claws, and a very comical expression of
countenance. The aforesaid beak is sharp at the
point, compressed laterally, and bears three grooves
on the upper mandible and two on the lower. The
colouring of this beak is as fantastic as its shape.
The lateral ridge of the upper mandible is greyish-
yellow, and that of the lower mandible orange-red,
the triangular space in front of both being orange-
red and bluish-gray. When inspected from a short
distance, it would appear as if somebody out of sport
had clapped a glued and horny mask upon
the bird's face, so extraordinary does this
beak-like appendage appear. An utter incon-
gruity is perceptible somewhere or other ;
the face and top of the head are curiously
projected, and, at the same time, flattened
laterally, a circumstance which imparts to the
former an unequivocally ludicrous expression.
The appendage, moreover, imparts a species
of domineering pomposity to the bird, which
seems manifestly incongruous with the size
and combative capacities thereof.
But although not particularly handsome, at
least so far as form extends, the bill is, never-
theless, eminently useful to the puffin in three
ways. In the first place, it is thereby enabled
to capture fish. The bird dives expertly, and
swims under water by means of the conjoint
action of feet and wings, until a desired morsel
is securely grasped in its mouth. This is
commonly a sprat, or other such fish, and
frequently some six or seven (eleven have been
seen) of these choice morsels are observed
hanging in a row dangling free along the
bird's beak, all doomed soon to pass through
" red lane." Again, the burrows or breeding
holes, already adverted to, are often originally
constructed by the male puffin digging and
tunnelling with resolute zeal and invincible
perseverance, into the sand, until a winding
aperture is hollowed out, in some cases eighteen
inches, in others, three feet or more in depth.
Frequently, however, the rights of property
and of prescriptive possession are not at all respected
by this impudent little sea-bird ; for when an al-
ready constructed rabbit-hole happens to be fixed
in a suitable situation, it will take forcible and im-
mediate possession thereof. Nor will it allow its
tenure to be disturbed ; for after sundry combats with
the former denizen, in which, by the way, the sharp
beak proves of eminent service, it will violently eject
the poor rabbit out of house and home ; and, upon
the principle that might is right, forthwith and with-
out scruple, instal itself in the vacated seat.
The prodigality of animal life inherent in the sea-
birds now under review, is exhibited under the form
of great liveliness, smartness of movement, pugnacity,
17S
BARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
courage, and general activity (they sometimes travel
twenty or thirty miles for food). Amongst human
beings we do not commonly encounter displays of
oddity amongst the gay and effervescent spirits. On
the contrary, peculiarities of manner, opinion, conduct,
etc., generally originate in severe, taciturn, grave
dispositions, or rather in these when placed in easy
circumstances, or when following a career in life
(such as that of a sailor) which involves no cankering
care, no heart-shaking anxieties, fears, and appre-
hensions.
The Puffin, too, notwithstanding the apparently
malevolent disposition involved in the aforesaid viola-
tion of the rights of property vested in rabbits and
other animals, manifests at times great kindhearted-
ness and sympathy towards members of its own species.
When a flock of these birds happens to be assailed
by the fire of the sportsman, and one of them falls
wounded or dead into the water, its mate, or even a
stranger, is frequently observed to alight and swim
round it, vainly endeavouring, by means of pushing
and coaxing, to arouse it from that last long sleep
that will endure for ever.
An unequivocal oddity of appearance is also ex-
hibited amongst sea-birds in the case of the Black
Guillemot (Uria grylle), with its long sharp beak,
elongated body, legs sticking out behind, and singu-
lar white patch upon the wings. In the breeding
apparel, the plumage of this bird is entirely tinged
with a deep brownish-black shade, which on the
upper surface is beautifully glossed with bronze and
purplish-red. The quills and secondary feathers of
the wings are tipped with grey, and there is an oval
patch of pure white upon the wings. The bill is
black ; the legs and feet are vermilion tinged with
carmine, and the claws black. This curious, fantastic
distribution of colouring conspires with the peculiarly-
shaped, " smart-looking " bill to impart to the bird
a ludicrously self-complacent, eminently self-satisfied
appearance.
When the breeding duties of this sable sea-bird
have terminated, i.e., about the 1st of September or
rather earlier, it cheerily betakes itself to a career
upon the ocean. Frequently during the autumn and
winter months, towards the centre of or impending
over Scottish bays, creeks, estuaries, rocky islets, etc.,
a very oblong, darkly-painted figure may be dis-
cerned careering over the surface of the waves. It is
of a bird-like shape, with long protruding beak, and
legs sticking out prominently behind, and seems flying
away in hot haste and with anxious precipitation.
Presently, however, this eccentric specimen of animal
life alights complacently upon the crest of some break-
ing wave, and after indulging in a little lively swim-
ming exercise (probably by way of digestive prepara-
tion, or appetite sharpening), it suddenly, and ap-
parently for no cogent reason in the world, makes
a great splashing with its wings, and then heels over
and disappears from view. The bird has descended
into the watery chambers of the ocean in quest of a
fish, or some other equally nutritive substance that
may serve to quell the ragings of hunger, and to
furnish bodily sustenance. As the creature proceeds
under water a number of air bubbles cling to its
oily plumage ; and provided only that the liquid
medium be sufficiently quiet and transparent, the
spectacle furnished by the moving bird beneath is
marvellously beautiful. An oblong, beautifully-
modelled, blackly-painted animal form, studded, as
it were, with brilliant stars and diamonds, and execut-
ing a series of graceful manoeuvres down in the sea-
green depths, is a spectacle of rare aesthetic interest.
But the deportment of this charming little bird upon
the surface is none the less interesting. In the wildest
sea, when each wave was embossed with a creamy
foam, we have seen this bird, with its attendant
troupe of young, riding buoyantly and paddling about
as if beyond all measure charmed with life and its
enjoyments.
The flight of the bird now under review is rapid
and continuous, and is characterised, moreover, by a
curious revolving, or rather oscillating motion effected
in such a manner as to occasion a curious alternation
of form and colour. The black painting of the lower
parts of the bird is, at one time, exposed to view,
and one would think a completely sable animal was
being observed. Presently, however, the flying body
oscillates slightly, and then the ludicrous wings, with
their large, oval-shaped, whitish-coloured patch, come
prominently under notice.
[To be continued.)
NOTES ON BLUE FLOWERS.
SIR JOHN LUBBOCK makes the remark that
the Bees with which he experimented with a view
to obtaining a knowledge of their colour-sense,
seemed to have great difficulty in determining between
artificial blue and green colours. It is generally
regarded that gamopetalous flowers, or flowers whose
petals are united into a single piece, are better adapted
for the visits of butterflies and moths than bees. I
have been particularly struck with the much greater
proportion of blue flowers among gamopetalous plants
than among polypetalous, which would be compre-
hensible on the ground that bees could not effectively
determine the colour of blue so well as butterflies.
In that case we might reasonably expect that blue
flowers would have more butterfly than bee visitors,
and would have been gradually adapted to the latter
rather than to the former. Taking a rough census of
the colours of our British flowers, we find that only
ten species are marked as "blue" among the poly-
petalous kinds, and of these some are very doubtfully
" blue," such as the Vetches ( Vicia cracca, V. septum,
V. hirsuta, V. tetrasperma, etc.); for red has been
called in as an auxiliary (and red is a very luminous
IIARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
179
and far-seen colour) in order to make up some tone of
purple. Among the violets, also, we have a tendency
to purple and even white varieties, instead of a fixed
determination to stick to blue; as if'the latter colour
had been found not to answer. Those polypetalous
flowers which have most faithfully adhered to a blue
colour (as regards our British flora) are included in
Linacere. The milkwort is usually called blue, and its
blue is of a dark and lovely colour ; but every one
knows that this plant bears pink and white varieties,
in some places quite as commonly as the normal blue
flowers. On the other hand, we find that among the
gamopetalous division of our British flowering plants,
no fewer than fifty-seven species (against ten of the
polypetalous) are decidedly blue. In addition, there is
quite a host of which I have taken no statistical heed,
marked "lilac," "purplish," etc., in which blue is
a colouring agent. Of the gamopetalous orders Bor-
aginacese and Campanulaceae are the most conspicuous,
the latter bearing little besides blue flowers and
possessing corollas of the most typically gamope-
talous character. Of course polypetalous flowers are
visited by butterflies as well as bees, and it would be
interesting to note if the former, rather than the
latter, picked out the blue kinds. I only offer these
remarks as tentative. Is there anything in them ? —
J. E. Taylor.
OUR COMMON BRITISH FOSSILS, AND
WHERE TO FIND THEM.
No. VIII.
By J. E. Taylor, Ph.D., F.L.S., F.G.S., &c.
WE have already seen that, to a great extent,
Encrinites occupy the place in the rocks of
the Palaeozoic epoch which sea-urchins and their
allies do in the Secondary strata, and in the seas of
the present day. The sea-urchins proper are more
abundant now than at any previous period in the
world's history. They inhabit every sea, and almost
every shallow and depth in the seas. More than at
any other time one modern group of them (the Echini)
merit the name of Echinodermata, or "spiny-
skinned," given to the entire order. The common
sea-urchins, such as Echinus csculcnta or E. miliaris,
are covered with what are not inaptly called "spines."
The Echinodermata are doubly important, on
account of their numerical abundance and wide distri-
bution in the seas of the present day, and their
great geological antiquity. We have already noted
their general persistence in the rocks of every geological
epoch since the Silurian up to our own, and that we
find their species and types increasing in number in
proportion as we approach the present epoch. The
common Sea-urchin {Echinus miliaris) is a familiar
example. It well deserves its name, for, when alive,
it is so thickly covered with spines, as to greatly
resemble the common hedgehog ; when dead, these
spines peel off, and then the surface is seen covered
with minute knobs or tubercles, to each of which a
moveable spine was attached, on the principle of the
ball-and-socket joint. The shell is composed of car-
bonate of lime, and is made up of an innumerable
number of separate pieces, all of which are mosaicked
together. No fewer than six hundred of these go
to make up the entire " test," as the shell is techni-
cally called. And yet, although in the adult state
it may be several inches in diameter, the shell has
not been moulted since the animal was no bigger
than a pea ! There is a membrane lining the ex-
terior of the test or shell, and this has the power of
secreting the carbonate of lime diffused through sea-
water. As the membrane is inserted between every
one of the six hundred and more plates, it is able to
add lime along the edges of each, and thus the whole
structure grows out uniformly and symmetrically,
almost like the expanding of a bubble when blown
out. A more beautiful architectural contrivance could
not be imagined than is thus furnished to us by this
insignificant creature !
Take one of the rounded tests you may have
picked up at the sea-side, out of which the animal
has been removed, and hold it up so that the
light may be seen through it. Besides the large
apertures at the top and the bottom (anus and mouth)
you perceive rows of minute punctures radiating down
from the summit to the base. These punctures are
called "ambulacral pores," and the plates (of which
there are five rows) in which the pores occur are
termed "ambulacral plates," for a reason that will
shortly be seen. In addition to these, there is a
plate specially perforated, called the ' ' madreporiform
tubercle " (on account of its being as porous and
spongy as the common Madrepore coral), and its
office seems to be to admit the sea- water as a
filter. From this a sort of canal proceeds internally
to a tube which surrounds the gullet at the base
of the shell or test like a ring. From this
circular canal there radiate, like the arms of a
star-fish, certain other canals which pass in front
of the rows of perforated plates, and meet together
at the top. Each of these five canals gives off in its
course innumerable tubes, which can be protruded
through the little punctures at the will of the animal.
At the base of each little water-tube, on the other
side of the canal, is a little water-bag, and when
this is compressed (as when a boy squeezes a
hollow indiarubber ball he has first filled with water)
the minute water-tubes, or "ambulacra," are
lengthened even beyond the spines of the animal.
Myriads of them can thus be protruded whenever the
sea-urchin thinks fit, and they may then be seen
wriggling and moving about like so many worms.
At the base of each is a sucker, and so, when a few
scores of the "ambulacra" are thrust forth, and have
attached themselves to any object, they are enabled to
i So
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
warp the entire shell along (fig. 139). It is in this way,
in fact, that most of the true Echinodermata crawl
along the bottom of the sea. The reverent reader can-
not fail to be struck with such a beautiful piece of con-
struction, and a hint might here be furnished to our best
hydraulic engineers. That this principle has been in
vogue for myriads of years is evident by the similar
construction of the ancient sea-urchins. Thus in the
Fig. 139. — Echinus climbing
glass side of aquarium, and showing mode of attachment
of ambulacral sucking feet.
ancient fossils were already in possession of the
hydraulic principle which has been of such inestimable
value to their race. The Ananchytes of the Chalk,
however, has very small tubercles, and the spines
formerly attached to them must have been very small
and bristle-like, as is now the case with those of the
living cake-urchin, Bryssits lyrifer, not uncommon
in the muddy bottoms of the Kyles of Bute, the
Spatangus, Amphidotus, and
many others. This is not
the case with the Cidarids-
found fossilised in the Chalk
with them. The very large
knobs or tubercles on the tests
of the latter animals (which
are especially abundant in
tropical seas at the present
time) give support to large
spines, of a club-shape gene-
rally, and often ornamented
by various devices. Their
ball-and-socket principle of
jointing, however, was in
use in, and has been ever
since, the geological epoch
termed the Silurian, when
the Echini were first intro-
duced. In the Oolitic strata
we meet with some of the
handsomest specimens of
Cidarids, and what is very
peculiar is that, like the
fossil Oolitic corals, the fossil
Cidaridae resemble species
now living in tropical and
Tig. 140.— Echinus esculenta; on left-hand side is a fragment of
test denuded of spines, and showing plates.
"Fairy loaves," as they are called in the Eastern
counties, where they literally abound (the chalk
fossils known to geologists as Ananchytes ovatd),
you see five similar rows of perforations ; and even
the somewhat differently fashioned tests of the
earliest genera of sea-urchins (Palceechinus), dating
from Carboniferous if not from Silurian times, possess
p rforated ambulacral plates, showing that these very
Fig. 141. — Test or shell of Cidaris coronata, showing the
tubercles to which the bases of spines are attached ; Oolitic
formation.
subtropical seas. The "cake-urchins," of which
our recent British species of Spatangus is a well-
known example, date from the Cretaceous, or chalk
period, for the fossils are so common as to have
obtained the popular name of "hearts" in chalk
districts. These include both Spatangus, and a
genus called Micraster. In number of species, how-
ever, and variety of external form, these Echini
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
181
are most abundant in Tertiary strata. It is a peculiar
law in the history of a race of organic beings— that
they have a period of introduction, one when they
reach their maximum, both numerically and in
variety of species, and another when these drop
off one by one, and the race becomes extinct. We
then find that the functions they performed are
taken up by some other kindred group of animals,
which, as a rule, are more highly endowed
and specialised, and so have been able to thrust
aside and extinguish their older comrades ; just as
British weeds are now supplanting the native weeds
of New Zealand and elsewhere.
— ~\ '
well as in the fossil Gdarids, the mouth is at the base
and the anal orifice at\he summit.
The modern Bryssuk (as we have already noted)
buries itself in very fine\nud, on the organic matter
of which it appears to fee^, just as earthworms do on
the black soils. The Micr»sters and Spatangi of the
Cretaceous period, which approach the Bryssus very
nearly, both as to shape ani structure, undoubtedly
buried themselves in the chalky \nud of the ancient sea
in a similar manner. Some of ths modern Echini, on
the other hand, appear to have thepower of hollowing
for themselves holes in the rocks by the sea, especially
in limestone rocks, which are not uiifrequently found
Fig. j^2.—Cidaris coronata, showing" mode of attachment
of the club-shaped spines.
Fig. 143. — Ananchytes ovata, or " Fairy loaf" — a common
Cretaceous echinoderm ; a, base, showing position of mouth
and anus.
The nervous system in modern sea-urchins is placed
round the mouth, which is furnished with five hard
calcareous teeth, to enable it to triturate its food.
These teeth are worked by muscles, through loops,
and the whole can be removed as easily as an
artificial set of teeth. In this state the mechanism
goes by the name of " Aristotle's Lantern," and the
seaside picker-up of "unconsidered trifles" frequently
finds it lying by itself after the more fragile test has
been broken to pieces. We have seen silicified
specimens of Echini in Chalk flints near Norwich,
which have had these teeth fossilised, but such
examples are exceedingly rare. Nevertheless it affords
another instance of the persistency of a plan. Gene-
rally speaking, the larger number of the Echini of
the Chalk seas had the mouth and anal aperture at
the base, and such genera as Ananchytes, Holaster,
Micraster, Galerites, etc., are grouped according to
the position of these apertures, which is always con-
stant in the same species. In the recent Echinus, as
Fig. 144. — Natural flint cast of interior of Ananchytes, showing
the perforations (in relief) for ambulacral or sucking-feet.
Fig. 143. — Micraster, a common
Cretaceous echinoderm, show-
ing the petaloid arrangement
of the ambulacral areas.
Fig. 146. — Galerites allo~
galerus, a common Cre-
taceous echinoderm.
riddled by them, just as they are by Pholas and other
boring molluscs. A pretty little sea-urchin, not quite
so big as a threepenny piece, which we find not
uncommonly fossilised in the Red Crag beds, is the
Echinocyamus. In some respects it is a connecting link
between the Echini, or sea-urchins, and the " Heart-
urchins," or Spatangi. The common " Sea-egg " (as
fishermen call it), or Echinus sphcera, is as old as
the Pliocene period, for we have found it in the Coral-
line Crag beds. The common " Sea-egg" however,
is not the type with which we ought to compare the
very abundant "Fairy-loaves" (Ananchytes) found in
the Chalk, and which are so plentiful about Norwich.
The mouth and anus of Ananchytes are both at the
base, whereas in the sea-egg they are relatively at the
182
HARPWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
base and the summit. In the Xnanchytidce must be
included the extinct genera, nore or less common in
the Chalk, of Holaster, Gakrites, &c, in which the
basal position of mouth and anus is slightly different.
The nearest living type o' sea-urchin, allied to the
Ananchytes, or "Fairy-haves," was dredged up in
the North Atlantic durirg the "Challenger" expedi-
tion, from a depth of ne?rly three miles, and it is known
by the name of Calyime relicta. The bottom of the
Atlantic is remarkable for the number of creatures
living there which are allied to those found in the
fossil state in the Chalk formation. The family of
sea-urchins called Pourtalesia is of this character, for
it is allied to the extinct Ananchytes in many respects.
But perhaps the most remarkable living Atlantic
sea-urchin is Salenia varispina, dredged off Cape
St. Vincent at a depth of nearly two miles. A few
years ago this genus was believed to have been
extinct for ages, for it was not found outside the
Chalk, except the Acrosalenia of the London Clay,
at Sheppey. Now it has turned up in the living
state in the Atlantic. It is common in the Chalk
near Norwich, and internal flint casts are also found
there so abundantly that they go by the popular name
of " Pick-cheeses " — "Pick-cheese" being the name
given to the ripened seed-vessels of the common
Mallow, which the flint casts of Salenia very closely
resemble. Internal flint casts of Ananchytes, or
"Fairy-loaves," are abundant wherever the Upper
Chalk crops out, and they are often remarkable for
possessing the clearest and most distinct relics, in
relief, of the ambulacral pores. Salenia are especially
numerous in the Greensand beds in the neighbourhood
of Warminster, in Wiltshire, one of the pleasantest
spots for geologising about that the student could
desire.
In the oldest known type of Sea-urchin {Pake-
echinus) the test or shell was composed of more than
twenty rows of plates, and the entire test was of a
remarkable egg-like shape. Archseocidaris is the
oldest known Cidaris, or Knobbed Sea-Urchin, and
it occurs in the Devonian rocks ; but one species
(A. Urii) is not uncommon in the Carboniferous
Limestone of the Derbyshire Peak district, and we
have found its spines somewhat plentifully in the
queer little limestone quarry at Hafod, near Corwen,
in North Wales. Palaeechinus seems to occur most
plentifully in the Carboniferous Limestone of Ireland.
Some beds of the Inferior Oolite literally swarm
with fossil Cidarids and Cake-urchins. The slabs of
Oolitic limestone found in the quarries about Calne
may be seen containing a dozen Cidarids, many of
them with their spines still attached, just as when
they were alive. Leckhampton Hill, near Chelten-
ham (from the summit of which the tourist can
obtain a magnificent view of the Severn valley),
is composed of rocks belonging to this formation,
in which the Cake-urchin Clypeus is abundant,
as well as various species of Cidaris. Hartwell, in
Buckinghamshire, is another good hunting-ground for
fossil echinoderms. Clypeus sinuata is a fine, large,
well-known fossil, well distributed in the Lower Oolitic
rocks ; it is, perhaps, most abundant in Wiltshire ;
the Cotswold Hills have numerous outcrops where
quarries are opened in their Oolitic rocks, in which
Nucleolites, Cidaris, and Hemicidaris are frequently
very abundant. These fossil Cidarids are very beau-
tiful objects when denuded of their thick, club-shaped
spines (fig. 141) ; the test is seen ornamented with and
composed of a series of polygonal plates, each with a
large round tubercle in its centre, and a pearl-like
setting of a ring of smaller ones around it. Even the
club-like spines are frequently beautifully sculptured,
and the student can plainly see in their hollow bases
how they were attached to the round tubercles, after
the mechanical fashion known as a "ball-and-socket
joint." The quarries at Calne and Chippenham, in
Wiltshire, are especially famous for their abundant yield
of fossil Cidarids. Various species of Cidaris are also
found in the Kentish and Norfolk Chalk, either whole
or as detached plates ; and sometimes we find_ the
impression of one of the latter on a flint, when it
presents a very pretty appearance. Solitary club-
shaped spines and impressions of the same in flint, are
not uncommon in the Chalk formation generally. In
the Greensand at Warminster, which crops out from
under the escarpment of the Downs, the geological
student may find a good assortment of fossil echino-
derms, such as Nucleolites, Caratomus, Cidaris push,
Goniophorus favosus and G. lunulatus, Holaster
granulosus, Alicraster lacunosus, Salenia clathrata, S.
geometrica, S. omata, S. umbrella, etc. Faringdon,
in Berkshire, is another rich Greensand abounding
in fossil Cidarids where Salenia petalifera is espe-
cially plentiful. Charlton, near Woolwich, is a
good place for Chalk Cidarids ; and the well-worked
pit near the railway station will afford the student
good specimens of many other Cretaceous fossils
besides, whilst the Tertiary sands overlying the chalk
sections are in places rich in peculiar fossils.
The rambler can hardly go into the wrong quarry in
the Upper Chalk for Ananchytes, Micraster, Galerites,
etc. They are especially numerous in the large chalk-
pits which nearly surround the city of Norwich. The
white-surfaced chalk-flints, which lie in heaps in the
quarries ready for breaking up into road metal, should
be carefully examined — if possible one by one. We
have found many " fairy-loaves " and their kind half-
imbedded in these hard flints, plainly showing that
the latter must have been soft when the fossils were
thus buried. Many of these chalk-pits are in lonely
localities— just in the very places a man would select
for quiet walks, or for their attractive scenery ; and,
indeed, the tourist finds that the fossiliferous rocks
usually crop out where nature is apparelled in her
most attractive garb.
( To be continued.)
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-
'S SI P.
iS-
AIDS TO THE CHOICE OF BOOKS ON
BOTANY.*
By Bernard Hobson.
AS I have learnt by experience that those who
are commencing the study of any important
subject are often at a loss to know what are the best
books for the purpose, I hope that the following
remarks may be of use to such persons, premising
that though the prices given are the published ones
some of the works are only to be had second-hand.
The best book for beginners (without depreciating
other works) and all who wish to obtain a practical
knowledge of Botany is the extremely lucid " Lessons
in Elementary Botany," by Prof. D. Oliver, F.R.S.,
F.L.S., i8mo. 4j. 6d. ; Macmillan & Co. It contains
nearly 200 clear illustrations, the only fault of which
is, that they never represent complete plants, but
only parts. Typical plants of the chief British
natural orders are described, together with the most
important exotics, as bamboos, rice, cotton, tobacco,
&c, and there is a very good index.
Another good work, excellently illustrated, is the
" Vegetable World," by Louis Figuier, 471 illustra-
tions, published by Cassell, Petter, & Galpin, at
7-r. 6d. It describes, more or less fully, all the natural
orders of plants.
The two following, published by Bradbury & Co.,
are clearly written and well illustrated. "School
Botany and Vegetable Physiology," with descriptions
of the chief European natural orders, by Dr. John
Lindley, F.R.S., F.L.S. ; and "Botany for Be-
ginners," by Dr. M. T. Masters, F.R.S. (with very
little on systematic botany). Other similar works
are Henfrey's " Rudiments of Botany," foolscap 8vo.,
3-r. 6d., Van Voorst, and " Elements of Botany for
Families and Schools," Tenth edition, revised by
Thomas Moore, F.L.S., 154 woodcuts, 2s. 6d. ;
Longmans.
Those who wish for cheaper books may buy
"Outlines of Elementary Botany," by G. Bentham,
F.R.S., P.L.S., Fourth edition, i2mo., is., Lovell
Reeve & Co. ; a clear summary of facts without a
useless word, but no illustrations or descriptions of
natural orders. "Primer of Botany," by Sir J. D.
Hooker, C.B., P.R.S., i8mo., cloth, is., Macmillan,
68 illustrations, but not nearly so complete as Prof.
Oliver's "Lessons," and containing next to nothing
on systematic botany; Prof. Balfour's "Vegetable
Anatomy and Physiology," i^. ; " Systematic and
Economic Botany," is. (elementary) ; and two works ,
under the same titles (advanced), 2s. 6d. each;
Collins & Sons (illustrated). Prof. J. H. Balfour,
M.D., F.R.S. L. & E., is also author of "Elements
of Botany," foolscap Svo., cloth, 427 woodcuts, 3J. 6d.,
an d "Outlines of Botany," foolscap 8vo., cloth,
* Any of the books referred to in this article may be obtained
Square WC £ ' 3 St ' Martin ' s Place . Trafalgar
nearly 600 woodcuts, $s. ; A. & C. Black,
Edinburgh.
More advanced work\ than any of the foregoing
are : Prof. Balfour's " Manual of Botany " (structure,
physiology, classification), Fifth edition, 963 wood-
cuts, crown Svo., 12s. 6</. ; also his very complete
"Class Book of Botany" (structure, morphology,
physiology, classification, geography, fossil botany,
glossary), one large volume, Svo., with 1800 illustra-
tions, 2Ij\, (can, or could, be had in two parts),
A. & C. Black, Edinburgh.
The splendidly illustrated "General System of
Descriptive and Analytical Botany," by Le Maout
and Decaisne, translated by Mrs. Hooker, with de-
scriptions of every natural order, and 5500 woodcuts,
imp. 8vo., 52 s. 6d. ; Longmans.
On special branches of botany are : "A Manual
of Structural Botany," by M. C. Cooke, M.A.,
LL.D., twentieth thousand, 200 cuts, is. ; David
Bogue. "The Anatomy and Physiology of the
Vegetable Cell," by Mohl, 8vo., Js. 6d. ; Van Voorst.
"Botany, Structural, and Physiological," by O. W.
Thome, translated by A. W. Bennett, M.A., F.L.S.,
600 woodcuts, 6s., Longmans ; a text-book which
may be considered as introductory to Julius Sachs'
"Text-Book of Botany, Morphological and Physio-
logical," translated by Bennett & Dyer, 500 illustra-
tions, 848 pages and index, royal Svo., half-morocco,
3 1 j. 6d., Macmillan ; a first-class work for those who
wish to go deeply into the subject, and are not afraid
of technical terms ; it also contains outlines of classi-
fication.
"A Manual of Botany, Anatomical and Physio-
logical," by Robert Brown, M.A., F.R.G.S., crown
8vo., many illustrations, 12s. 6d. ; W. Blackwood
& Sons.
"Pollen," by M. P. Edgeworth, several hundred
cuts, Svo., Is. 6d. ; David Bogue.
On systematic botany (description of all the natural
orders) Dr. Lindley's "Natural System of Botany,"
with a complete list of genera and synonyms, but no
illustrations, cloth, iSj-. ; Longmans.
Lindley's "Vegetable Kingdom," a large Svo.
volume with very numerous and good illustrations
and excellent index ; a work containing avast amount
of information (price unknown to me).
For those who wish to master the art of description
nothing can be better than Dr. Lindley's "Descriptive
Botany," is., with illustration ; Bradbury & Co.
On Cryptogamic Botany one of the best works is
Berkeley's "Introduction;" 21s.; Bailliere & Co.
" Introduction to the Study of Palceontological
Botany," demy Svo., illustrated with four plates and
100 woodcuts, by Professor Balfour, "js. 6d. ; A. & C.
Black.
Having mastered the principles of botany we pro-
ceed to collect British plants and determine their
species. All the following contain the flowering
plants and ferns only. Sowerby's ' ' English Botany,"
1 84
HAIDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
in eleven volumes, £21 8s., :'n cloth £24. 12s., half-
morocco, £28 3-r. 6d., whole morocco, is the greatest
work, containing life-size illustrations, beautifully
coloured, of every species, with descriptions. It is so
costly that few will buy it, but it can be borrowed
from any Public Library, and here I cannot do better
than advise learners to borrow from a library books
they wish to read (not merely keep for reference) one
being ashamed to return them unread, whereas if one
buys them they are stored up untouched or unfinished.
A rather cheaper work is ' ' The Flowering Plants,
Grasses and Ferns of Great Britain," by Anne Pratt,
with more than 300 coloured plates, medium 8vo.,
cloth, gilt edges, ^3 13^. 6d., F. b Warne & Co. ;
but for beginners the clearest and best work of the
kind is the "Handbook of the British Flora," by
Geo. Bentham, F.R.S., P.L.S., in two vols., 8vo.,
together 1062 pages with illustrations (each about
2 4 by 1 5 inch) of every species (1295 in all) with 51
pages. Outlines of Botany at the beginning and
good index, Lovell Reeve & Co., £t, 10s. ; now
to be obtained at a reduced price. Those who
wish for one book only cannot do better than buy this,
recommended by Professors Oliver and Stanley Jevons,
and excellent as a work of reference. With a little
patience no one can fail to discover the name of a
plant by its means.
The most portable "Flora" is Ffayward's
"Botanist's Pocket-Book" containing botanical and
common name, soil, situation, growth and seasons,
limp cover, 4-r. 6d., no illustrations and very short
descriptions ; G. Bell & Sons.
More strictly scientific than the two last, and much
more complete than " Hayward's," is, Hooker's
"Student's Flora of the British Islands," crown
Svo., 10s. 6d. ; Macmillan. No illustrations. Owing
perhaps to prejudice, it does not seem to me so easy
to determine species by its aid as by Bentham's.
Dr. Lindley's " Synopsis of the British Flora,"
no figures, foolscap 8vo., 6s. ; Longmans.
Those who delight in numerous species may buy
Prof. Babington's "Manual of British Botany," no
illustrations, 121110., 10s. 6d., Sixth edition, Van
Voorst ; and lovers of the Linncean system, Wither-
ing's "British Botany," ioj. 6d., 155 figures, Scott,
Webster, & Geary — only, I am afraid, to be had
secondhand, as no one thinks of teaching the Linnsean
system, although easier and perhaps better for this
particular purpose only.
Works paying special attention to the uses of plants
are "Botany," by Prof. Robert Bentley, F.L.S.,
with 1 138 engravings, 14^., Third edition, J. & A.
Churchill, a good manual of Botany in general. Dr.
Pereira's " Elements of Materia Medica and Thera-
peutics," a very celebrated book, 75J., Longmans.
Barton & Castle's " British Flora Medica," 1 vol.,
Svo., more than 200 figures coloured by hand,
revised by J. Jackson, A.L.S., 30^. ; Longmans.
41 Popular Economic Botany," by T. C. Archer,
20 well-coloured and excellent plates, Js. 6d., Rout-
ledge ; gives little description of the plants themselves,
but can be understood by any one, botanical or not.
On Botanical Geography cheap works are: " Popular
Geography of Plants," edited by Dr. Daubeny, 20
plates coloured (but not worth much), "js. 6d. Routledge
& Henfrey's " Vegetation of Europe," foolscap, Svo.
$s., with map, but no illustrations ; Van Voorst.
N.B. — Information respecting any really good works
of an inexpensive character which have been omitted
above is solicited, in order that they may be mentioned
in the concluding part of this paper.
Tapton Elms, Sheffield.
( To be continued.)
MICROSCOPY.
Cells for Dry Objects.— At a recent meeting
of the Manchester Science Association a new method
of preparing cells for dry microscopic objects was
described and illustrated. A ring of shellac having
been traced upon the slide, a piece of paper was
placed upon it. Having been allowed to dry, the cell
was cut out of the paper by means of the turntable
and a sharp knife. . The rings produced by this
method are very narrow, but extremely neat ; the
writer saw the palate of a mollusc mounted in this
way. — Mancestrian.
Euglena(?)viridis and its Bulbed Flagellum.
— It is with pleasure that I supply the information
desired by Mr. Robson in last month's Science-
Gossip. Every specimen of the Euglena that I have
hitherto examined has been furnished with the bulbed
flagellum, irrespective of the locality whence it was
obtained. Indeed, the fact that Mr. Robson has seen
Fig. 146. — Euglena, showing
gradual metamorphosis.
them at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and that I find a quan-
tity of them in the neighbourhood of Preston, seems
to indicate that they are not confined to any special
locality ; at least in so far as the bulbed flagellum is
concerned. The Euglena;, however, are not to be
found in every stagnant pond : I examined, recently,
samples of water drawn from four different pools
I without discovering a single Euglena. Your corres-
' pondent's theory of the metamorphosis mentioned by
HARDWICK&S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
185
me in my last letter, is certainly ingenious, but is
scarcely satisfactory in all points. In my " gather-
ing " the most searching scrutiny failed to reveal the
presence of the funnel rotifer in the first instance.
Neither was there any other sufficiently large to
attack the full-grown Euglence with which the water
teemed. These gradually disappeared until scarcely
more than one could be drawn from the vessel con-
taining the water, whilst a whole army of funnel
rotifers were sporting away their short life. My
suspicion is, at present, that these bulbed Euglenre will
ultimately prove to be the larvae of Hydratina lenta,
or common funnel rotifer. I enclose a rough pencil
sketch of three forms of the Euglena observed by me.
At the first, No. 1 was the shape of most of those
I gathered ; these subsequently became fewer, and
No. 2 was then the predominating form. A short time
afterwards, the flagellum of the No. 2 disappeared,
and a wreath of very delicate cilia (No. 3) was clearly
discernible. [The objective used by me is a Beck
Jin. with No. 3 eyepiece, giving an enlargement of
nearly seven hundred diameters.] — F. Jas. George,
Chorley, Lane.
How to Make a Comtressorium. — Cut a couple
of pieces of wood the size of a glass slide, with two
small arms projecting from the middle on each side,
Fig. 147.— Sketch showing details of Compressorium.
with a hole bored through each. Get two screw
paper-binders, the largest size : and some glass slides.
The object to be compressed is placed
between the two glass slides ; these are
placed between the pieces of wood, and the
whole screwed together with the binders
which pass through the whole. The only
caution needed is to place the holes suffi-
ciently near the edge to admit of the ring of the
binder standing out beyond it. Any number of
slides, and therefore of objects, can be put in it, and
the pressure regulated on either side without moving
the object. The outside may be of brass lined with
baize. — H. Field, Blackett, Cambridge Mission, Delhi.
ZOOLOGY.
Birds in London.— To lovers of nature compelled
to spend the best part of the year in London, it is
very pleasant to get a glimpse, however occasional, of
the birds, and I think their appearance is not so
exceptional as might at first be imagined, for during
the three years I have been living on and off in
London, I have seen as many as twenty-four species.
The inevitable house sparrow of course would head
the list as regards frequency of occurrence ; starlings
and rooks are tolerably common ; and I have once
or twice seen jackdaws. Blackbirds and song
thrushes may be seen in all the parks ; the missel-
thrush is rather rarer ; and during the late severe
winter I once saw a redwing thrush so busily search-
ing for something eatable on the frost-bound earth
that I was able to approach within a couple of yards
of it. Of the warbler family I have seen the white-
throat-hedgewarbler, the robin, the wren, the willow
warbler, and on one occasion the blackcap. The linnet
and the chaffinch, the skylark, the pied wagtail, the
blue tit, are, as far as I have observed, the only
London representatives of their respective families. In
Battersea Park a happy little family of moorhens may
be seen. I have once or twice noticed the common
gull, once, the tern, flying over the river between
Vauxhall and Chelsea Bridges, and on one occasion I
have seen the great black-backed gull flying slowly
down the river, near Lambeth Bridge. Swallows are
sometimes to be seen, especially in Battersea Park ;
twice lately I have seen swifts circling about, on one
occasion over the Horse Guards, on the other over
the river near Chelsea Bridge. I should be inclined
to attribute their appearance to their having had to
extend their hunting grounds, on account of insect
life being comparatively scarce, by reason of the
long- continued unfavourable weather. — IV. H. Legge.
Influence of the Wet Season on Butter-
flies. — Not for several years have I observed the
summer brood or flight of butterflies (the emergence
of which usually occurs about the end of May or the
beginning of June) to be so deficient in numbers. The
species that have suffered most from the unfavourable
spring are those which are single brooded, and con-
fined to a special habitat. In some of these, we may
suspect there will be even more scarceness noticeable
in 1880, through the deficiency of parents this year.
Thus, take such an example as some Fritillary
furnishes, say Argynnis Euphrosyne. If some wood
in which it breeds furnishes in average years a thousand
perfect insects, and this year only two or three
hundred came out, owing to the death of many larvae,
the number of eggs deposited will perhaps be 25
per cent, less than in 1878. We can easily understand
how it is that some species disappear for long periods,
or die out, when they had had to endure a succession
of unpropitious seasons. — J. R. S. C.
i86
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
The British Association meets at Sheffield on
Wednesday, August 20. under the presidency of
Professor Allman. The contiguity of Sheffield to the
Peak district makes that town peculiarly desirable for a
meeting of this sort, in which excursions form one of
the most attractive part of the week's programme.
Among other places to which excursions are appointed
are Chatsworth, Thoresby, Darley Dale, Stanton-in-
Peak, Arbor Lowe, &c.
The Popular Science Review. — The July
number of this most valuable and ably-edited quarterly
is one of the best and strongest we have had for some
time. It contains the following articles : " Facts
and thoughts about light-emitting animals," by
Professor Duncan, F.R.S. : "The life, birth, and
death of a storm," by Robert H. Scott, F.R.S. : " On
the extinct animals of the Colonies of Great Britain,"
by Professor Owen, F.R.S.: "Is nest-building
an instinct in birds ?" by B. T. Lowne, F.L.S. :
and ' ' The position of the Silurian, Devonian, and
Carboniferous rocks in the London area," by
Robert Etheridge, F.R.S.
Capture of a Whale in Lough Foyle. — It
may interest some of your readers to hear that early
in June a male of the species known as Sibbald's
Rorqual {Bahenoptera Sibbaldii) was captured in this
locality. I readily identified it by the description
given by Mr. Thomas Southwell, F.Z.S., in Science-
Gossip a short time ago. It was injured by coming
into collision near the entrance to the lough with a
steamer bound for Londonderry. During the day it
was observed spouting opposite Moville, and was at
once pursued by a large number of people in boats,
who by firing, and otherwise frightening it, succeeded
in driving it into shallow water, where it was soon
left stranded by the receding tide. It was auctioned
by order of the Receiver of Wreck, and purchased for
,£18 by a local gentleman, who has had the blubber
removed and boiled down. Its length was about sixty-
two feet. Two years ago a grampus in an advanced
stage of decomposition was washed ashore at Termone
in this neighbourhood. — John Anderson, Moville.
Occurrence of Lophinus palmatus near
Eastbourne. — I recently found four males and two
females of this species near here, and as Sussex is not
mentioned as a habitat by Cooke in his "British
Reptiles," I thought it might interest other readers
of Science-Gossip to know that they do occur here.
I may add that I do not find them as hardy as the
other British newts, both of which are also to be found
in this neighbourhood. — Charles Foran.
The Manatee. — At a recent meeting of the
Zoological Society, Dr. J. Murie read a paper on the
Manatee, containing the results of his examination of
the specimen which was lately living in the West-
minster Aquarium. The peculiar attitudes assumed
by the animal in life, the great mobility of the upper
lip, and the occasional use of the limbs in feeding
were noted. As regards the anatomy, the chief
points dwelt on were the shape of the brain and its
suppressed convolutions. The vexed question of the
number of the cervical nerves and their distribution
was also discussed.
The Nightingale.— It would be interesting to
receive well-verified notes on the latest date up to
which (perhaps on account of the delayed summer)
the nightingale's song has been heard this year. I
heard the bird in full song about four o'clock on the
afternoon of July 2nd — the latest date I remember
to have heard of. — J. E. Taylor.
BOTANY.
Abnormal Development of Cardamine pra-
tensis. — In the chapter on Heterotaxy of Dr. Masters'
work on "Vegetable Teratology," is an account of
an abnormal development in Cardamine pratensis
quoted from Bromfield's " Flora Vectensis." A form
of Cardamine pratensis, somewhat similar to that de-
scribed, has been growing in a field in the parish of
Widford near Chelm 
