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how this then supposed fish is amply provided with mammillary glands! In the back-ground we have incidentally introduced some of the dangers to which the frail whaling-vessels of the time were exposed. An infuriated whale is seen capsizing a ship. In fig. 41 another busy scene is represented, copied from the same work, showing men engaged in extracting metals from the ores. In some of the small washings carried on by miners in Derbyshire on their own account, we have almost the counter-part of this picture.

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Where an outlay of capital is required, and cannot be obtained, it is surprising how long primitive appliances maintain their ground. M. Lacroix's magnificent work is crowded with instances of this kind, and every now and then we come across an outlier that has remained in the same condition for five hundred years at least. We have said enough, however, to indicate to our readers the high merit

and 'general interest of the book we have briefly brought before their notice.

HOW TO POLISH SHELLS.-Having some "green snail" and "Manilla pearl" shells, and wishing to polish them myself, I should be greatly obliged by being informed through your columns as to the best books to be had on the subject of shell polishing.-Querens.

A GOSSIP ABOUT RARE PLANTS.

BESI

ESIDES the plants I spoke of in a former article, other specialities may well claim the attention of any botanist who makes Anglesea the ground of his rambles. There is Potamogeton lanceolatus, which grows in the river Lligwy, a small stream that has its exit near to Moelfra, the scene of the deplorable Royal Charter wreck. This Potamogeton was sent to Sir J. E. Smith by the Rev. Hugh Davies, author of "Welsh Botanology," and was doubtless gathered in the above locality, although Smith vaguely mentions "Lakes in North Wales." After a lapse of more than half a century we find that Dr. Syme (than whom no higher authority can be quoted on such a matter) repudiates all other British localities recorded for this "most distinct" species; and he does not with certainty identify this Lligwy plant with anything known from the Continent or elsewhere; thus rendering our Anglesea locality the sole source of this pondweed. The species stands, in fact, as a pure Welsh (Anglesea) product; and truly it grows in a most "dim sassenach" quarter of the island. Here and there, along the full course of the above-named stream, specimens may easily be obtained and in plenty, but the plant in fruit has never yet been met with, so that the fruit remains unknown, although flowers in plenty are produced. Either to procure the fruit, or to show the why and the wherefore of its absence will be appreciated work for a botanist to accomplish.

Long years ago there was found on the Anglesea coast the Diotis maritima. The celebrated naturalist John Ray thus mentions its occurrence in his Synopsis:"-" Gnaphalium maritimum C. B., maritimum multis J. B., marinum Ger., marinum seu Cotonaria Park; Sea Cud-weed or Cottonweed. We found it plentifully on the sand near Abermeney Ferry, in the isle of Anglesea, where the common people call it Calamus aromaticus." Although in plenty and well recognized when Ray made his itinerary, it does not, as far as I know, occur in subsequent records as having been met with, and Anglesea is now judiciously bracketed with the lost habitats on the south of England coast, as it is not likely that so conspicuous a plant would be overlooked by any botanist. Still, a person in the neighbourhood would do well to institute inquiries and explorations. Personally I have not identified the locality given. Another rare composite, the Linosyris vulgaris, or Chrysocoma Linosyris, also hails from the Anglesea seaboard, I understand, in some old records, and if so, requires recent confirmation, as it is hardly likely to occur, being a limestone-loving species; the plant has been well authenticated from the not far-distant Orme's Head: whether it is to be found in this latter station now is a question I have asked some

who have botanized thereabouts, and have been answered with the negative. The attractions of Llandudno have doubtless drawn thither some of the botanical readers of SCIENCE-GOSSIP, who may be able to make an authoritative response, and I shall feel obliged if any can and will do so through your pages.

On the Aberffraw Common, near Llyn Coron, the little Viola Curtisii grows in large quantity; it is the same form as that found at Braunton Barrows, further north on the English coast, and is a different form to that which used to grow on the sandhills at New Brighton, and passes under the same name.

Callitriche autumnalis is also a good Anglesea plant, first found by the late Mr. Wilson in the outlet of Llyn Maelog, and this celebrated botanist also discovered the true Carex punctata near Beaumaris. In the spring and early summer Knappia agrostidea to give it the best-known title amongst English botanists, of its many aliases,—is common on Aberffraw Common, and Euphorbia Portlandica, Inula crithmoides, Blysmus rufus, Erodium moschatuum, E. maritimum, Anthyllis Dillenii, Utricularia minor, &c., are all gatherings the collector will probably appreciate.

Another rarity occurs to me to write a few words about, although it is not in reality a plant of our "Mona," but the history of the plant associates with Anglesea botany. I refer to Erythræa latifolia, concerning which so much misunderstanding has arisen, and an Anglesea specimen incorrectly named as such, is the cause of the bulk of the said misunderstanding. The species E. latifolia was instituted by Sir J. E. Smith, and we are informed by Dr. Syme that specimens from the neighbourhood of Liverpool are existent in the Smithian Herbarium at the Linnæan Society. It was, no doubt, in one of Smith's several visits to his particular friend, Mr. Roscoe, at Liverpool, during the first decade of the century, that he became acquainted with the plant through Dr. Bostock and Mr. John Shepherd, had it not been for the contrary statement in the "English Flora," namely, that he had never seen the living plant. One would have surmised, from the very exact diagrams assigned to it, that Dr. Smith had both seen and studied it in the growing state, and probably, I should have suggested, under the direction of Mr. Shepherd, who was the then able curator of the Botanic Garden at Liverpool, as he was highly thought of by the doctor, and accompanied him in his botanical rambles during his sojourns at Liverpool. The plant is referred to in the Addenda et Corrigenda" of "Flora Britannica" (1504), as a marked variety of E. centaurium, and it is only in Smith's later work, his "English Flora" (1828), that it is raised to the rank of a species. It had not been included in the issue of English Botany which was published up to 1814; but some short time after the untimely death of

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Sir J. E. Smith, in 1828 (I say untimely, for his widow is still alive, and attained the somewhile disputed longevity of a century last May-a fact that was duly celebrated), a supplement to Smith and Sowerby's national work was commenced. In the second volume of this supplement, t. 2719, is given us a representation of E. latifolia; but it is not E. latifolia at all, it is merely a figure of a stunted and unusual-looking specimen of E. centaurium, and the specimen from which this drawing was made was, as Sir W. J. Hooker's accompanying text informs us, gathered in Anglesea. Subsequently, many English and foreign botanists, led astray from the true plant by this faulty plate, have been in the practice of calling E. latifolia, some abnormal, broad-leaved, squat-growing examples of the common species; and not until Dr. Syme, in the third edition of "English Botany," what I may term reestablished the true plant, has the confusion promulgated through the blunder I have specified been prevented for the future. The bonâ-fide plant has not been found in Anglesea, and, so far as is known, is still confined to grassy places in the valleys amongst the sandhills north of Liverpool. There, too, it is very uncertain in its appearance and quantity, and it is ten years since more than a few odd specimens have been found. About that time back, I remember the pleasurable satisfaction of coming across a plentiful growth amongst the sandhills, three to four miles south of Southport. Mr. Wilson was in company on the occasion, and he then stated that our find revealed a new plant to him, that it was characteristically different to any. thing he had met with before, and that he should judge it worthy to rank as a species. I am almost certain, he also said, that he had never been satisfied with the integrity of the English botany plant, which, as I have already stated, was figured from an Anglesea specimen (our culprit above indicated) gathered by Mr. Wilson; himself near Holyhead. F. M. WEBB.

MICROSCOPY.

SAND-BLAST.—The discovery of the erosive power of sand when impelled with great force against a hard surface, might at first sight appear to have little interest to the microscopist in connection with his favourite instrument. This new power has, however, been made to serve his purpose; as most of the readers of SCIENCE-GOSSIP are probably aware that the impact of sand has been made either slightly to abrade the surface of glass, marble, or other hard substances, or to make deep excavations in them. (I have seen a piece of glass about of an inch in thickness with a pattern cut into it nearly in depth, and which was done in two or three minutes.) One of the members of the Quekett

Club (Mr. H. F. Hailes, of London) makes use of the sand-blast for the purpose of perforating or excavating cells (of various depths and diameters) in the ordinary shape. The former require a disc of thin glass cemented over the aperture, and the cell thus formed can be used for either transparent or opaque objects: the latter are only adapted for opaque objects. For fluid mounting he says, "I find it desirable to varnish the bottom of the cell with 'white, hard varnish,' which obliterates the sandmarks and dries in a few minutes." The cost of the perforated or excavated slips is about double that of an ordinary one.-F. Kitton.

EBONITE CELLS.-I do not think Micro. Hull will find any cement that can thoroughly be depended on for fastening ebonite cells to glass. I have many objects in my collection mounted in ebonite cells fastened as follows:-I roughen the smooth surfaces of the vulcanite ring with sandpaper, and fasten it to glass with that marine glue which is of about the consistency of india-rubber. I bought some once which was quite hard and brittle, and it did not stick a bit. Lately I have used tin cells, which stick very firmly, and are quite to be depended on.—U.

MOUNTING LEAVES OF MOSS.-"H. W. S." will find the following plan as good as any:-Wash the moss well, drain off superfluous water, lay it on the centre of a slide, and put on a thin glass cover. Secure this with a brass clip, and take hold of the slide with another clip. Now let a little melted glycerine jelly run under by capillary attraction, and boil the slide over a spirit-lamp with a small flame, moving it about so that, being heated equally all over, it may not crack. When cold, all air-bubbles will disappear if the jelly used be not too stiff. Clean the slide and varnish with gold size. I have mosses prepared in this way which have been mounted three years, and the colour has not faded in the least. Glycerine jelly can be bought at any optician's, but if "H. W. S." wishes it, I will send him the recipe by which I make mine. It costs about four times as much to buy it ready-made. I think that the empty fruit-capsules and the peristomes look better in glycerine jelly than when mounted dry, for the colours are better preserved.H. M. J. U.

ZOOLOGY.

DEATH OF PROFESSOR AGASSIZ.-All lovers of natural science will regret to hear that one of the worthiest of its followers, Professor Agassiz, has just passed away. This celebrated naturalist was born in 1807, in the Canton of Vaud, Switzerland. Since 1846 he has been professor at Harvard College. As a geologist he is best known as first propounding the Glacial theory; as an ichthyologist, on account of

his celebrated classification of Fishes. Recently he has been engaged in deep-sea explorations along the American coast, and the last object of his attention was the establishment of a large aquarium, on the same principle as that of Dr. Dohrn, at Naples.

GIGANTIC CUTTLE-FISHES.-The Rev. Mr. Harvey has just made a communication to the Natural History Society of Montreal, respecting the occurrence of a huge cuttle-fish a few miles from St. John's, Nowfoundland. It was seen by two fishermen, on October 26th, floating on the surface of the sea, and by them was supposed at first to be a portion of some wreck. On reaching it, one of the men struck it with his "gaff," when immediately it showed signs of life, reared a parrot-like beak, with which it struck the bottom of the boat violently. It then shot out from about its head two huge livid arms and began to twine them round the boat. One of the men seized a small axe and severed both arms as they lay over the gunwale of the boat; whereupon the fish moved off and ejected an immense quantity of inky fluid, which darkened the water for two or three hundred yards. The men saw it for a short time afterwards, and observed its tail in the air, which they declare was ten feet across. They estimate the body to have been sixty feet in length, five feet in diameter, of the same shape and colour as the common squid; and they observed that it moved in the same way as the squid, both backwards and forwards. One of the arms which they brought ashore was unfortunately destroyed, as they were ignorant of its importance; but the clergyman of the village assured Mr. Harvey it was ten inches in diameter and six feet in length. The other arm was brought to St. John's, but not before six feet of it was destroyed. Mr. Harvey heard of it, and took measures to have it preserved. It

measured nineteen feet, is of a pale pink colour, entirely cartilaginous, tough and pliant as leather, and very strong. It is but three inches and a half in circumference, except towards the extremity where it broadens like an oar to six inches in circumference, and then tapers to a pretty fine point. The under surface of the extremity is covered with suckers to the very point. At the extreme end there is a clustre of small suckers, with fine sharp teeth round their edges, and having a membrane stretched across each. Of these there are about 70. Then come two rows of very large suckers, the movable disk of each an inch and a quarter in diameter, the cartilaginous ring not being denticulated. These are twenty-four in number. After these there is another group of suckers, with denticulated edges (similar to the first), and about fifty in number. Along the under surface about forty more small suckers are distributed at intervals, making in all about 180 suckers on the arm. The men estimated that they left about ten feet of the

arm attached to the body of the fish, so that its original length must have been thirty-five feet. A clergyman assured Mr. Harvey that when he resided at Lamaline, on the Southern coast, in the winter of 1870, the bodies of two cuttles were cast ashore, measuring 40 and 45 feet respectively.

CAN ANIMALS COMMIT SUICIDE?-Some time ago this question was raised in the pages of SCIENCEGOSSIP, and the following paragraph would seem to favour the idea that animals really do sometimes put an end to their own lives.—“ A cattle disease of so disagreeable a nature that it causes the animals affected by it to commit suicide, has broken out on the Asiatic shore of the Bosphorus, and has been officially reported at Constantinople. Is is characterized by frothing at the mouth, running from the eyes and nose, a total loss of appetite, great heat, and a thirst so insupportable that some of the beasts attacked by the illness cast themselves headlong into adjacent rivers and streams, and are drowned. The disease, it is stated, has been in existence for upwards of a month in several villages between Beïcos, on the Upper Bosphorus, and Scutari. It attacks bullocks and cows exclusively, and is believed to have been introduced from AdaBaza, beyond Ismidt."

STENOCEPHALUS AGILIS.-Replying to the remarks of Mr. E. C. Rye in SCIENCE-GOSSIP for January, the words in my paper were upon reference to several, not all, published works on "Ento. mology," for at that time I was fully aware of the valuable one of Messrs. Douglas and Scott on "British Hemiptera." Unfortunately microscopists and naturalists in the country have not that facility of book reference as those residing in the Metropolis. In whatever light Mr. R. may think or fancied I have erred, my simple aim has been

accomplished by bringing before the readers of SCIENCE-GOSSIP the structure of " ovipositors" in general: the numerous applications for mounted slides of these organs fully justify my inference.J. O. Harper, Norwich.

BOAR-FISH (Zeus aper).—This fish was not long since supposed to be very rare, and the occurrence of a single specimen worthy of note. The ichthyologist placed it among the élite of his museum. Now they present themselves by thousands occasionally, as this note will show. Is this owing to emigration to "fresh scenes and pastures new," found necessary in the sea as on our earth, or to the growing interest taken by us in the observation and study of natural objects? "All nature is so full," says Gilbert White, "that that district produces the greatest variety which is most examined." If this fish is stationary on our coasts it is gregarious, and very local in its habits. In December, 1873, thousands of fishes were washed on shore at St.

Martin's, one of the Scilly islands. They were of a sort new to the inhabitants, four or five inches in length, and gave rise to some conjecture. Not only were they wondered at, but experimented on, and found to be excellent eating. The species was identified by Mr. Cornish, of Penzance, an excellent ichthyologist, as Zeus aper.-T. Q. C.

BOTANY.

MEDICAGO ARBOREA.-Attempts are being made at Brighton to find some shrubs sufficiently hardy and well adapted to bear the exposed spray and winds of the new Undercliff road, but as yet only two (the Euonymus and Tamarisk) have been found to stand the variations of heat and cold of that spot. Some years back I suggested to Mr. Spary, the Brighton florist, that the Medicago arborea, being entirely a seaside plant, though a Southern one, would be likely to stand the climate of Brighton, and he in consequence procured some seeds and raised several plants, which are now grown to large shrubs, and which may be seen in his garden, green all the year round, and for the greater part of that time bearing pretty yellow flowers; it is a remarkably handsome and very bushy shrub, and being a seaside plant, and growing so luxuriantly near the sea, it would in all probability thrive on the Undercliff road, not only as a standard, but particularly also if trained up against the cliff wall: it may be seen growing eight feet high against the southern aspect of Mr. Balchin's cottage in his garden at Hove, as also against the north wall opposite; at Florence it forms beautiful hedges close to the sea. The Tamarisk, it will be remembered, was many years back introduced as a seaside plant, and though only indigenous in the south of Europe and along the coast of the Mediterranean, is found to stand the winter and grow freely by the seaside in England, and there is no reason why the Medicago should not flourish there also. I trust that this notice in SCIENCE-GOSSIP may induce the authorities of Brighton, who are expending large sums in planting all over the town, especially on the Undercliff, where nearly all the trees so lately planted there are dead, to try the Medicago there, which, if it succeeds, as I verily believe it will, cannot fail to be an attractive object and a most desirable addition to the shrubs of Brighton.T. B. W., Brighton.

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form of a decoction, and sometimes as a powder. Some authorities state that it possesses the same febrifuge properties as cinchona bark. The taste of the bark, and especially that of the inner layer, is intensely bitter. The leaves also have a bitter taste. The seeds yield a large quantity of oil, which has also a strong and bitter taste. The roots are stated to have vermifuge properties. This bitter principle consists of a neutral resin, which may be obtained by exhausting the bark with alcohol. The leaves contain a small amount of bitter substance of a similar nature, but more soluble in water.

CALLA PALUSTRIS IN SURREY (p. 277).-Calla palustris was originally planted in North Surrey so far back as 1861, and is now quite established. I have no doubt that this is Mr. Gardiner's station. It is also one of the plants recommended by Mr. Robinson for naturalization :—“It is thoroughly hardy, and though often grown in water, likes a moist bog much better. In a bog, or muddy place shaded by trees to some extent, it will grow larger in flower and leaf, though it is quite at home even when fully exposed. Those having natural bogs, &c., would find it a very interesting plant to introduce to them, while for moist spongy spots near the rock garden, or by the side of a rill, it is one of the best things that can be used."—(Robinson, "Alpine Flowers,", p. 162.) Its occurrence in Surrey is noticed in the "Journal of Botany," vol. ii. N. S., p. 339.-R. A. Pryor.

FERTILIZATION OF FLOWERS.-The Scrophularia is, I find, satisfactorily recognized as protogynous. In the same connection has any one observed what species of insects haunt the unattractive-looking Mercurialis perennis? The female plants too seem very generally to come into flower when the males are almost past blossoming; thus presenting an additional obstacle to their successful pollenization, but are they usually infertile? I do not know whether, as in M. annua, male flowers are occasionally intermixed.-R. A. Pryor.

ROYAL BOTANIC SOCIETY.-It may be interesting to notice that specimens of the Eucalyptus globulus, described in SCIENCE-GOSSIP, December, 1873, are to be seen flourishing in the Economic House at the Regent's Park Gardens.-R. H. L. B.

CHANGES IN THE VEGETATION OF SOUTH AFRICA. -Dr. Shaw has communicated a paper to the Linnæan Society showing the changes which have been caused in the flora of South Africa by the introduction of the merino sheep. He says that the original vegetation of the colony is being in many places destroyed or rapidly deteriorated by overstocking and by the accidental introduction of various weeds. Among the most important of the

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