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

Puccinia sonchi, Desm.-II. Sori at first covered by the epidermis, which is swollen like a bladder, afterwards surrounded by it like a bowl; roundishpulvinate, scattered or grouped without order, brown. Spores roundish, ovate, elliptic or oblong, with a very thick, colourless, warted membrane, and yellow oil, 23-35 μ long, 16-21 μ thick. III.-Sori more compact than in II., roundish-pulvinate, on the stem oblong, often confluent, scattered, or arranged in circles, or even grouped without order; black, surrounded by brown paraphyses, which are clavately thickened above. Spores on a pretty long, persistent peduncle, elliptic or oblong, somewhat constricted, rounded below, or tapering into the peduncle, only slightly thickened and rounded or cap-shaped, at the apex ; smooth, clear-brown, 30-60 μ long, 19-30 μ thick. Mesospores numerous, similar, but only one-celled; generally more thickened at the apex, reaching 50 μ in length.

W. B. GROVE, B.A.

HOW TO KEEP SMALL MARINE AQUARIA.

N SCIENCE-GOSSIP for April of this year, I

I described two small glass-jar aquaria, which I

had started in the middle of October, 1883, as an experiment, and which, up to that time, had proved most successful for so small a quantity of water. Now, on October 20th, 1884, one jar still remains, with four of its original occupants after a most trying time of it.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Addiscombe, Croydon.

EDWARD LOVETT.

GLASTONBURY AND ITS THORN.

By WILLIAM ROBERTS.

HE Somersetshire town of Glastonbury is one of

THE

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

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

In 530 David, Archbishop of Menevia, with seven.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Another presumably miraculous wonder inflicted on the credulity of the Glastonbury folks in former days was a walnut-tree, which was said never to expand its leaves before the 11th of June-the feast of St. Barnabas-but this long ago ceased to exist.

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

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

"THE GEOLOGICAL RECORD" AT

HALDON, DEVONSHIRE.

By the REV. W. DOWNES, B.A., F.G.S.

WHEN

7HEN summer visitors to Teignmouth or Dawlish have spent a day or two in boating, bathing, and strolling along the beach, and a variety in the programme of the day is becoming desirable, the first thing probably which will suggest itself to them, or be suggested by others, will be a walk upon Haldon. Nor could any better suggestion be made. That elevated plateau is equally accessible from either of the two watering places, and is about equi-distant from either. Two miles of stiff and steady up-hill work will take the pedestrian from sea-level to 760 feet above it, where he will be fully rewarded for his climb by the splendid view over land and sea which

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

Of this Blackdown range, the Haldons are two

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

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

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Fig. 11.-Exogyra conica. Fig. 12.-Turitella granulata. outliers of irregular outline. Great Haldon on the north, is about five miles long, and averages about one mile in breadth, while Little Haldon, separated from the larger outlier by a slight depression in the Trias is two miles long, and rather more than half a mile wide. In ascending the hill the trias is found to extend to within So feet or 90 feet of the summit, when it is covered by about 50 feet of greensand, capped in turn by about 40 feet of flint gravel.

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

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

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