HA KLMVICKE'S SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



91 



B T A I\T Y. 



Absorption of Air by the Tissues of 

 Plants.— In making certain investigations with 

 respect to the growth and development of vegetable 

 cells, I have once or twice come across a circum- 

 stance which I think deserves not tee. It is a com- 

 mon thing to find air in the spiral and annular 

 vessels of plants, which escapes from their open 

 ends into the water surrounding the object under 



Fig-. 55. 



the thin glass cover. But I have noticed a gradual 

 absorption of this air, apparently into the tissues of 

 the plant under observation. The absorption is so 

 rapid that it may be readily observed. The two 

 extremities of the air-bubble draw gradually nearer 

 to one another, with a kind of dragging motion, 

 until the air finally disappears. The air, I suppose, 

 must be carbonic acid.- — J. S. Tide. 



Language of Flowers. — What is the earliest 

 work which treats of flowers from the stand-point 

 indicated by the above heading ? Emblematic 

 uses of flowers prevailed, undoubtedly, in very early 

 times; possibly suggested the "lily-work" of the 

 Temple (1 Kings vii. 22, and other passages) ; the 

 lily being the emblem of purity and innocence. — 

 R. T., M.A. 



Gentian. — Linnaeus records {Flora Lappon., 

 p. 6% ed. 1792), that a decoction from this bitter 

 plant is sometimes employed with good effect iu 

 the case of country people suffering from inter- 

 mittent (ever, and that on this ground it had re- 

 ceived the name of Surge ct ambttla. Is there any 

 English equivalent to this in common use? — R. T., 

 3I.J. 



The Chrysanthemum.— The Indian or Chinese 

 chrysanthemum was introduced into this country 

 as long back as the year 1764, Miller having received 

 it from Nimpu, and cultivated it in the Botanic 

 Garden at Chelsea, where it was probably lost, 

 through some accident, as it is not mentioned in 

 the first edition of Horl us Kewensis. — Flora 

 Historic a. 



The Elm.— Is celebrated iu the "Iliad" (book 

 xxi.) for having formed a hasty bridge, over which 

 Achilles escaped Xanthus, when that river, by its 

 overflowing, had put him in danger of being carried 

 away. — Sylva Florifera. 



Veronica Buxbaumii. — This Buxbaum's Speed- 

 well, which is described in Withering's "British 



Botany " as flowering from August to October, I 

 found at Woolstone, near Southampton, with two 

 full blooms on the Gth February, this year.— ^wes 

 Lurij. 



Luminous Fungi. — Yes ! some British plants 

 and fungi are full of luminosity. The potato in a 

 state of decomposition will give out a powerful 

 light, and different species of Agaricus emit flashes 

 of a phosphoric nature. I remember being a little 

 puzzled, and, 1 confess with shame, not a little 

 frightened, about five years ago in Hampshire. I 

 had just made a new fernery at the lower end of my 

 greenhouse. The decaying roots of some old trees 

 had been used, and on looking through the glass 

 door into the conservatory one night, just before 

 locking the dining-room up, I saw some faint flashes 

 of light. I mentioned the circumstance at breakfast 

 next morning to some relatives who were staying 

 with me, and got well laughed at — was asked if, as 

 I was a Welsh woman, I did not fancy I had seen a 

 " Canwyll Corph " (Corpse Candle), the light some 

 of the South Wales country folk believe to proceed 

 from any house where a death is shortly to tak e 

 place. I was a little nervous, and next morning, 

 when it was proposed we should go down from the 

 drawing-room about nine o'clock to look for the 

 " Canwyll Corph," fairly started back and screamed 

 out with terror on seeing the powerful light plainly 

 visible in the greenhouse. After a little jesting 

 one gentleman, who had been iu California, admitted 

 that he had been out all the morning seeking for 

 phosphoric wood and plants iu order to give me a 

 fright. He had succeeded admirably, and 1 have 

 good reason to remember luminous fungi. Some 

 cryptoganiic plants are luminous, — Schistostega 

 osmimdacea is ; aud, strange to relate, some human 

 beings are. I know of one instance in England. I 

 do not like to mention names, for the old lady is still 

 alive, and a very dear good old lady she is ; but she 

 would be fearfully offended if any one hinted to her 

 that the bright spots which occasionally appear on 

 her were phosphorescent, and to be accounted for 

 scientifically. She is eccentric, and is quite proud 

 of these "tokens," as she calls them. She quite 

 believes they are sent to her as warnings — that some 

 one she knows will soon die ; and as she lives iu 

 rather a large village, takes an interest in the poor, 

 and knows every soul iu the parish, it generally comes 

 to pass that she does hear of a death after seeing 

 " the token." I have often found it difficult to keep 

 grave when she has said to me, " I saw the token 

 again last night, sonic one will die shortly ; you know 

 Mary " (that is her daughter) " observed the spot 

 on my face last week, the very day before poor 

 James Carter sank." Certain insects are, we know, 

 luminous, so are some living molluscs, polypes, 

 crustaceans, and others. — Helen F. Waincij, 

 Beaumaris. 



