HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



125 



When this fungus was laid on a newspaper, it 

 emitted by night a phosphorescent light enabling us 

 to read the words round it ; and it continued to do 

 so for several nights with gradually decreasing 

 intensity as the plant dried up. A few weeks ago, 

 and not till then, I discovered another instance of 

 the same kind. I was collecting plants on an iron- 

 stone hill in the Toodjay district, when I was 

 struck with the beauty of a large fungus, of the 

 same character as the former, but measuring sixteen 

 inches across, and about a foot from the root to the 

 extremity of the pileus. The specimen which I 

 carried home weighed about five pounds, was very 

 smooth, yellowish-brown above, and dirty-white 

 upon the gills ; it gradually became thinner towards 

 the outer edge of the pileus, where it was waved 

 and sinuated. It was the beauty of the species 

 which induced me to gather it, for as to making a 

 full collection of the Swan River fungi, such a task 

 would require an entire season, and the skill of a 

 person who could make drawings or models of them. 

 The specimen in question was hung up inside the 

 chimney of our sitting-room to dry, and on passing 

 through the apartment in the dark, I observed the 

 fungus giving out a most remarkable light similar 

 to what I described above. No light is so white as 

 this, at least none that I have ever seen. The 

 luminous property continued, though gradually 

 diminishing, for four or five nights, when it ceased, 

 on the plant becoming dry. We called some of the 

 natives, and showed them this fungus when 

 emitting light ; the room was dark, for the fire was 

 very low, and the candles extinguished, and the 

 poor creatures cried out ' Chinga ! ' their name for 

 a spirit, and seemed much afraid of it; and I 

 certainly must own it is a very extraordinary 

 ' Will-o'-the-wisp. 5 " 



This then is a summary of the facts which we 

 have been able hastily to collect together con- 

 cerning the luminosity of plants. There may be 

 other recorded cases which have passed from our 

 memory, or with which we have never become ac- 

 quainted, and to these it is not at all improbable 

 that some of our correspondents will be able to add 

 others. The subject has now been fairly opened, 

 it is a very interesting one, and it must be confessed 

 still not wholly without mystery, especially in so 

 far as regards the light emitted from the flowers, 

 &c, of the higher orders of plants. 



Ireland's Collecting-Case.— We have just 

 examined a portable collecting-case designed by 

 Mr. Sidney Ireland, of Hoxton. It is of japanned 

 tin, with a leather strap to suspend it around the 

 neck. Within the case is a brass clip head for col- 

 lecting-bottle to fasten to the end of walking-stick, 

 collecting-bottles, bottle fitted with funnel and 

 filter, four large tubes, six small ones, and a dip- 

 ping-tube. Altogether compact and convenient. 



THE STORY OF A LUMP OF CLAY. 



By J. E. Taylor, F.G.S., &c. 



A N outline of the biography of even such a 

 ■*-*■ humble individual as myself will not be 

 without interest. I need not introduce myself in 

 learned mineralogical language, for there is not a 

 boy living, old or young, who has not made practi- 

 cal experiments on me. But as clay is not limited 

 to any geological formation, but occurs most abun- 

 dantly in the later deposits, perhaps it may be as 

 well for me to say to which period I belong. 



In the older rocks, what was once clay has since 

 taken the form of slates or shales, subsequent alter- 

 ations having brought about this change. I may 

 say, therefore, that I belong to that period termed 

 the Eocene— a. period remarkable for the great influx 

 of warm-blooded types of life. Of these I shall 

 speak presently. 



The "London Clay," as it is termed, is the parent 

 deposit of which I am elected spokesman and repre- 

 sentative. London has been chiefly built out of 

 this huge bed of clay ; whence its geological name. 

 I have a dark bluish-brown appearance, and in some 

 places the fossils enclosed are assembled in great 

 abundance. 



Do not confound me with the clay beds referred 

 to by a more recent speaker, which belong to the 

 Glacial period. No mistake could be greater, 

 although very frequently our general appearance is 

 much alike. It is when you compare the fossil re- 

 mains found in our beds that you would form a just 

 opinion. I was born ages before the clay above 

 mentioned, and, although of marine origin, I came 

 into the world under vastly different circumstances. 

 When I was born, a tropical climate existed in what 

 is now Great Britain — when my neighbour was 

 formed the cli mature was arctic. I made my ap- 

 pearance at the commencement of the Tertiary 

 epoch — he did not come until the final close. Be- 

 tween this beginning and end, this extreme of 

 warm and cold climates, a long period of time had 

 elapsed, marked by the deposition of thick strata, 

 some of whose members will by-and-by, I have no 

 doubt, tell you what occurred meanwhile. But, 

 from the time when I was formed to the present, I 

 know there exists a gradual series of beds, in which 

 fossil plants and animals are imbedded, whose types 

 link those of the past with^the present. living fauna 

 and flora of the globe. 



The Eocene formation comprehends other strata 

 than that of which I form a part, but I do not 

 think I am egotistic in stating that ours is regarded 

 usually as the principal member. The total thick- 

 ness of these beds is over two thousand feet. The 

 upper series are well developed in Hampshire and 

 the Isle of Wight, where they bear evidence of 

 having been deposited in fresh water. These are 



