24 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Jan. 1, 1SG6. 



NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



All communications for the Editor should be addressed to 

 No. 192, Piccadilly, W. To avoid disappointment, contribu- 

 tions should be received on or before the 15th of each 

 month. No notice can be taken of anonymous communi- 

 cations. All notes, queries, or articles for insertion, must 

 be guaranteed by the name and address of the writer, which 

 may be withheld from publication if so desired. 



Queries.— Having: been inundated with questions, we are 

 compelled to announce that we cannot undertake to answer 

 those of which the querist might satisfy himself by an appeal 

 to any elementary book on the subject. We are always pre- 

 pared to accept queries of a critical nature, and to publish 

 the replies, provided some of our readers, beside the querist, 

 are likely to take an interest in them. 



We cannot undertake to return " rejected addresses." 



A. G. R.— Your red fungus on Judas tree is Tubercularia 



vulgaris. 



J. S.— Scarcely so thin as it should have been. 

 W. A. L. is thanked for his offer, but we receive " Hedwigia " 

 egularly. 



K. D. — Your shells are those of Littorina obtusata, the 

 Turbo obtusatus of Linnaeus, and Littorina littoralis of Forbes 

 and Hanley. R. T. 



R. A.— Your black Staghorn fungus from decayed timber is 

 Xylaria hypoxylon, very common. 



W. B. Maxfield would exchange thin, unmounted sections 

 of turtle tbone for human or ostrich bone, or any kind of 

 sponge spicules. — Address, Stone, Staffordshire. 



Aphides. — Mounted specimens of Aphides will be sent to 

 such applicants as will pay postage for them, by addressing to 

 Discipulus, School-house, Mulbarton, Norwich. 



E. C. and C. B. C. — We do not comprehend your queries. 



E. G. (Grasmere) sends vis an abnormal form of inflores- 

 cence of Geum rivale (Water avens), in which a "flower is 

 disposed in a whorl about the stem, two inches below the 

 terminal one." It has been forwarded to the herbarium of 

 the Society of Amateur Botanists. 



M. W. — The Micrographic Dictionary is published by 

 Van Voorst (London), at 45s. 



G. T. P.— We cannot insert such a list as you send, and can 

 only announce that you wish to exchange Lepidoptera. — 

 Address, 8, Clare Hill, Huddersfield. 



Vallisneria Spiralis.— H. J. B. offers fragments of this 

 plant, as well as Desmids from an aquarium, to correspon- 

 dents.— 44, Camberwell Road, London. 



Testacei.i.a Mangel — A few shells of this mollusk are 

 offered in exchange for those of Testacella Haliotidea, var. 

 Scutulum ; or any of the foreign Parmacella. — Address, E. C, 

 7, Eldon Villa, Redland, Bristol. 



H. J. B. — Mosses may be found almost anywhere. What 



species do you want locality for ? 



O. I. T. corrects an error at page 286 (I860). For Althaa 

 cerea read Ant/tea cereus. 



K. D.— What is " Crap," of which you inquire? 



E. G. — The yellow fungus on bramble leaf is Leoythea 



ruborum, which generally precedes or accompanies the brand. 



W. Ross.— Not a vegetable production at all. 



H. B.— Cuthill's treatise on the mushroom will give you 

 the information you solicit. A dark cellar is not essential. 

 The soil moist, not wet. 



H. H. — Tetraphis pe.llucida is not considered rare. 



R. H. wishes to exchange land and fresh water shells for 

 marine or others.— 36, Swine Market, Halifax. 



Botanical Bibliography. — " Pritzel's Thesaurus," pub- 

 lished on the Continent, may doubtless be obtained through 

 some foreign bookseller— Williams ?< Norgate, Asher & Co., 

 or Bailliere. .it is the most complete Bibliography of the 

 Science published. A list of many of the works published 

 since was continued until lately in the " Natural History 

 Review." 



W. W. — We are not supposed to know anything of those 

 who advertise in our " Gossip" beyond their advertisements. 



l.K. — Long lists of desiderata and exchanges must be in- 

 serted as advertisements. 



M. A.— We expect that " British Reptiles" will really come 

 in with the new year, and that you will be able to obtain it 011 

 application to the Publisher, at 192, Piccadilly. 



R. O. — The dried specimens of fungi to which you allude 

 may be had at the office of this journal. There are examples 

 of 100 species, and the price is one guinea. 



L. L. -We regret that your specimens were not named for 

 you ; but suppose that either they were too many, or in an 

 imperfect state. It is possible that they may have been mis- 

 laid ; but we have no recollection of the circumstance. 



J. S. — The only work, of which we have any knowledge, on 

 the parasites of birds and animals (Anop/euru) is " Denny's 

 Monograph," published by H. G. Bohn, of Covent Garden. 



A. T. — We purpose devoting some space during the current 

 year to fresh- water fish, with illustrations which will probably 

 answer your purpose. 



S. J. P. — We cannot attempt to answer queries on any other 

 subject than Natural History. 



R. A. C— If you wish to make any progress in the study of 

 plants, you had better do what you purpose thoroughly. 

 There is no science without technicalities. 



Communications Received. — A. H.— L. S. — E. T. S. — 



L. L. C— W. W. S. O. I. T.— J. R. E.— E. C. Y.— W. A. L. 



R. H.— L. G. M.— J. A.— J. S.— A. G. R.— H. W. N.— T. S.— 

 W. W — W. F. S.— R. A.— D. P. A.— J. S.— W. Ross.— K. D — 

 E. A.— W. S.— H. B.— E. C— T. P.— H. W. (Oxford).— 

 G. T. P.— H. H.— M. W.-B. H— J. E. Y.— J. A., jun.— 

 C. B. C— G. S.— H. J. B.— H. U.— Prof. Bernardin.— 

 J. W.-E. G— A. N— R. H.— M. A.— I. K.— S. W.— R. O.— 

 W. A. S.— Annie.— L. L — M. A. F— G. O.— R. A. C- W. B.— 

 S. S. T.— W. W.— J. S.— S. J. P. 



Correspondents will please to append their own names, or 

 initials, to their communications, which may be withheld 

 from publication if desired ; but no notice whatever can be 

 taken of anonymous contributions. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



" The World before the Deluge." By Louis Figuier. 

 (Translated from the Fourth French Edition; pp.448, 8vo., 

 illustrated.) London, Chapman and Hall, 1865. 



"The Book of the Pike." By H. Cholmondeley-Pennell. 

 Ci ondon, Robert Hardwicke, 186">. 



