Oct. 1, 1S6G.] 



HAHDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



219 



■when a soil has been formed, shrubs and trees have 

 been established on the once shifting and arid wastes. 

 The Birch in Denmark, the Maritime Pine (P. man- 

 timet) in Prance, and the Ailanthus {J. glanduhsd) 

 in Russia, have been employed for this purpose with 

 great success. Many thousands of acres have thus 

 been reclaimed, and modern science has made some 

 progress in repairing the mischiefs wrought by 

 ignorance in days gone by. Thus, educated man 

 asserts his superiority to nature By improving upon 

 her processes. Yet, we repeat, the history of sand- 

 dunes is but an elaborate comment on the truth that 

 if we would make nature our friend, when she 

 seems most adverse to our interests, it must be by 

 a reverent study of her laws — the laws of her all- 

 wise Creator, and a humble imitation of her 

 methods. TV. H. Groser, B. Se. 



BELL-FLOWERS. 



" Nature gives a parting smile — 

 As yet the blue-bells linger on the sod 

 That copse the sheepfold ring ; and in the woods 

 A second blow of many flowers appears, 

 Flowers faintly tinged, and breathing no perfume." 



Graham e. 



THE floral year is fast drawing to a close ; 

 summer has given place to autumn, with its 

 rich, many-hued foliage, beautiful in itself, but sad 

 in the warning which it gives of approaching winter. 

 The wild flowers are rapidly disappearing: every 

 day seems to mark a diminution in their numbers ; 

 and, of those which still persevere in putting in an 

 appearance, many are but "blighted beings," 

 serving only to recall more vividly their glories 

 which have passed away with the departed summer. 

 Some, however, still adorn the closing hours of the 

 w r aning year with their blossoms ; and conspicuous 

 among these are the various members of the genus 

 ■Campanula, better known to some as Hair-bells, or 

 Bell-flowers. 



The British species of the genus Campanula are 

 readily distinguished from those of any other group. 

 They are, with but one exception, perennial plants ; 

 the leaves, though varying much in shape and size, 

 are, in all cases, almost entire, though some have 

 their margins toothed ; the corolla is in each species 

 normally of some shade of blue, occasionally varying 

 into white. It contains/?/*? stamens and one pistil ; 

 thus belonging to the Linusean class Pentandria, 

 order Monogynla ; and is all in one piece, or mono- 

 petalous. The shape of the corolla, too, which gives 

 to the genus its English, as well as its Latin name,* 

 is worthy of notice. 



Six of the seven British species have their 

 blossoms on long footstalks, while in the remaining 

 one they are sessile, sitting close to the stem. To 



* Campanula signifies "a little bell." 



consider the larger number first, we may again 

 divide it into two subdivisions, in one of which 

 are four species which have their capsules, or seed- 

 vessels, nodding, while in the other are two which 

 have them erect. The best known of the nodding- 

 capsuled species is the Hair-bell (C. rotund if olia), 

 usually, though somewhat unmeaningly, spelt hare- 

 bell ; but, as the name seems to have been given it 

 in allusion to its slender hair-like stalks, the former 

 spelling is the more correct. The Hair-bell is so 

 universally known and admired, that little descrip- 

 tion of it is necessary ; its lovely blue flowers have 

 been so often sung of by poets and depicted by 

 painters, that every one must be familiar with them. 

 The specific name rofundifolia, or round-leaved, 

 may be considered inappropriate by those who have 

 only seen the plant in the flowering season, when all 

 the leaves are linear, or very narrow; but those 

 about the root, which appear in the spring, and 

 wither on the approach of summer, are nearly round, 

 or heart-shaped. These, catching the eye of 

 Linnseus on the steps of the University at Upsal, 

 induced him to bestow this name on the species. In 

 "Hone's Everyday Book" we are told that the 

 Hair-bell is dedicated to St. Dominic ; and the holy 

 man may deem himself fortunate to have obtained 

 so lovely a flower. In the winter, when nothing 

 but the fibres of the plant remain, the empty 

 capsules become skeletonized, looking like fairy 

 bells; those of another species, C. medium, well 

 known in our gardens as the " Canterbury Bell," 

 are very favourite objects with the skeletonizers of 

 plants. The blossoms are usually pale blue, but are 

 occasionally darker, and are sometimes quite white : 

 this peculiarity is shared by all our British, and 

 many foreign species. Their texture is so delicate 

 that they shrivel up and wither almost as soon as 

 plucked. The Hair-bell is supposed by many to be 

 the true "Blue-bell of Scotland," but others con- 

 sider that the Wild Hyacinth (Endi/mion nutans) 

 has a better claim to the title ; indeed, the latter 

 even disputes the title of Hair-bell with our little 

 Campanula, and has found writers willing to take 

 up its cause. The Nettle-leaved Bell-flower (C. 

 Tracheliuni) is in England a common species, 

 decking our woods and hedges with its long leafy 

 spike of deep-blue flowers. Its leaves, as the name 

 implies, much resemble those , of the nSttle; and 

 each peduncle, or flower-stalk, usually supports from 

 two to four blossoms. These are much larger than 

 those of the Hair-bell, and form a handsome addition 

 to our wayside flora. Their colour varies much in 

 intensity, and pink varieties have been met with ; in 

 gardens, and occasionally in a wild state, they are 

 double, the stamens being replaced by a second 

 corolla. The stem is from two to four feet high, 

 usually dark, stout, and very hairy. The name 

 Canterbury Bell seems to have been originally 

 applied to this species, although it is now usually 



• l 2 



