34 



HAEDWECKE'S SCIENCE- GO SSIP. 



statoblasts that were set free from other colonies 

 about August 10th, and they as yet show no signs 

 of developing. The same thing has taken place 

 with the statoblast of Plumatella repens, some 'of 

 which I placed in a cell by themselves August 10th, 

 having had them some time previous uuder observa- 

 tion. October 1st, several of the young were seen 

 protruding from the statoblast (fig. 22), while others 

 of the Plumatella also are .still undeveloped in the 

 same cell, and probably will remain so until the 

 coming spring. This apparent irregularity in the 

 time of hatching I have noticed also in the Hydra 

 viridis. Some of them have been hatched in the 

 space of five weeks, and others have lain five months 

 before it has taken place The young Lophopus 

 lived for two months, and did not quit the statoblast 

 case during that time, but all of them have since 

 died, so that further observations on their growth 

 could not be made. I watched them carefully, in 

 the hope of seeing fresh colonies formed by the 

 process of gemmation ; for this, however, I must 

 wait another opportunity. The young are capable 

 of regular exsertion and retraction, as the parent 

 animal, and the process of feeding, and the action 

 of the stomach in the work of digestion is plainly 

 seen, so far as the protrusion of the body out of the 

 case will allow. The length of the statoblast of 

 Lophopus is about 3-100 of an inch. 

 Canterbury. James Eullagab. 



HOLIDAY RAMBLES. 



No. IV.— A Day's Botanizing on the Sussex 

 Coast. 



A TJGTJST the 3rd last, being a Bank Holiday, 

 ■*-*- was chosen by some Cicestrian and neighbour- 

 ing naturalists for investigating the flora and other 

 productions of a promising part of our South Coast, 

 a district well searched long ago by Dillenius and 

 by Borrer. Notes had been made of plants observed 

 there by them, and specially to be looked for. The 

 programme was to first visit Itchenor and Wittering, 

 and then to push eastward, so long as daylight 

 would allow, towards Brackleskam Bay. A delight- 

 ful breezy morning, neither too hot nor too cold 

 gave promise of the pleasant excursion which 

 ensued. Arriving at Itchenor, we had the great 

 advantage of being joined by the rector of the 

 parish, an ardent naturalist, well acquainted with 

 the locality, and who throughout the day acted as 

 our pioneer, over hedge and ditch, through wood 

 and marsh skirting L Chichester Harbour. Our 

 cryptogamists were the first to be delighted. Har- 

 vesting was going on, and from a cornfield a friend 

 brought some unusually handsome specimens of 

 Polyporus lucidus, — their shining, varnished, bright 

 chestnut-edged pileii, curiously enclosing straws 

 and ivy-leaves ; and their remarkable stems were so 



striking that an artist of our party at once deter- 

 mined on portraying them in oils, which he did 

 most happily. Not long after occurred Uromyces 

 Limonii, and Mcidium statices, on the Sea Lavender. 

 The phanerogams, however, were our chief reward. 

 As we passed through Itchenor Park towards the 

 sea, we came upon the Corn Spurrey (Spergula 

 arvensis) and the not uncommon Bristly Ox-tongue 

 (Helmitithia echioides). Then in the marshes were 

 whole tracts covered with the Marsh Mallow in full 

 bloom. This plant was noted as local ; scarce nearer 

 Chichester, although appearing plentifully on the 

 banks of the Arun. By the shore appeared the 

 English' Stonecrop (Sedum anglicu/n) : it had been 

 observed at Hayling Island, and was one of the 

 plauts to be looked for, since it had been found by 

 Dillenius further on at Bracklesham, in one of his 

 journeys. Its pretty white flowers speckled with 

 red were for the most part faded. This Stonecrop 

 was so plentiful that its extirpation need not be 

 feared, and the habitat is therefore given. Near it, 

 but for the most part separate, was Sedum acre, 

 with its yellow blossoms still visible. We next 

 came on large patches of tansy, its strongly-scented 

 flowers giving rise to a question relative to tansy 

 puddings — whether they could have been nice or 

 not. With it grew abundantly the Sea Wormwood, 

 here called Savin, and used for deleterious purposes 

 too generally known. The Sea Beet, Sea Purslane, 

 and several of the oraches, abounded; amongst them 

 a single example of the Erosted Sea Orache (Atri- 

 plex arenarid). While this was being examined, 

 one who knew the coast exclaimed, "Yonder is 

 Ellanore, the spot where Ella, the father of Cissa, 

 landed when he conquered Sussex." 



The Strawberry-headed Trefoil, the Black Salt- 

 wort, and the Greater Skull-cap were now met 

 with, while /uncus maritimus was also observable. 

 On its stems and flowers were numbers of the 

 pretty Burnet Moth, with many a deserted pupa- 

 case. The remarkable cedar-like odour which this 

 rush emits when pulled up attracted much attention. 

 Salicornia radicans, with its conspicuous tinge of 

 fawn-colour, was a characteristic of this [part of 

 Chichester Harbour, occurring in profusion, as did 

 Silene maritima, which, we were told, as early as 

 May covers large portions of the shore here with 

 its snowy blossoms. Arriving at Cockbush, one of 

 the Composite — the Sea Eeverfew [Pyrethrum mari- 

 timum of Smith and Chrysanthemum maritimum), 

 was the plant we sought chiefly to meet with, and 

 there it was to be seen abundantly. Dillenius had 

 thus noted .its station : " At Cockbush, on the 

 Sussex coast, seven miles from Chichester, in 

 plenty." Beckoned formerly as a distinct species, 

 but now reduced to a variety, Matricaria iuodora, 

 var. C. maritimum; some of us were of Smith's 

 opinion, that as a species it was " abundantly dis- 

 tinct," while all agreed that to a plant so decidedly 



