4G 



HAMDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



On the 25th of September last a very fine and per- 

 fect specimen of this fungus was brought to me by 

 a gardener at Beckenbam (Kent), where I was 

 then residing. It was in three separate pieces ; 

 each piece was perfect in itself, as he had taken 

 great pains not to injure it in removing it from the 

 ground, where it was growing under some Scotch 

 firs. First was 'the stem, with the pileus or cap, 

 which latter was almost entirely covered with a 

 slimy brown mucilage, resembling in substance the 

 mire of a pig-stye, only that it was of a yellow- 

 brown hue : from this slime was emitted the most 

 horrible odour. I took it in my hands by the stem, 

 which was nearly pure white, to look at it closer, 

 but was obliged to hold it at arm's length, the 

 smell was so fearful. Secondly there was the volva, 

 or wrapper, out of which the stem had grown. It 

 was like a hollow circular bag of a dirty brownish 

 colour ; and below this again was a nearly perfect 

 round ball — a solid bulb of a rough ish surface like a 

 puff-ball. It was white, slightly tiuged with brown, 

 and had a few fine stringy rootlets attached to it. 

 My friend the gardener, before leaving me, had 

 assured me that the flies would come and eat up 

 the filthy brown slime which covered the cap, and 

 leave it a pure white. This seemed incredible, but 

 I can now testify to the truth of the fact ; for I had 

 scarcely arranged the fungus against the greenhouse 

 wall, than it was almost covered with large blue- 

 bottle flies, eagerly devouring the stinking slime. I 

 had not observed any near before; they were at- 

 tracted, though previously invisible. 1 made my 

 drawing as hastily as possible, for I could scarcely 

 endure the smell, and returned to the house, leav- 

 ing the flies to enjoy their feast, and they certainly 

 made the most of it ; for when 1 returned, in two 

 hours and a half from the time when I had first put 

 the fungus aside, they had entirely concluded their 

 feast, and had disappeared, leaving exposed to view 

 the honeycombed structure of the pileus, now quite 

 devoid of slime, and the fetid odour much di- 

 minished, though still too strong to be pleasant. 

 On the following day I made another drawing of 

 the pileus with its deeply honeycombed surface. I 

 cannot say that it was purely white in colour, as 

 the gardener had foretold it would be ; it was 

 whitish, the upper edges of the cells being still 

 brown.— F. 11. K. 



The Glastonbury Thorn — I find at p. 758 

 in the second volume of "Chambers' Book of Days " 

 the following : — " The Miraculous thorn-tree of 

 Glastonbury Abbey, in Somersetshire, was stoutly 

 believed in until very recent times." Erom which 

 1 infer that it is not now ; and whereas in my mind 

 it is a miraculous thorn-tree, in that it actually does, 

 in accordance with the legend, flower twice a year, 

 one of those times being at Christmas time ; and 

 thinking that perhaps some of the many readers of 

 Mr. Chambers' valuable and interesting book may 

 be misled by this article, I write these few lines. On 

 the 20th of December last year [1S73], I had brought 

 me from Glastonbury, by a friend, a sprig of haw- 

 thorn covered with flower-buds, and also two young 

 plants in full leaf. The flower-buds were not quite 

 advanced enough to expand in water, but would 

 certainly have opened in a few days had they been 

 left on their parent stock, for they were perfectly 

 formed. The two plants I placed in my garden at 

 Woodside, near Croydon, and when I left England 

 in April they, were flourishing well and throwing 

 out vigorous young shoots. " One of the first 

 accounts of this thorn-three in print Avas given in 



Hearns's 'History and Antiquities of Glastonbury,' 

 published in 1722. The narration consists of a short 

 paper by Mr. Eyston, called 'A Little Monument 

 to the once Eamous Abbey and Borough of Glas- 

 tonbury, with an account of the Miraculous Thorn, 

 that blows still on Christmas-day, and the wonderful 

 Walnut-tree, that annually used to blow on St. Bar- 

 naby's day.' I was told by the inn-keeper where I 

 put up my horses, who rents a considerable part of 

 the enclosure of the late dissolved abbey, that St. 

 Joseph of Arimathea landed not far from the town, 

 at a place where there was an oak planted in 

 memory of his landing, called the ' Oak of Avalon' ; 

 that he (Joseph) and his companions marched thence 

 to a hill, near a mile on the south side of the town, 

 and there, being weary, rested themselves, which 

 gave the hill the' name of Weary-all-hill (locally 

 abbreviated into Werrall) ; that St. Joseph stuck on 

 the hill his staff, being a dry hawthorn stick, which 

 grew, and constantly budded and bio wed upon 

 Christmas-day; but in the time of the civil wars, 

 that thorn was grubbed up. However there were 

 in the town and neighbourhood several trees raised 

 from that thorn, which yearly budded and blowed 

 upon Christmas-day, as the old root did." I shall 

 feel much obliged to any of the readers of Science- 

 Gossip who will tell me the reason for the above 

 phenomenon, and if the tree, botanically speaking, 

 differs from the common white thorn. The climate 

 at Glastonbury is very mild, and frequently ferns 

 and delicate annuals may be found quite late in the 

 year with fresh green leaves. — J. A. Fletcher, 

 B.B.N. A., Montreal, Canada. 



Preservation of Marine Animals.— Being 

 preparing to spend this year in collecting objects of 

 natural history in every possible department, I 

 should feel much indebted to any person who would 

 kindly oblige me with his experience in the preserva- 

 tion of whatever objects he devotes himself to. I 

 specially desire information regarding parasites of 

 marine animals ; on what, and what parts are they 

 to be looked for ; and how treated when found ? 

 Again, relative to mollusca and any other desiderata I 

 meet. How would microscopists wish me to manage 

 them when I could not let them have them living or 

 fresh, as also the result of the fine-net dredge, 

 which I intend for surface " skimming " ? No doubt 

 I shall have much to distribute for exchange, and 

 shall be glad to oblige correspondents. — T.McGann, 

 B/irrin, Oranmore, Ireland. 



Gooseberry Caterpillar. — Science-Gossip 

 contains two plans for destroying these creatures; 

 both are good. One is by " A. W.," in November, 

 p. 262 ; the other by Mrs. Watney, in January, 

 p. 23. There is, however, a trifling difference in 

 them. Mrs. W. kills them after they have de- 

 stroyed her fruity "A. W." before they have touched 

 it. Mrs. W. is widely astray in attributing 

 them to the Magpie moth, instead of a small, dingy- 

 yellow fly that lays its eggs on the under side of the 

 young leaf. — A. N. 



An Aged Cypress.— Perhaps the following may 

 be of interest to some of your readers : — "The oldest 

 tree on record is said to be the Cypress of Somma, 

 in Lombardy. It is supposed to have been planted 

 in the year of the birth of Christ, and on that 

 account is locked upon with reverence by the in- 

 habitants; but an ancient chronicle at Milan is said 

 to prove that it was a tree in the time of Julius 

 Caesar, b.c. 42. It is 123 ft. high, and 23 ft. in 

 circumference at one foot from the ground. 



