108 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



Ca rices. — The name of the sender of the carices we 

 received for naming has been mislaid. The following are 

 the names of the plants : — E. Carex glauca ; B. C.curta; A. 

 C. muricata ; D. C. strigosa ; C. C. riparia. 



W. R. B. — You will find a description of the geology and 

 glaciers of Switzerland in Ball's " Alpine Guide," in three 

 small 8vo. vols. (1. Western Alps; 2. Central Alps; 3. 

 Eastern Alps); Professor J. D. Forbes' small book on the 

 Alps (the large work is difficult to get), and Bonney's 

 " Rambles in the Alps." 



Rev. W. Evrk.— Your plant is the Bird-cherry, Prunes 

 Padus, L. 



A Student. — Your plant is the female of the small Marsh 

 Valerian, Valeriana dioica. No white geranium ever 

 received. 



A. H. Lury. — The specimen is the Rough Hawksbeard, 

 Crepis biennis. 



W. Jennings.— Your specimen was very much withered, 

 but it appears to be Veronica ogreslis. 



C. A. Day. — Your plant is evidently a species of Banksia. 



A. Young. — The specimen is a variety of the Ground Ivy 

 we have not seen before. 



E. L M. — The Long-eared Owl (Otus vulgaris) is not un- 

 common in England in moderately wooded country. Jt is 

 rather a silent bird, and strictly nocturnal. The American 

 Owl referred to is a very different bird. — J.S. 



G. Arnold.— Can the bird you describe be the Mistletoe 

 Thrush, Turdus viscivorus ? — J. S. 



J. E. Sampson. — The insects sent us are the Field Cock- 

 roach, Blatta Germanica. It is regarded by some entomolo- 

 gists as indigenous, but it has a very wide distribution. You 

 cannot do better than use white hellebore to get rid of them. 



R. J. L —The malformation in the specimen sent (of 

 Ranunculus bull/osus) is of very common occurrence. It is 

 caused by the tissues of the young stems growing together 

 so as to form a ribbon-like scape. Masters, in his "Vegetable 

 Teratology," page 1 1 , denominates this form of monstrosity 

 " fasciation." 



H. D.— The peculiar flower of pear is due to the conversion 

 of the petals i.ito true leaves, called " Phyllidy of tie corolla.'' 

 We have never seen it in the flower of the Pear before. 



G. G. — See answer above on " fasciation '' of stem of 

 Ranunculus bulbosus. Your specimen was similar. 



T. R. Y.~ Get Mrs. Lankester'a "British Wild Flowers," 

 with coloured plates, published by Hardwicke, 192, Picca- 

 dilly. Masters's "Botany for Beginners,'' Bradbury & 

 Evans, will give you a capital idea of structure, &c. ; then 

 read Oliver's "Elementary Botany," Macmillan & Co. 

 Spencer Thomson's " Walks and Wild Flowers," and Tayloi's 

 " Half-hours in the Green Lanes," Hardwicke, will also 

 readily introduce you to all the commoner wild plants. 



G. C. Pearce. — Your animal is one of the Rotifers, called 

 Melicerta ringens, which makes a case of minute pellets. It 

 has been frequently described. 



John M. Pitcairn. — See article on " Collecting and 

 Preserving Osteological Specimens," in the October number 

 of Science-Gossip, 18/4. 



W. Thomas. — Your plant is Genista anglica. See references 

 to easy botanical, &c, works, in other "answer" in this 

 page. 



Captain P.— We shall be delighted to receive any of your 

 dredgings you may kindly send us. 



Mrs. R. — Properly applied, a " gynophore " is the stalk of 

 the ovary placed upon the calyx. Sometimes we meet with 

 it in the Spurge family, though many of the fruits in this 

 family are sessile, that is, sitting upon the calyx, or stalkless. 

 We may in other words, say, when you meet with a stalk to 

 the spurge fruit, if on or above the calyx, then it m a true 

 gynophore (Clerodendron Thomsons, Balf). 



Harriet McAn.EN.-Tbe monstrosity in the sepals of the 

 primrose forwarded is of the kind described by Dr. Masters 

 in his " Vegetable Teratology " as phyllody, when the sepals 

 or petals are transformed into leaves. 



Waterside Plants.— The following are common : — 

 Rumex hydrolapathum, Alitma plantago, various species of 

 Potamogeton, Veronica becca-bunga, Water-cress, Arundo 

 phragmites, Lythrum Salicaria, Willow-herbs, Safittaria 

 sagittifolia, Cardamine amara, Caltha palnstris, &c. See 

 Mrs. Lankester's "Common British Wild Flowers." 



Mrs. Weight.— Science-Gossip is always published a few 

 days before the beginning of the month whose name it hears. 

 With the present number, however, we commence publica- 

 tion a week at least earlier than hitherto. 



E E. Evans.— Gold-fish maybe purchasedat anyaquarium- 

 dealer's, — say King's, Portland-road. 



J. Atkinson.— Obtain Cooke's " Microscopic Fungi," with 

 coloured plates, pries 6s., to be had of Hardwicke, 192, 

 Piccadilly, London. 



EXCHANGES. 



Notice.— Only one " Exchange " can be inserted at a time 

 by the same individual. The maximum length (except for 

 correspondents not residing in Great Britain) is three lines. 

 Only objects of Natural History permitted. Notices must be 

 legibly written, in full, as intended to be inserted. 



Eggs of Gannet, Guillemot, Razorbill, Barn Owl, Whincbat, 

 and others, for other good Eggs.— Address, John Piatt, 

 Shavington, Nanttvich, Cheshire. 



About 200 Birds' Fgss, including Gull, Guillemot, Nightjar, 

 Jay, Queest, Jackdaw, Peewhit, Pheasant, Partridge, Butcher- 

 bird, Finches, Larks, Tits, Buntings, Wagtails, &c. What 

 offers? — E. Evans, Brimscombe, Stroud. 



For a Leaf of Common Primrose, with Cluster-cups, send 

 a stamped directed envelope and any unmounted object of 

 interest to J. Turner, Davenport, Stockport. 



Ranunculus parviflorus, Adoxa moschatellinu, &c, for 

 Ranunculus philonutis, Gagea lutea, or other Plants. — 

 G. V. Druce, Northampton. 



Wanted, a Lantern-Microscope, with Powers complete ; 

 oxy-hydrogen or oil. Slides cf highest class Microscopic 

 Objects, or rich Diatomaceous and Foraminiferous material 

 in exchange.— Captain J. A. Perry, 42, Spellow-lane, Liver- 

 pool. 



The 52 numbers of Appleton's Journal, weekly, year 1874, 

 unbound, postage paid, for the 12 numbers of "Monthly 

 Microscopical Journal," of same year, postage paid. — 

 Address, C. M., care of Henry Taylor, Bookseller, Baltimore, 

 Maryland, U.S.A. 



British Plants.— Wanted, 4«, 6, 14d, 18c-d, 19, 63, l6lb-c, 

 481, 520, 520a, 634,638, 663, 7474, 1121. 1151, 11516, 1208, 

 1212, 1221, 1224, 1226, 1266, 136/. Offered, 75, 125, 158, 253, 

 304,3054,3064,328, 330, 335, 749, 835, 8354, 855, 887, 1001, 

 13366, 1344, 1345, 1376, 1382, 1384.— James Cannach, Helston, 

 Cornwall. 



Eggs of Moorhen, Partridge, Lapwing, Sedge Warbler, 

 Starling, Missel Thrush, for others.— A. E. Shaw, 117, Hyde- 

 park-road, Leeds. 



Wanted, numbers 1415, 1416, 1417, 1418, 1432, 1435, 1440, 

 1444, 1445, 1446, 1449, 1456, 1457, 1471, 1478, 1422, 1437, 1451, 

 7th edition Lon. Cat. ; offered, Carex ornithopoda. — J. 

 Whitehead, 32, Brunswick street, Dukinfield. 



Lychnis viscaiia, for other rare plants.— H. Jones, 26, 

 Victoria-street, Shrewsbury. 



For living specimens of Lymnoeus, P^tluiina, &c, suitable 

 for an aquarium, send small box to Mrs. S., 34, Manchester- 

 street, Notting-hili, W. Any local specimens of Moss, 

 Fossils, or Shells acceptable. 



Slidks of various Fatty Acids, forming brilliant objects for 

 the polariscope, and other good mounted Objects for exchange. 

 — R. H. Phi.ip, 28, Prospect-street, Hull. 



Redi's "Insrct Generation" (Latin, 1671, 49 plates), 

 Swammerdam's " History of Insects" (Latin, 1685, 15 plates), 

 for good Geological Guide to Essex and Suffolk.— A. L., 8, 

 Melvern Cottages, Kentish Town, N.W. 



For specimen of Sand from Memphis and the Pyramids 

 send stamped addressed envelope and Object of M icroscopical 

 interest to A. Haward, 1, Shirley Villas, Addi-combe, 

 Croydon. 



BOOKS, &c. RECEIVED. 



" Geological and Geographical Survey of Colorado, 1873." 

 By Dr. Hayden. 



"Vestiges of the Molten Globe." By W. L. Green. 

 London : E. Stanford & Co. 



" Life and Growth of Language." By W. D. Whitney. 

 London : H. S. King &. Co. 



" Recreative Science." By Professor Page. London : 

 W. Blackwood. 



"Transactions of Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' 

 Society." Part 1, vol. ii. 



" Monthly Journal of Education," June. 



" Land and Water.'' June. 



" Ben Brierley's Journal." June. 



" American Naturalist." May. 



"Canadian Entomologist." April. 



" Boston Journal of Chemistry." 



" Journal of Applied Science." 



" Monthly Microscopical Journal." 



" Report of the United States Commissioner of Agriculture 

 for 1873." 



