216 



HARDVVICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



To Correspondents and Exchangers. — As we now 

 publi-h Science-Gossip at least a week earlier than hereto- 

 fore, we cannot possibly insert in the following number any 

 communications which reach us later than the 8th of each 

 month. 



J. S. Bolton.— We should undoubtedly regard a plant 

 grown under the circumstances you name as still a wild 

 plant. It would require more than one generation to make 

 it otherwise. 



C. J. C. (Croydon). — The " fungus-looking matter " in the 

 bottle is probablv an imperfect alga, not uncommon in various 

 fluids. Such things cannot be determined from mere descrip- 

 tion.— M. C. C. 



W. H. Beebv. — Your specimen on Adoxa is Pttcninia 

 taxifragarum, Sen. See Cooke's Handbook, No. 1506.— 

 M. C. C. 



J. A.— Your specimens are as follows: — 1, JEcidium 

 compositurum, Cooke's Handbook, No. )624; 2, jEcidium 

 violw, Cooke's Handbook, No. 1626 ; 3, Lecyt hea potentillarum , 

 Cooke's Handbook, No. 1460 ; 1, probably Oidiun. Specimens 

 all too small, especially this, for an accurate determination. 

 Cooke's " Microscopic Fungi," with coloured figures, price 

 6s., published by Hardwicke, 192, Piccadilly.— M.C.C. 



T. Bogkr (Wolsdon). — No book on insects would be likely 

 to contain a notice of the ticks inclosed, as they do not belong 

 to the Insccta, but to the Arachnida (section Acaridea). 

 They are male and female of Dermacentor juirdalinus, C. 

 Koch, in the family Ixodides, of which that author states the 

 original locality to be " probably Hungary." They could 

 only be found in or about Pinus insignis (wherever that tree 

 may have come from), or any other tree, for the sake of 

 shelter, as they and their allies are suckers of animal juices. 

 They undergo no " transformation," properly so called, 

 merely obtaining a slight progressive development by succes- 

 sive moultings of skin. It is impossible to name the other 

 tick mentioned without seeing it. 



Jno. Webb (Stoke Newington). — The flour-beetles sent are 

 Tribolium confusum, Duval ; until recently confounded with 

 the commoner T. ferrugincum, Fab., from which they may 

 be known by the club of their antennse not being abrupt. 

 These two species, with Alphitophagus quadripustulatus, 

 Steph., Gnathorerus cornutus. Fab., Hypuphlaus depressut, 

 Fab., Jlphilobius diaperinus, Panz., A. piceus, Oliv., and the 

 two much larger " meal-worms," Tenebrio obscurus, Fab., 

 and T. molitor, Linn., are well-known inhabitants 01 bakeries 

 in this country — into which probably all have been introduced 

 by commerce, many of them now being found in most parts 

 of the world. They are all members of the great Hetero- 

 merous section of beetles. 



T. Cooke (Stalybridge).-Thebettles inclosed are Aphodius 

 fimetarius, Linn., very abundant in animal droppings all over 

 the kingdom. The best introductory work on British 

 Coleoptera is Rye's ''British Beetles," published by Lovell 

 Reeve & Co., Henrietta-street, Covent Garden, London, 

 price 10s. 6d. 



C. F. G. — No. 1 is Ammophita vialica, Lin., female ; 2 is 

 Pompilus >epico!a, Fabr , male,— these two are sand wasps; 

 No. 3 is a bee Specodes subquadratus, Wesm. Please in 

 future pin insects you want naming. 



E. W.— Apply to Edward Newman, 9, Devonshire-street, 

 Bishopsgate, London. 



W. K. M. — For beginners, the cheap series of Genera 

 published by L. Reeve at 10s. 6d. each, are the best, giving 

 coloured figures and descriptions of each genus, — bees by 

 Shuckhard, beetles by Rye, spiders by Staveley. Do not 

 know of any other cheap book on spiders. Stephen's Manual 

 of British Coleoptera may be had at second-hand book shops 

 for about 6s. ; is as good as any, but this has no plates. And 

 for the aculeate hymenoptera, first rate ones are published by 

 the trustees of the British Museum in two parts ; the first is 

 called "Smith's Catalogue of British Fosr. (Bees) ; "tbe other, 

 "Smith's Catalogue of British Hymenoptera (Bees),'' com- 

 plete, price 5s. each. 



J. D. H. (Gloucester).— The best paper is white cartridge, 

 which may be procured from any stationer, size about 17 in. 

 by loin. The best paper tor drying specimens is Bentall's, 

 which can be obtained only from Mr. Newman, Devonshire- 

 street, London. 



J. C. (Berwick-on-Tweed).— The little plant is Butterwort 

 [Pinguecula vulgaris), not uncommon, though seldom noticed 

 by ordinary observers, in boggy places. Vour fern is the 

 Polystichum aculeatum. 



H. F. E. W. — The specimen you sent to us is most nearly 

 allied to Conferva spiralis, although it scarcely answers to 

 our book descriptions. 



Naiads. — We submitted your specimen to one of our 

 leading botanists, who stated : " I am not certain about the 

 Ruppia; it seems to have the inflated sheath of spiralis, and 

 the straight peduncles and more slender habit of rostellata." 

 Zoster j. was nvssing from your note. 



H. W. (Embsay).- The elegant little fern you found near 

 Malham is the Brittle Bladder- fern, Cystopteris fragilis. 



W, T. B. (Swansea).— The withered leaf sent is not a fer.i 

 leaf, or frond, but probably belongs to some composite plant. 



A. S. J. (Hollrrn Hill).— The fern fronds you inclosed are 

 as follows : A, Polystichum angulare ; the large frond, B, is 

 our common though elegant Lady-fern, " Athyrium Ftli.r. 

 feemina." 



B. M. W. (Treaddow, Ross).— The barley spike is not 

 attacked by any parasitic fungi, but in seasons where heavy 

 rain falls about the time when it ii in flower (1. e. stamen's 

 are visible) many of the stigmata remain unfertilized. Wc 

 cannot account lor the fact, we simply state our experience ; 

 probably your barley may be partly infertile. 



J. C— 1, Hypnum myosuroides ; 2, Pognnatum aloides; 3, 

 Catharhiea undulata; 4, Plagiot/tecium sylvaticum ; 5, Urymn 

 elongatum ; 6, Funaria hygrometrica. 



G. Parsons.— All are right except No. 5, which is a small 

 state of Hyp. confertum. 



M. Pearson.— The plant sent is Andreaa alpina, and is 

 certainly nerveless. 



R. R. F. — 1, Pottia truncatnla ; 2, Fissidens taxifuCius ; 3, 

 F. viridulus ; 4, Hypnum populeum. 



M. Warrkn. — 1, Hypnum ochraceum ; 2, Bryum inter, 

 medium; 3, B. pseudotriquetrum ; 4, Hypnum palustre ; 5, 

 Weissia verticillata ; 6, Dicranella varii; 7, Tortula tortuosa : 

 8, Hypnum plumosum ; 9, H. rutubulum. 



W. H. — 1, Mnium hornum ; 2, Hypnum triquetrum. 



G. P. — The truffles sent are Tuber alius, and as a proof they 

 are edible, we may state that we have eaten the specimens 

 sent, or rather used them for flavouring, a small quantity at 

 a time. The best plan is to hang them in a dry current of 

 air till they are perfectly dry, and will crumble into powder, 

 so as to be readily used for flavouring. 



EXCHANGES. 



Wanted, to correspond with, readers of Science-Gossip, 

 on the subject of Exchange of Natural History specimens. — 

 Edward T. Nelson, Delaware, Ohio, U.S.A. 



I have a few Shells and Minerals, and will exchange them 

 for other Shells.— Address, G. T. F. Napier, Alderky Edge, 

 Cheshire. 



Eggs of Sedge Warbler, Butcher-bird, J iy, Sand Martin, 

 Nightingale, Blackcap. Skylark, Herring Gull, and others, 

 for other good Eggs.— H. George, 19, Chenie-street, Bedford- 

 square, London, W.C. 



Wanted, Hyoscyamus niger, fresh specimens; .vill send 

 gutta-percha tissue and stamps, to protect it, and good ex- 

 change. — H. Higginson, New Ferry, Cheshire. 



For Spines of Hedgehog send other interesting Micro. 

 Objects. Well mounted Slides for others, or for Books on 

 Natural History.— W. Tylar, 165, Well-street, Birmingham. 



Wanted, mounted or unmounted specimens of British 

 Starfish, for Slides or Micro. Material, Marine or Land and 

 Freshwater Mollusca, &c. — F. R. Martin, Shaldon, South 

 Devon. 



Well mounted Slides of various Diatoms, for others, or 

 Material : must be good.— H. B. Thomas, Boston, Lincolnshire. 



Eggs of Sandwich Tern, Cormorant, Litfe Grebe, Quail, 

 and Snipe, for Eggs of the Tawny and Short-eared Owls. — 

 Address, C. Dixon, 00, Albert road, Heeley, near Sheffield. 



Diatoms, well mounted, for Diatom Slides, or any other 

 objects of interest, or Diatomaceous Material. Lists ex- 

 changed.— R. K., 24, Victoria-place, Stirling. 



The " Preparation and Mounting of Microscopic Objects," 

 by Davies, new, for " Half-Hours with the Microscope," with 

 the chapter on the Polariscope.— Joseph Anderson, Jan., 

 Alresford, Hants. 



Any three of the following (good dried specimens) for 

 living specimens of Arthrolobium ebracteatum, Arabis hirsuta, 

 Tri/olium striatum, T. Bocconi, Lat/iyrus hirsutus, Sibthorpia 

 europaa, Juncus capitatus, J. pygmetus, J. compressus (true), 

 Scirpus parvulus, I'y/ierus fuscus, Cirex depaupcrata.— W. II. 

 Beehy, 2, Outram Villas, Addiseombe, Croydon. 



Eriocaulun septartgulare, for rare Plants.— G. C. Drucc, 

 Northampton. 



Duplicates, Pupa: of P. Machaon (Swallow-tail butterfly), 

 and Imagos of A. Adipoe, A. Sitene, T. quercus, P. 2Egon,?inA 

 F. piniaria. Desiderata: M.fuciformis, G. C. album, T.beluUt, 

 E. blandina, A. crata>gi, Pupa; of A. atropos, or oflers. — 

 D. J. Preston, Riversfield, Catton, near Norwich. 



Carex ornithapoda, for rare British Plants. — W. J. Hannan. 

 6, Tatton-street, Ashton-unrier-Lyne. 



A few Oblique Sections of Pteris uquilina for distribution, 

 on receipt of stamped addressed envelope to E. Lovett, Holly 

 Mount, Croydon. 



A fine specimen of the new volute V, Elliolti, for Harpa 

 rosa. Other exchanges wanted.— C. Pocklington, 4, Syden- 

 ham-hill, Cotham, Bristol. 



Aglaia Euphrosyne, Atalanta Sfme/e, Artaxerxes Isus, S. 

 populi. Velledti humuli, Plantaginis fuliginosa, Quercus, and 

 others, for other Insects.— John Rae, 16, Hanover-street, 

 Aberdeen. 



