HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE -GOSSIP. 



229 



inclosed by either rude walls or standing flags. 

 Some of them are held in such veneration that rich 

 persons come hundreds of miles to lie in them for a 

 night, or, in some cases, only for a few minutes. 



Structures that seem to be peculiar to Aran and 

 that are allied to the labbas, are called Ahalas or 

 Airlas. These are rude inclosures, some on mounds 

 and others on flat places, but in both cases it is 

 evident they at one time were burial-places. The 

 origin of the name is very obscure; we will there- 

 fore give an epitome of Kilbride's description of 

 them, and the probable derivation of the same. 



Fig. 14/. Inside elevation of a slit window. 



The Aharla (also called Labba ronan), near the 

 village of Kilronan, may be described as the repre- 

 sentative of its class. It is a small irregularly -built 

 inclosure. At the east end is a rude altar, — a small 

 limestone slab propped up by loose stones, over 

 which, in the wall, is a flag with a cross and Ronan's 

 name cut in it, the latter evidently being a very 

 recent addition. 



The Aharla serves a double purpose : it is re- 

 sorted to by sick persons to be cured, in which it is 

 similar to a labba; and it is used for public meeting, 

 at which the people assemble for a general repetition 

 of the rosary, and petitions to the saint or saints 

 whose bones are said to repose beneath the spot. 

 These public meetings for prayer are the great 

 point of distinction between an aharla and a labba, 

 but whether these meetings were the prime or sole 

 reason of the origin of the aharlas, or only an 

 accident arising from their previous use as a bed, it 

 would be difficult to decide. The places are pro- 

 miscuously called Aharla and Airle, and as the name 

 has not been found in any book, nor does it occur in 

 any of the dictionaries, which is correct is hard to 

 decide. There are two Irish words from which the 



name may be derived, — Airle, a bed or couch ; and 

 Otharluighe (pronounced O-har-ly), from othar, sick 

 or ailing person, and luighe, resting-place. Erom 

 the latter the Rev. Mr. Kilbride considers "aharla" to 

 be derived, but he cannot decide which name should 

 be used. Perhaps, however, both are correct, "airle" 

 being used synonymously with "labba," while 



Fig. 148. North elevation of a srrall Church, showing the 

 handle-like projecting stones. 



"aharla "would be the word selected by a person wish- 

 ing to give a name descriptive of the use to which the 

 place was put. Although " labbas " and " aharlas " 

 apparently are so similar, yet " in the islands where 

 the two terms are in daily use, neither the words nor 

 ideas which they convey are ever confounded." 



MICROSCOPY. 



The Use of Carbolic Acid in Mounting. — 

 Some time since I gave some information about the 

 use of carbolic acid in mounting insect dissections. 

 Lately, in another number of your periodical, I see 

 my application has been doubted. Let me ask any 

 person who doubts the use of the acid to take a giz- 

 zard of any beetle or cricket— fresh — wash it, lay it 

 open on a slide, touch it with a drop of pure car- 

 bolic acid, and leave it for a few hours, — it will 

 become clear and bright ; then apply the Canada 

 balsam, and see if the effect produced is not better 

 than by turpentine and other transparent -rendering 

 liquids. As I said before, by heat it can be done in 

 a shorter time than it takes to write this paragraph. 

 A member of our microscopical society here applies 

 it to zoophytes, &c, with equal success. Boil them 

 in water to free them of air, apply the carbolic acid, 

 then the Canada balsam, — a simple process, which 

 frees them from air, and renders them more or less 

 flexible and transparent, and can be mounted nearly 

 immediately, without being rendered brittle, as by 

 the ordinary turpentine process. — T. Barnard, Kew, 

 Melbourne. 



•' Cleaning Diatoms.— In cleaning Diatomacese 

 for the microscope I am much troubled by the fine 

 particles of sand, which abounds in this country, 



