260 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



occupants. Is it usual for wasps to frequent an 

 old nest ? And to live in such company ?— F. E. 

 Fletcher. 



Goosefoot (Chenopodium olidum) . — Tliis member 

 of the family contains a large portion of potass, and 

 its ashes yield a considerable quantity of potash. 

 The plant exhales pure ammonia, Chevalier says, 

 during its whole existence. Can the "incrusta- 

 tion" mentioned by " H. Pew," on the white goose- 

 foot, proceed from this cause ? provided the white, 

 which is, I presume, a cultivated sort, does possess 

 this same peculiar property as its English relative. 

 — Helen E. Watney. 



The Shrew Ash and the Rupture Ash.— 

 Before commencing my scribble on the above in- 

 teresting subjects, it will be necessary, I think, 

 to refer to Gilbert White's very charming letter 

 on the subject; for although many lovers of 

 natural history, particularly towards the North of 

 Great Britain, far away from the scene of White's 

 labours, may not possibly possess the delightful 

 work in question, and many even in the South do 

 not allow their young people access to the said 

 book, because it contains many passages hardly fit 

 for the perusal of the young, I have heard that a 

 gentleman well known in the scientific world and a 

 resident at Selborne is about to bring out a new 

 edition. If so, 1 hope that he will expunge the ob- 

 jectionable passages; so that White's "Selborne" 

 may lie on any drawing-room table, and be read 

 by children of both sexes, and give an incentive 

 to the very delightful pursuit of natural history. 

 In this village, at the corner of the premises of 

 one of the village smithies (there are two), stands 

 an old hollow pollard ash, its high top green and 

 flourishing as ever, offering thereby a very pleasing 

 sight to any one who still believes in the rural 

 superstition under notice. This tree's bole is from 

 10 to 12 ft. high, girting 6 ft. at the height of 5 ft. 

 from the ground; there is a round hole (large 

 enough to admit one's fist) at about a foot from the 

 present ground-level ; this hole faces the N.E., and 

 is nearly at right angles to the London and Gosport 

 turnpike-road ; the other hole is about IS in. from 

 the ground, faces about S.E., and is at about an 

 angle of 45° to the road or lane which leads to 

 a down on a chalk ridge, called Old Winchester 

 Hill, on which is situate an oval Roman camp, 

 with ditch and bank in a fair state of preservation. 

 I said present ground -level. This requires expla- 

 nation : the ground floor of the blacksmith's shop 

 in question is now about a yard below the surface 

 of the two roads named. It will be admitted, I 

 think, that an ordinary man, if he takes an auger in 

 his hands to bore a hole, his auger's nozzle will 

 come about 4 ft. or thereabouts up the body of this 

 ash from the ground level. The distance of the 

 holes from the present ground-level is, therefore, no 

 criterion of their former height when they were 

 bored, as it is right the 3 ft. should be added, 

 which has been brought about by the ordinary 

 metalling of the roads as well as extensive altera- 

 tions carried out by a former rector of this place. 

 I have been absent from this, my native place, 

 nearly thirty years, and well remember the old cow- 

 leech, who was the proprietor of the smithy in my 

 young days. The old villager I have mentioned 

 used to " rowell" pigs in their ears. It was done 

 by making a hole in their ears between the skin 

 and the gristle, and putting in a small piece of the 

 stalk of the Poetid Hellebore, or Bear's-foot ; hence 



called Setter-wort {Helleborus fostidus), which he 

 used to grow in his garden. I have seen many 

 times a hole in a pig's ear, when brought to table, 

 as large as a florin. I suppose our forefathers 

 thought that this remedy was efficacious for the 

 murrain in pigs, but why it is now discarded I 

 know not. It was supposed to draw all the ill 

 humours in the pig's system to the "rowell." — 

 Vagans, West Meon, Hants. 



Names. — The name " Bazier," 

 E. VVatney, for the Auricula, is 

 corruption of Bear's-ear, a com- 

 and a translation cf the very old 

 si. I am much interested in these 

 and should be glad to corresnond 

 the subject. — W. G. Piper, Bank 



Local Plant 

 quoted by Helen 

 almost certainly a 

 mon name for it, 

 name, Auricula ur 

 local plant names, 

 with any one on 

 Plain, Norwich. 



Pield Clubs in Oxfordshire.— I should be 

 glad to know if there is in this countyor in War- 

 wickshire any local natural history society or field 

 club to which lady members are admitted.— C. 

 Donagan. 



The Buffalo.— -Why is the unfortunate _ buffalo 

 in the Zoological Gardens unprovided with the 

 means of having a bath, which must be one of the 

 necessaries of life to this almost amphibious animal ? 

 To one who has seen the buffalo herd rush head- 

 long into the water until only their black muzzles 

 remained above the surface, this deprivation of water 

 seems cruel. — Centurion. 



Basalt.— In the last number of Science-Gossip, 

 Mr. H. P. Malet mentions his belief in the existence 

 of "sedimentary basalt." We should be glad if 

 Mr. H. P. Malet would oblige us by giving a petro- 

 logical and mineralogical description of his " sedi- 

 mentary basalt," where he has met with it, and 

 under what conditions he considers that it was 

 formed.-^. B. W. and W. R. J. 



Gram of India. — Its botanic name is Acer^ 

 arietinum, and the seeds are used in a variety of 

 ways by the natives in India. A lady, a friend of 

 mine, who had resided there for many years, often 

 put the seeds into soup, as we do pearl barley ; she 

 also used the meal in some sort of Indian stock 

 meat, and in different Indian dishes which she was 

 fond of treating her guests to. The leaves give out a 

 very acid kind of dew, which the natives collect, and 

 bottle up, considering it to'be a valuable medicine. Has 

 Mr. Daniel noticed any particular moisture, or exu- 

 dation on the foliage of the plants growing in 

 Dorsetshire ?— Helen E. Watney, Berry Grove, Liss. 



Seeds for the Microscope.— I send the names 

 of a few seeds which, though common, are, I think, 

 worth looking at. The Dandelion, Sowthistle, 

 Puffball, Pern, Snapdragon, Groundsel, Poppy. 

 The Parsley-seed divided transversely shows the 

 canals which hold the balsamic fluid which gives the 

 flavour; but I think the seed of the Ox-eye Daisy is 

 one of the prettiest when fresh. The body is of 

 a purple colour, with white ribs, through which the 

 spiral fibres can be seen. There are other seeds 

 mentioned in the books on the microscope which 

 are interesting. Different spores are worth getting. 

 — E. T. Scott. 



Cats and Progs.— About a month ago, while 

 walking on the lawn, my attention was directed to 

 Master Tom, who had been under one of the bushes 



