HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GO S SI P. 



19 



present in the testa of many orders of plants, and 

 as constantly absent from the same part in other 

 orders. But though not occurring in the testa of 

 Leguminosae, the short prismatic crystals are sur- 

 prisingly abundant in the calyces, leaves, bracts, 

 pods, and liber of this order. In one inch of the 

 midrib of a leaflet of clover, for example, he counts 

 no less than 21,000 of the crystals. They are very 

 diverse in form and size, but are comnionly about 

 3 0*0 inch in diameter. They appear to be com- 

 posed chiefly of oxalate of lime, and, occurring in 

 such abundance in the leguminous plants most 

 relished by ruminant and other animals, we may 

 well admire one of the several sources by which 

 nature, as now proved, has so plentifully provided 

 this earth with the very provender on which many 

 animals most greedily feed. And the necessity of 

 lime in the animal economy, from invertebrates up 

 to man himself, has long been known. The short 

 prismatic crystals in leguminous plants commonly 

 occur in chains or chaplets of cells, each cell con- 

 taining in its centre a single crystal; and the 

 chains are most abundant along the course of the 

 fibro-vascular bundles of the leaves and legumes, 

 but occur dotted throughout many membranous 

 parts. These crystals are beautiful microscopic 

 objects, and make very pleasing and instructive 

 preparations, either dried or in glycerine. And as 

 to the view which has often been entertained, that 

 such crystals so regularly produced in organized 

 cells, are merely excremeotitious products or 

 freaks of Nature of no relation to or value in the 

 life and uses of the plant, the author concludes 

 that such an opinion is utterly untenable. 



PucciNEA Malvacearum.— Can any of your 

 readers explain the rapid diffusion of this and other 

 micro-fungi ? This puccinea first made its appear- 

 ance during the last summer in the grounds of the 

 Marquis of Westminster, at Clevedon, near Maiden. 

 head. I afterwards received a specimen from 

 Salisbury; and on my return to Devonshire, in 

 August, found it plentifully on mallows in this 

 neighbourhood, more than two hundred miles from 

 the spot wliere it first appeared, and caused such 

 destruction among the mallows and hollyhocks. 

 We can understand how the spores of fungi usually 

 abundant may float about in the air, biding their 

 time to attack their favourite plant, but here our 

 conjectures are at fault. Students of micro-fungi 

 are now so numerous that if this species had 

 occurred in Britain before, it could scarcely have 

 failed to be recognized. Whence did it come, and 

 how ? — /. P. Belmont, Dartmouth. 



The Discoveky of Verkijcakia ochkostoma.— 

 At the November meeting of the Brighton and 

 Sussex Natural History Society, the honorary se. 

 cretary, Mr. Wonfor, announced the receipt from 

 Mr. G. Davies, for the Society's Herbarium, of that 



very rare lichen Verrucaria ochrostoma, found this 

 month by Mr. Davies in the Weald of Sussex. This 

 lichen had been lost till now, not having been met 

 with since Borrer first found it in 1850. It was 

 also mentioned that Artomia spadlcea, new to Sussex, 

 was found by the same gentleman, December, 1872, 

 in Ashdown Porest, near where Calicium septatum 

 grows, and that he had found Lecanora Eageni with 

 L. sopJiodes, var. lecideoides, near Cuckmere. 



Adiflteration of Pepper.— M. Bouchardat has 

 communicated the result of his examinations of a 

 large number of samples of ground pepper, as sold 

 in France. He found that the most common adul- 

 terant was one prepared by drying and finely pul- 

 verizing the parenchyma of potatoes, left as a residue 

 in'tlie manufacture of starch. Among other adulterants 

 were lentil flour, earthy matter, chalk, and linseed 

 cake. A microscopical examination will always 

 enable the observer to detect such adulterants 

 present. 



A New Beech Blight. — In Westphalia the 

 beech-trees have been recently attacked by a new 

 form of blight, which commences on the hark, and 

 finally covers the tree with a snow-white down, to 

 the ultimate destruction of the tree. Under the 

 microscope, this blight is seen to consist of fine 

 threads, among which there occurs a small insect 

 apparently an undescribed species. The threads, 

 which are secreted by the insect, are of wax, "which 

 has a melting-point of about 80 degrees, and 

 the per-eentage composition of which is, carbon 

 81"39, hydrogen 13"58, and oxygen 5 03. Both as 

 regards its composition and melting-point, this new 

 wax is very near that of Chinese wax. 



Asperities or Callous Points in the Leaves 

 OF Bryonia alba.— At a late meeting of the East 

 Kent Natural History Society, Professor Gulliver 

 gave a demonstration of the true nature of tlie 

 roughness, hitherto but vaguely described by 

 botanical writers, on the leaves of the Red Bryony. 

 He showed that each of these callous points is 

 l-114th of an inch in diameter, and made up of a 

 congeries of smooth, shining, hyaline, rounded 

 granules, having an average diameter of l-666th of 

 an inch ; and that they are composed of carbonate 

 of lime. Hence, he suggests that for them descrip 

 tive botany should in future substitute the words 

 calcareous granules for the vague epithets heretofore 

 used in botanical books. 



Fungological Excursions.— Late in October, 

 the Woolhope Club made a fungological excursion, 

 when four species new to Britain were discovered. 

 These were Bygroplwrus fornicatus, Agaricus icte- 

 rinus, Clavaria curta, and C. rufa. After the fungus 

 supper held at the close, papers were read by Mr. 

 Plowright, of Norfolk ; Mr. Broome, Mr. Renny, 

 Mr. Phillips, and Dr. Bull, relating to fungology. 



