HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



41 



Sir J. E. Smith, in 1S2S (I say untimely, for his 

 ■widow is still alive, aud attained the somewhile dis- 

 puted longevity of a century last May — a fact that 

 was duly celebrated), a supplement to Smith and 

 Sowerby's naticmal work was commenced. In the 

 second volume of this supplement, t. 2719, is given 

 us a representation of E. latifolia; but it is not E. 

 latifoHa at all, it is merely a figure of a stunted and 

 unusual-looking specimen of E. centaurium, and the 

 specimen from which this drawing was made was, 

 as Sir W. J. Hooker's accompanying text informs 

 us, gathered in Anglesea. Subsequently, many 

 English and foreign botanists, led astray from the 

 true plant by tiiis faulty plate, have been in the 

 practice of calling E. lafifoVui, some abnormal, 

 broad-leaved, squat-growing examples of the com- 

 mon species ; and not until Dr. Syme, in the third 

 edition of " English Botany," what I may term re- 

 established the true plant, has the confusion promul- 

 gated through the blunder I have specified been 

 prevented for the future. The bona-fide plant has 

 not been found in Anglesea, and, so far as is known, 

 is still confined to grassy places in the valleys 

 amongst the sandhills north of Liverpool. There, 

 too, it is very uncertain in its appearance and 

 quantity, and it is ten years since more than a few 

 odd specimens have been found. About that time 

 back, I remember the pleasurable satisfaction of 

 coming across a plentiful growth amongst the sand- 

 hills, three to four miles south of Southport. Mr. 

 Wilson was in company on the occasion, and he 

 then stated that our find revealed a new plant to 

 him, that it was characteristically difTerent to any- 

 thing he had met with before, and that he should 

 judge it worthy to rank as a species. I am almost 

 certain, he also said, that he had never been satis- 

 fied with the integrity of the English botany plant, 

 which, as I have already stated, was figured from 

 an Anglesea specimeu (our culprit above indi- 

 cated) gathered by Mr. Wilson, himself near Holy- 

 head. F. M. Webb, 



MICROSCOPY. 



Sand-blast. — The discovery of the erosive power 

 of sand when impelled with great force against a hard 

 surface, might at first sight appear to have little 

 interest to the microscopist in connection with his 

 favourite instrument. This new power has, how- 

 ever, been made to serve his purpose ; as most of 

 the readers of Sciekce- Gossip are probably aware 

 that the impact of sand has been made either 

 slightly to abrade the surface of glass, marble, or 

 other hard substances, or to make deep excavations 

 in them. (I have seen a piece of glass about \ of 

 an inch in thickness with a pattern cut into it 

 nearly t in depth, and wliich was done in two or 

 three minutes.) One of the members of the Quekett 



Club (Mr. H. F. Hailes, of London) makes use 

 of the sand-blast for the purpose of perforating 

 or excavating cells (of various depths and diame- 

 ters) in the ordinary shape. The former require a 

 disc of thin glass cemented over the aperture, and 

 the cell thus formed can be used for either trans- 

 parent or opaque objects : the latter are only adapted 

 for opaque objects. For fluid mounting he says, 

 " I find it desirable to varnish the bottom of the 

 cell with ' white, hard varnish,' which obliterates 

 the sandmarks and dries in a few minutes." The 

 cost of the perforated or excavated slips is about 

 double that of an ordinary one. — F. Kitton. 



Ebonite ('ells.— I do not think Micro. Hull 

 will find any cement that can thoroughly be de- 

 pended on for fastening ebonite cells to glass. I 

 have many objects in my collection mounted in 

 ebonite cells fastened as follows-.— I roughen the 

 smooth surfaces of the vulcanite ring with sand- 

 paper, and fasten it to glass with that marine glue 

 which is of about the consistency of india-rubber. 

 1 bought some once which was quite hard and 

 brittle, and it did not stick a bit. Lately I have 

 used tin cells, which stick very firmly, and are quite 

 to be depended on. — U, 



Mounting Leaves of Moss.— "H. W, S," will 

 find the following plan as good as any : — Wash the 

 moss well, drain off superfluous water, lay it ou the 

 centre of a slide, and put on a thin glass cover. 

 Secure this with a brass clip, and take hold of the 

 slide with another clip. Now let a little melted 

 glycerine jelly run under by capillary attraction, and 

 boil the slide over a spirit-lamp with a small flame, 

 moving it about so that, being heated equally all 

 over, it may not crack. When cold, all air-bubbles 

 will disappear if the jelly used be not too stiff. 

 Clean the slide and varnish with gold size, I have 

 mosses prepared in this way which have been 

 mounted three years, and the colour has not faded 

 in the least. Glycerine jelly cau be bought at any 

 optician's, but if " H. W. S." wishes it, I will send 

 him the recipe by which 1 make mine. It costs 

 about four times as much to buy it ready-made. I 

 think that the empty fruit-capsules and the peri- 

 stomes look better in glycerine jelly than when 

 mounted dry, for the colours are better preserved. — 

 H. M. J. V. 



ZOOLOGY. 



Death of Pbofessor Agassiz.— All lovers of 

 natural science will regret to hear that one of the 

 worthiest of its followers. Professor Agassiz, has just 

 passed away. This celebrated naturalist was born in 

 1S07, in the Canton of Vaud, Switzerland. Since 

 18 f 6 he has been professor at Harvard College. As 

 a geologist he is best known as first propounding the 

 Glacial theory ; as an ichthyologist, on account of 



