HARDWICKE'S SC lEN CE-GOSS I P. 



Gl 



first-named family, are remarkable for the extreme 

 shortness of these organs. Those of the male 

 Leopard-moth are of a pretty globular shape, taper- 

 ing into a fine hair. The antennae of Filipendulse 

 partake of the shining metallic lustre of the fore- 

 wings. The filiform, or simple, is decidedly the 

 commonest form, and is to be found both in males 



Fig. 52. Philophora plumigera, showing plumed antennfe. 



and females, whilst plumed antennae are peculiar, 

 without exception, to males alone. Nearly all the 

 Noctuas have them simple ; but in some of the 

 males they are slightly pectinated. The simple 

 form seems to be the rule too with the Geometers. 

 Of course of all the various kinds none are so 

 beautiful as the plumed or feathery. We will take 

 from the several genera a few of the most striking. 



Fig. 53. Ihyatira batis, showing simple anteimse. 



The male Monacha, with its pure white shafts, is a 

 pretty exam.ple. Potatoria has the rays so closely 

 placed together as to appear almost united. Those 

 of Carpini are of a very elegant leaf-like shape. 

 Amongst the Geometers we have Pennaria — the 

 Feathered Thorn, with the handsomest antennae in 

 the entire group. Roboraria is a type of strongly 

 pectinated autennse tapering gradually to a point. 

 Pagi, in the Cuspidates, is another instance of the 

 tapering form. But to my mind few are comparable 

 to those of Plumigera, which resemble in miniature 

 a lovely and delicate fern. Tenebrosa, Valligera, and 

 Segetuni are about the only examples in the Noctuas, 

 and though serrated, they can scarcely be called 

 plumed. The illustrations are taken from insects 

 in my own cabinet, that of Galii from a bred speci- 

 men. Joseph Anderson, Jun. 

 Alresford, Hants. 



"We never collected a flowering plant, insect, or 

 egg, without feeling that if there were any other 

 way of getting at the knowledge we sought, we 

 should prefer it. ^ Life, however or wherever repre- 

 sented, is a sacred thing to the true naturalist." — 

 Half-Hours in the Green Lanes. 



THE BLUE GUM-TREE. 



{Eucalyptus globulus.) 



QO much has been said lately of this tree, and of 

 ^ its medicinal qualities, that I have thought 

 a short account of it in Science-Gossip would 

 perhaps be acceptable. It is a native of Tasmania, 

 more particularly of the shores of d'Entrecasteaux 

 channel, and of Tasman's Peninsula, preferring the 

 damp slopes of the valleys which face the south, to 

 those which have a northern aspect, and which are 

 exposed in summer to the dry scorching winds from 

 Australia. It is one of the most valuable timber 

 trees in the world, and is admirably adapted for 

 ship-building, for bridges, and all works requiring 

 strength and durability. It is very rapid in its 

 growth, so much so in fact, that any man in twenty 

 years' time could find himself, if he chose, surrounded 

 by a forest of his own planting. I have myself cut 

 down a large grove, which I planted sixteen years 

 previously, the individuals of which averaged 

 72 feet in height and 6 in girth. It attains at matu- 

 rity enormous dimensions, probably excelling those 

 of any other tree in the world. The Blue Gum has 

 been known to attain the height of 350 feet, measur- 

 ing 100 feet in circumference. Planks have been cut 

 of IGO feet in length, 20 inches broad by 6 inches in 

 thickness. In dense, forests it rarely sends out a 

 branch below 100 feet. It yields a highly astringent 

 gum, which has been extensively used and found to 

 answer as a "kino," and its leaves, by distillation, 

 were found byDr.^now Sir Robert) Ofiicei-, to yield 

 an essential oil, having the same properties as caje- 

 put oil. 



From analogy it might be thought that the £'ir^ra- 

 lyptus globulus yiQ\i\A.[fi.o\ixh\i where the Myrtle does 

 in the warm sheltered valleys of South Devon, and 

 if it could be nailed to a wall, as proposed by a 

 a writer in the Times, no doubt this would prove to 

 be true ; but from what I have said above it must be 

 manifest that in the course of a few years the wall 

 would give way from lateral pressure, and that 

 both would perish together. I have no doubt that 

 it would be an invaluable tree to plant in the pesti- 

 ferous swampy regions of the West Coast of Africa, 

 provided that the roots were not affected by salt 

 water. No drains would be half so effectual as the 

 pumping power exerted by the far spreading roots 

 of this gigantic tree. It grows well in all parts of 

 Italy, and at the Cape of Good Hope, and it has 

 also been introduced into different parts of Victoria 

 and of South Australia, and I have often wondered 

 why it has not been established in Spain, Asia Minor, 

 and Palestine, when we should once more see the 

 hills of Judaea covered with forest. 



In its early stages the foliage is quite different from 

 that which it assumes when about five years old, 

 being of bluish glaucous hue, with a very strong 

 and pungent odour. When m blossom, the young 



