200 



HARDWICKE'5 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



I have observed a similar appearance with a 

 commoner plant, the Red Campion {Lychnis diuma), 

 which has completely reddened the ground by its 

 numbers in a coppice exposed to the light by the 

 cutting down of its underwood. In this latter case, 

 the seeds, of which a great number are produced by 

 a single plant, have got scattered about the open 

 spac«, and sprung up accordingly to make the best 

 use of the opportunity. In fact, it is obvious to 

 every-day notice, that any spot of ground where the 

 soil has been turned up and unattended to, is soon 

 covered by an enormous crop of common plants, 

 often of one species only. A corn-field left fallow 

 for a season will soon display a crowded mass of 

 interloping weeds, and here of late years in such 

 places the large blue-flowered Veronica Bm'bavmii 

 has shown itself in profusion. 



It used to be said that Nature abhors a vacuum, 

 and certainly, as regards vegetation. Nature will not 

 allow a vacant spot to remain long without giving 

 it clothing of some sort, though careless whether 

 increased beauty be the result. This is shown in 

 the wildest and bleakest spots. Bromsgrove Lickey, 

 in the north of Worcestershire, consists of hilly 

 grouad exposed to northern blasts, and covered 

 with a dense growth of ling [Calluna vulgaris), and 

 thick bushes of the Bilberry {Faccinium myrtillus). 

 Wandering here on one occasion, I came upon a spot 

 where, for some purpose or other, a large patch of 

 the ling had been recently cleared away, leaving the 

 soil exposed, and which had got filled up with a tall 

 and crowded growth of Senecio syhaticus, making a 

 strange appearance, surrounded on all sides by old 

 plants of the wiry ling. 



Old neglected garden ground thathas remained un- 

 touched for some years, when re-dug or turned over, 

 will cause flowers to spring up that had remained 

 dormant for an indeterminate time, and it still re- 

 mains undecided how long seeds may remain in the 

 soil without vegetating. Mr. Tlavell Edmonds has 

 recorded a case in the "Transactions of the Wood- 

 hope Club," where various plants suddenly appeared 

 0)1 a railway embankment at Hereford, which he 

 contended must have arisen from seeds long im- 

 mured in the soil. The Rev. J. E. Crouch also 

 mentions in the Transactions of the same club, that 

 in his churchyard at Pembridge, Herefordshire, the 

 Hyoscyamiis nrger had sprung up on soil recently 

 taken from a grave, though the plant had not been 

 before noticed in the neighbourhood. But it must 

 be remembered that seeds get continually blown 

 about, or are deposited by birds, and thus ruined 

 castles and abbeys are in the course of years covered 

 by vegetation ; and where plants really appear to 

 arise from buried seeds, it must be open to question 

 as to what probable time the vegetating seeds have 

 remained dormant in the earth. 



Edwin Lees, E.L.S. 

 Grsen Hill Summit, Worcester. 



SPIDERS' WEBS AND SPINNERETS. 

 By H. M. J. Undebhill. 



{Concluded.) 



SOME of the most remarkable British spiders are 

 the Ciniflonidse, characterized by possessing a 

 calamistrum and a fourth pair of spinnerets. The 

 calamistrum {Anglice "curling-iron") is a double 

 row of short straight hairs, situated on the last joint 

 but one of the hind legs. 



Ciniflo, meaning "hair-curler," is a particularly 

 apt name for this family, as a glance at fig. 137 will 

 show. The "curling- iron" aforesaid is supposed to 

 aid in arranging the curly threads, but I have never 

 been fortunate enough to see the spider use it, nor 

 can I comprehend in what manner its use could 

 effect their curious twistiogs. 



Fig. 137. Single "thread" of web of Ciniflo atn.x : n, first 

 thread; bb, second ditto; cc, third ditto; dd, fourth ditto, 

 X 38. 



As spiders, having three pairs of spinnerets, form 

 three kinds of threads, so the Ciniflonidse, having four 

 pairs, spin four kinds of threads, the extra thread 

 being spun by the extra spinnerets. It is not strictly 

 "a thread," but apparently a collection of threads, 

 doubtless corresponding in number to the holes on 

 the spinneret, and forming a film or mem.brane of 

 extreme delicacy, enveloping the third or twisted 

 threads {d, fig. 137). It is of a blue colour when first 

 spun, but it turns whitish after a time. Ciniflos live 

 in holes in walls, under the bark of trees, &c,, and 

 by the blueness of their threads you may know if 

 they are "at home." If so, they are easily caught 

 by using a fly as a bait. Examination of a Ciuiflo's 

 web with the unassisted eye shows that its con- 

 stituent threads are thicker than usual, having a 

 loose or woolly appearance. The microscope reveals 

 that this is due to the threads of the second, third, and 



