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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



lose weight. The slugs appear to keep their colour 

 and consistence, and if killed by drowning (this 

 generally takes from one to two days) they die with 

 their tentacles extended and look more natural. 

 Before "tubing" their mucus should be well rubbed 

 off with a cloth dipped in salt and water. — 

 J. IV. Williams. 



Birds of Worcestershire.— To this list I may 

 add the snow bunting (Emberiza nivalis), the nest 

 and four eggs of which I obtained about 1872 on the 

 gorse hills near Shrub Hill Railway Station.— David 

 IVilson Barker. 



Helix Pisana in Oxfordshire. — I have lately 

 taken a single specimen of this somewhat rare mol- 

 lusc on the railway embankment at Charlbury. I 

 fancy, from the isolated position and locality, that it 

 may possibly have been introduced by some con- 

 chologist. If such is the case, I should be glad of 

 further particulars. — IV. £. Collinge, Springfield 

 Plaee, Leeds. 



Occurrence of the Sand Grouse in Staf- 

 fordshire. — " Better late than never," must be my 

 excuse for asking you now to record an instance of 

 the occurrence of the sand grouse (Syerhaptes para- 

 doxus) in Staffordshire, in September 18S8, which is 

 now known to naturalists as the last sand grouse 

 year. Although I made every enquiry, and kept a 

 good look-out in the local newspapers at the time, 

 in order to find out if this bird had occurred in our 

 county, I failed to do so, and it was only on 

 Thursday last, 6th of February, that a farmer. residing 

 in the moorland village of Ipstone, about five miles 

 from here, quite by accident, informed me that he had 

 a specimen of the sand grouse in his possession. It 

 is one of. two that were shot near Ipstone in 

 September 188S. It appears that a flock of four 

 were seen, one of which was killed and another 

 wounded, the latter being found dead some days 

 later. In the sand grouse year 1863, two were 

 killed out of a flock of about twenty at Eccleshall, in 

 Staffordshire, on the 22nd of May, and are now in the 

 possession of Mr. Samuel Yates of that town. — 

 John R. B. Masefield, Rosehill, Cheadle, Stafford- 

 shire. 



BOTANY. 



Botanical Vandalism. — The following letter 

 from Dr. Jordan recently appeared in the Standard : 

 I have lately returned from Cornwall, and find even 

 there the destruction of birds and plants is going on 

 with railroad speed. I am not fond of grandmotherly 

 legislation, but if children destroy their toys they 

 ought to be stopped. The ferns are especially 

 attacked. Adiantum capillus-veneris seemed to me 

 extinct ; the guides at the Lizard told me that 

 Asplenium lanceolatum, formerly abundant, was now 



very rare, and Asplenium maritimicm is only to be 

 met with in places nearly inaccessible. Handsome 

 flowers like Inula crithmoides are also becoming very 

 scarce. The three rare clovers, and the small rushes, 

 as also Herniaria, not being conspicuous, are still to 

 be found. The remedy that I would suggest in the 

 case of extremely rare or local plants is that botanists 

 should subscribe, and either purchase or rent a small 

 plot of ground in or near the original habitat, and 

 that this should be most strictly guarded and 

 preserved. Rare plants and rare insects are most 

 generally found on comparatively worthless grounds 

 — fen, moorland, marsh, or cliff — and this makes the 

 plan more feasible. It would be very easy to draw 

 up a sad list of- nearly exterminated species ; 

 Helianthemum olifolium and Buplcnrum falcatum 

 might surely be preserved at Torquay, Trichomma 

 columna at the Dawlish Warren ; but it is not 

 only extremely rare plants which are in danger. 

 Osmunda is fast disappearing. Lathyrus sylvestris 

 and Vicia Bithyniea, once so abundant on the 

 Teignmouth cliffs, seem to me now almost extinct. 

 Something might surely be done by a combina- 

 tion of naturalists to avert these destructions, perhaps 

 even to reinstate extinct species. With birds the case 

 is more difficult. King Arthur's own bird is nearly 

 exterminated in Lyonnesse. The eggs of the Cornish 

 chough fetch a high price, and are therefore sought 

 after eagerly. I did not see a single large hawk, 

 harrier, or falcon in Cornwall. Were I a landed 

 proprietor I should take as much pride in my pere- 

 grines as in my pheasants. Naturalists might do 

 much to prevent these wholesale destructions if they 

 would act in concert, but it is high time to commence. 

 The mere collector, not the true naturalist, is often an 

 abettor in the mischief. 



Cephalanthera Ensifolia and C. Grandi- 

 FLORA. — Some of your readers may recollect a 

 correspondence about these plants which appeared in 

 Science-Gossip for 1887, pp. 91, 117 and 22S. 

 Last spring I was in Italy when Ensifolia was in 

 flower, and I saw it in several localities ; in fact I 

 never went on the mountain-side without seeing it. 

 One day I gathered 14 specimens which averaged 

 17 flowers, the numbers were 10, 14, 12, 26, 17, 22, 

 22, 27, 10, 12, 13, II, 33. Another day later on I 

 gathered on the well-known Campo dei Fiore, near 

 Varese, 11 more specimens which also averaged 

 17 flowers. The precise numbers were 12, 18, 25, 

 22, 16, 19, 14, 14, 13, 24, 10. I did not take any 

 spikes with less than 10 flowers, but I believe those 

 I left were about equal in number to those gathered. 

 All those I got at Varenna were found within a 

 few yards of each other on the slopes just above the 

 Fiume di Latte. I did not meet with any specimens 

 of grandifiora, but on my return to England I had, 

 through the kindness of Mr. Roper (Author of the 

 Eastbourne Flora), an opportunity of inspecting the 



