HARD WICKE' S S CIENCE-G OS SI P. 



i35 



one showing an abnormal growth of Daticus carota 

 (wild carrot). Perhaps this species is the completest 

 and most typical of the Umbelliferse. Its secondary 

 umbels are foreshortened into a close and compact 

 head. But it is evident from examples like the 

 accompanying sketch that such was not always the 

 case. Once upon a time each secondary umbel had 

 a long stalk ; and in the example before us we may 

 have a return to such an ancestral condition. 



Compare this with the not uncommon sport in the 

 field daisy (Bellis percnnis), known as the "hen and 

 chickens." Perhaps the order Composite has 

 undergone a longer and completer series of floral 

 changes than any other. It is interesting to note 

 how the less typical members of this widely-dispersed 

 group differ in so many ways from the most typical, 

 such as the Tubiiflorse, of which the daisy is a good 

 example. May not the " hen-and-chickens " mon- 

 strosity be an earlier ancestral type? 



In the other illustration of a daisy we have a proof 

 that the bracts of the involucre are only so many 

 modified leaves, for here we notice one of them 

 returning to the leaf-like condition, and assuming 

 much of the character of a daisy leaf. 



Mr. Robert Holland has shown that the common 

 knapweed {Centaur ea nigra) is very liable to produce 

 small abortive flower-heads, in the autumn especially. 

 At other times the scales of the flower-head will 

 return to their primitive leaf condition, as in fig. 82. 



In Mr. Buckell's second sketch we have a common 

 primrose with a pedicle. The ordinary primroses 

 spring from the stock root; the oxlip, cowslip, etc., 

 from a common pedicle ; whilst the Japanese primrose 

 {Primula Japonica) has the pedicle drawn out 

 telescopically a stage higher. This variety of the 

 primrose, therefore, reminds us of the stages through 

 which the well-marked species of oxlips, polyanthuses, 

 etc., have gone through. 



In fig. 81 we have magnified an abnormal flower of 

 the deadly nightshade (Circtxa lutetiana). A portion 

 of the stigma is transformed into the anther of a 

 stamen, whilst one of the stamens assumes partially 

 the character of a petal ; and in place of one of the 

 petals we have two distinct sepals. It is not often 

 we get in a single flower such a combined illustration 

 of the probable common origin of all floral organs. 

 The summer is now almost at its meridian, vegetable 

 life is nearing its flood-tide, and our readers will find 

 it enjoyable literally to go into "fresh fields and 

 pastures new," to explore the flowers of the field for 

 "monstrosities." We shall be pleased to put on 

 record all fresh finds, and to figure the most 

 important. 



Corrections. — In the article on " Animals and 

 Medicine," p. 83, col. 2, line 20, for "utilised by 

 man ; indeed," read " utilised. Of man, indeed." 

 P. 84, col. I, line 22, for "gradation" read 

 * ' gradatim, " — Hukvidgeon. 



A MUD-CAPPED DYKE. 



[Continued from p. 59.! 



By the Rev. Hilderic Friend, F.L.S. 



IT is still a gloomy day in December, and we are 

 looking still upon the old stone wall. When 

 the spring comes we shall have an opportunity of 

 observing some new features in connection therewith, 

 but I am anxious that we should first of all try and 

 ascertain whether anything more can be learned from 

 a study of the dyke and its denizens in winter. We 

 turn now from the clay cap and the rough boulders 

 which have been culled from the adjoining fields, and 

 fix our attention on the other objects of interest in 

 the wall. 



in. Life on the Wall. — T usta few blades of grass, 

 a weed or two, and an old, dead flower ! What can 

 there be here to interest or instruct us ? We will 

 see. I would venture to remind the young student 

 that he will find it far better to begin his intercourse 

 with nature during winter than in summer ; for 

 nothing is more disheartening than to find yourself 

 face to face with a hundred different forms of life 

 without a key to their interpretation. 



That bit of grass and dead weed may be of great 

 service to us if we will examine them carefully, and 

 master their names and history. We will therefore 

 begin at this northern end of the wall and walk by 

 its side, noting all the vegetable and animal forms, 

 living or dead, which we can identify. How bright, 

 to begin with, is this bit of golden gorse {Ulex 

 Europceus, L.), already in flower. What do we 

 know of it ? Can we tell what the botanists call the 

 Order to which it belongs ? Have we any idea of 

 the number of its stamens, the arrangement of its 

 petals, the way in which it is fertilised, the meaning 

 of the prickles, the shape of the leaves in the seed- 

 ling, the number and differences in the British 

 species, its distribution, the related families, or its 

 economy in the plant-world ? To answer all these 

 questions would take a fairly good botanist a con- 

 siderable time ; yet we pass by the prickly shrub, as it 

 grows on the wall, as a common thing, unworthy our 

 notice, or too well known to be able to teach us. 

 Even now we might find some insect life on the 

 bush, and earlier in the season I saw the little weevil 

 {Apion Ulicis), together with a host of flies, bees, 

 spiders, and other things, seeking food and shelter 

 among its blossoms and branches. From this 

 leguminous plant (which by-and-by will have pods 

 in the place, of the flowers, reminding us of its close 

 relationship with our peas, beans, and vetches) we 

 turn to that dead weed. It has a little life left, we 

 find on closer inspection, and proves to be a 

 perennial, for a new rosette of leaves is growing 

 already around the bottom of the decaying stem. 

 What is it ? The old stalk, the shape of the leaves, 

 and the unattractive smell declare it to be ragwort 



