HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



165 



Arums and Flies.- — About a fortnight ago a plant 

 of Arum Crinitum flowered in my greenhouse. The 

 weather was hot, and the odour of the flower was 

 correspondingly poweiful, and compelled me to 

 choose between withdrawing myself or expelling the 

 plant from the house. I chose to do the latter. The 

 odour closely resembles that of putrid flesh. The 

 plant was not out many hours before numbers of 

 •blue-bottle flies collected upon it and upon the wood- 

 work of the house close to which it stood. They 

 swarmed upon the spathe, carefully trying every 

 square line of it with their protruded proboscides, only 

 to find that the powerful and, to them, doubtless 

 appetising odour, proceeded from nothing which 

 could allay the cravings excited by it. I think their 

 size prevented them from passing down through the 

 constricted part of the spathe to the locality of the 

 stamens and pistils ; but, learning nothing from their 

 own disappointment in the matter of food, or perhaps 

 believing that the good things lay where they could 

 not penetrate to, these stupid or credulous flies de- 

 posited large quantities of eggs in the narrower portion 

 of the spathe. In a few days these eggs produced a 

 swarm of maggots, which of course speedily perished 

 ■ — the victims of the too successful fraud practised 

 upon their parents. — James Bellas. 



Ophrys Aranifera and its reputed var. 

 Fucifera. — This species is very variable, ranging in 

 height from three inches to eighteen inches, according 

 to situation ; warm, sheltered spots under banks and 

 cliffs generally producing the finest plants. The 

 usual height is from seven inches to nine inches. 

 The number of flowers varies from two to fifteen, or 

 more, the usual number being from seven to nine. 

 The flower is variable in shape, the labellum in some 

 specimens being almost round, with the other petals 

 and sepals very short and broad. In others, the 

 flower is much elongated, the'labellum being twice as 

 long as broad, the other petals and sepals very long 

 and narrow ; these are the extreme forms, and 

 between them is found the normal type. The colour 

 of the labellum varies from a bright chocolate to a 

 deep dark brown, the "markings" also varying in 

 intensity of colour, as also in shape. Again, in some 

 flowers the labellum has on either side a conical 

 projection termed "lateral humps," similar to those 

 of 0. apifera, thus dividing the labellum apparently 

 into three parts; in others these projections are wanting^ 

 and the labellum is entire. The two petals are 

 usually strap shaped, but are sometimes broad near 

 the base, become narrow somewhat suddenly, and 

 have a wavy margin ; these petals are usually of a 

 pinkish hue, the strap-shaped specimens being gener- 

 ally yellow-green. The Rev. G. E. Smith, in his 

 Catalogue, 1S29, after describing a number of speci- 

 mens collected from various localities, writes as 

 follows: "I then concluded that the Fucifera and 

 Aranifera must be the same species ; and this con- 



clusion is stronger upon an inspection of the Aranifera 

 of Oxfordshire, of many figures, and especially of the 

 figure in Flora Lond. t. 67, and Vaillant Bot. Paris, 

 t. 31, f. 15, 16. These observations are now offered 

 to attract further attention to the subject, and in due 

 respect to the decision of Sir James Smith. It is 

 possible that the two species occur together and have 

 mingled." . . . The Rev. Smith wrote the preceding 

 on observations made during one year only ; I have 

 examined, during ten years, many hundreds of plants 

 growing on the downs and cliffs, from Kingsdown 

 on the east to the hill above the water-works, 

 Folkestone, on the west, and have never found a 

 specimen that could not be referred to O. aranifera ; 

 not even a plant that might be regarded as a sub- 

 species. I have inquired of botanical friends, who know 

 the plant and localities well, and none can refer me to 

 anything different from the plant already described. 

 I endorse the Rev. G. E. Smith's opinion, and 

 emphatically declare that there is no plant growing 

 between the localities mentioned that cannot be 

 referred to 0. aranifera. Unless some better and 

 well authenticated specimens can be produced than 

 have already appeared, the continuation of O. fucifera, 

 even as a variety, is a mistake, and very misleading. — 

 W. T. Haydon, Dover. 



GEOLOGY, &c. 



The Evolution of Climate, Professor J. 

 Geikie ; Climate and Cosmology, Professor J. Croll. 

 — These two eminent scientists have written much on 

 this abstruse subject without reaching a satisfactory 

 conclusion. I find in the Times of 13th September, 

 18S9, a report of the address of Mr. J. Geikie to the 

 Geological Section of the British Association, when he 

 said : "It cannot be denied that our knowledge of 

 Palaeozoic, Mesozoic, and even early Cainozoic 

 climates is unsatisfactory." So, in the above reprint 

 he reconsiders the subject on "the modern doctrine 

 of the permanency of continental and oceanic areas." 

 At page 3 he defines these as a vast water region 

 where "depression has exceeded elevation," and 

 great land areas where " elevation has, upon the 

 whole, been in excess of depression." In these de- 

 finitions he destroys the permanency, without at- 

 tempting to give a limit to either depression or eleva- 

 tion. At p. 11 he allows "oscillations of level," with 

 land "gradually extending," "and the sea dis- 

 appearing from wide regions which it had formerly 

 covered " ; and he thinks " that the seemingly gradual 

 change from tropical to temperate conditions was due 

 in large measure to that persistent continental growth." 

 He is then puzzled about the glacial period, telling 

 us (p. 13), that many geologists had tried to explain 

 climatic changes, "but all these attempts had failed." 

 He then refers to James Croll (p. 13). After allowing 

 that climatic changes depended on " the relative 



