i86 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



this bird is very alarming indeed. I speak advisedly, 

 and on mature consideration. I think that starlings 

 and wood-pigeons are also becoming so numerous, 

 especially the former, as to upset the balance of 

 nature. Therefore they should be killed off, where 

 too abundant, at the beginning of the breeding season. 

 The same remark applies to the lesser black-backed 

 gull, a most destructive bird. But I think, also, that 

 a wise toleration might be extended to hawks and 

 owls. In regard to our smaller birds, I think that we 

 should protect all, except a scheduled few, together 

 with their eggs, during every month in the year. 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Messrs. Geo. Philip & Son send us one of 

 their ingenious little sun-dials adjustable for all 

 latitudes, which they make and sell at the price of 

 three shillings. The cube in which it is packed for 

 transmission, and on which it stands when ready for 

 use, also affords a complete exponent of the decimal 

 system of measurement and weight. It is a capital 

 little instrument for use in schools, &c. 



The reprints of Professor Prestwich's papers, " On 

 the Relation oftheWestleton Beds of Suffolk with those 

 of Norfolk," and "On the Relation of the Westleton 

 Shingle to other Pre-glacial Drift in the Thames 

 Basin," are before us. These papers, as might be 

 expected, are very comprehensive, and are fully 

 illustrated with diagrams and maps. 



We have received " A Theory of the Sun's 

 Radiation of Heat," by W. Goff (London : Ed. 

 Stanford); "Authenticated List of the Birds of 

 Herefordshire," compiled by G. Home; "Are 

 Hawks and Owls injurious to Game ? " (A well- 

 written protest against the terrible and mistaken 

 cruelty committed on our moors and plantations in 

 the interests of game preservation), by W. J. Clarke. 

 The two latter are published by the Naturalist's 

 Publishing Company. 



Nos. 3 of Mr. Wallace's books, "British Cage- 

 Birds," and "The Canary Book," reach us from Mr. 

 Upcot Gill, and are in every way admirable. 



"The Transactions for 1SS9 of the Notting- 

 ham Naturalists' Society," contains the following 

 papers: — "Farther Evidences of Glacial Action 

 in Snowdonia," by E. Kidson ; "The Spec 

 troscope : Its Uses," by Rev. G. R. Hodges ; 

 "The Geology of Nottingham, Where and How to 

 See It," by J. Shipman (a rattling good paper) ; 

 besides summaries of other papers. That of the 

 " Guernsey Society of Natural Science," contains the 

 following: — President's Address, Mr. T. Guille ; 

 " On the Genus Isoetes," by E. I). Marquand ; 

 " The Flora of Herm," by the same ; " The 



History of Herm," by Rev. J. R. Lee; "Crustacea," 

 by J. Sinel ; "A List of the Macro-Lepidoptera 

 inhabiting the Islands of Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, 

 and Herm, with Notices of their Occurrence," by 

 W. A. Luff, and reports of excursion. 



" The Report of the Felstead School Natural 

 History Society for the Year ending Christmas 1889 " 

 is very creditable, and one of the best reports of 

 school societies that we have seen. The papers on 

 "A Visit to the Broads," by R. L. Barber; "Some 

 Poisonous Plants," by Rev. E. Jepp ; " Pond Life." 

 by N. A. Crosby, are particularly interesting. 



This year the long excursion of the Geological 

 Association will be to the Mendip Hills. The Rev. 

 H. H. Winwood, M.A., and Mr. Horace B. Wood- 

 ward will be . directors ; and Professor J. H. Blake, 

 Professor C. Lloyd Morgan and Mr. J. McMurtrie 

 will probably explain the geology of some of the 

 localities. 



There are several philosophical societies but no 

 club, and so a philosophy club is founded as a centre for 

 philosophical thought, and also as a general social 

 meeting place for members of the several learned 

 societies. The chief aim of the club is to encourage 

 original thought founded on a sound moral basis. 

 Its address is 26 Suffolk Street, Pall Mall. 



Mr. C. B. Plowright, of King's Lynn, has had 

 the distinguished honour conferred upon him of being 

 appointed a Professor of Comparative Anatomy and 

 Physiology at the Royal College of Surgeons for the 

 ensuing year. We understand that he will deliver a 

 course of lectures at the college in April next on 

 "Diseases of plants produced by fungi." 



MICROSCOPY. 



New method of preparing Lantern Slides. 

 — From your notice in last month's paper, it would 

 seem that Dr. Sorby's way of making lantern slides 

 from real objects, as contrasted with drawing, etc., is 

 a novelty. In acknowledging the service he has done 

 in introducing the subject, let me say that not only 

 animals can be treated as he names, but vegetables 

 too. Take for instance : Nitophyllum laceratum, 

 Dasya coccenia, Ccrainium acanthorum, Euthora 

 cristata amongst the larger alga;. Several species of 

 Adiantum, Lygodium, Cheilanthes, Nephrolepis 

 amongst the ferns, are very beautiful when deprived 

 of the chlorophyll. Mosses, too, of the larger kinds 

 are very good. The leaf fungi are excellent, because 

 they show at a glance the eccentric way in which the 

 fructification develops. The same remark will apply 

 to many of the flowering plants. Their venation and 

 structure are very beautifully and truthfully shown in 

 this way for lantern , slides. I have tried several 



