220 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



of there being means of recognition of, and dis- 

 tinction between, different flowers adapted to 

 different insects, than to put them both down to 

 a supposed primary sense, the origin of which it 

 is almost impossible to explain. Whether in 

 reality the necessity for recognition markings in 

 flowers, and the advantage conferred on the latter 

 by increased conspicuousness, led to the insects 

 taking pleasure in similar colours in the opposite 

 sex, and finally to the production of our own aesthetic 

 sense, is another and very difficult question. Mr. 

 Poulton records some most amusing observations of 

 an American naturalist on the courtship of certain 

 spiders, some of which certainly seem to furnish sup- 

 port for the Darwinian view of Sexual Selection ; but 

 we must beware of inferring from the great attention 

 paid to courtship in both sexes, that the female 

 necessarily chooses the best-adorned male. 



Mr. Poulton closes his book with an elaborate 

 Table, in which the various colours of animals are 

 classified according to their use, and precise terms, 

 which embody a short general definition, are 

 employed to distinguish between the various 

 categories. It is perhaps doubtful whether his 

 terms will come into general use, but they are 

 extremely useful in giving one clear ideas on the 

 relations of the various functions of animal colours. 

 Subjoined is a condensed table shewing the main 

 divisions. 



There is no need to remark upon the get-up and 

 typography of one of the far-famed " International 

 Scientific Series." The woodcuts are fairly good. 

 Mr. Poulton's style is admirably clear and lucid, and 

 he may be congratulated on having produced an 

 able and delightful book upon a most fascinating 

 subject. 



A. G. Tansley. 



BOTANICAL RAMBLES ABOUT 

 ABERYSTWITH. 



TO the lover of botany Aberystwith is a centre of 

 attraction. The physical aspect of the 

 district is as varied and beautiful as its flora. Its 

 climate is mild and salubrious, and it possesses the 

 distinct advantage of being so situated as to enable 

 the spectator to obtain a full view of the whole 

 coast-line of Cardigan Bay, from Bardsey Island in 

 the north, to Cardigan Head in the south. The 

 monotony of the waters — if not broken by the 

 heaving billows— is relieved by the heights of 

 Snowdonia. Here, Nature never fails to welcome 

 her visitant ; and should he ever weary of the sea, 

 now calm and azure-coloured, and anon moaning 

 and dashing its white, foaming breakers against its 

 rocky barriers, or of the scarped cliffs of old 

 Valentian rocks, hoary with age, with their strata 

 super-imposed like the leaves of a book, and having 

 impressed on their stony pages an autobiography far 

 more romantic and wonderful than the wildest 

 imagination can fancy ; should he grow weary of 



such marine sights and scenes as these, he can easily 



retreat to the country and enjoy rural sights and 



sounds, where grow the 



" Bramble roses faint and pale, 

 And long purples. of the dale," 



and where the air is laden with the fragrance of 

 the gorse and the honeysuckle, and where the songs 

 of the linnet and the lark are wafted by the winds 

 over wood- and moor-land. In the neighbourhood 

 are many places that will well repay a visit, lovely 

 valleys, picturesque ravines, and hills and cascades of 

 Swiss-like beauty. The lead-mining industry — which 

 once flourished, and still lingers in this part of the 

 Principality — has polluted the waters of the principal 

 rivers — the Rheidol and the Ystwyth — poisoned their 

 fish, and destroyed the luxuriant vegetation of their 

 banks. With depressed and declining trade the rivers 

 return to a state of purity, and once more teem with 

 life and beauty. The fry thrives in their waters, and 

 vegetation marches in full colours to their banks. 

 It is not our intention to give an exhaustive 

 list of the plants of this locality. For the present we 

 shall only make a rapid review of some of the most 



