86 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



plague mosquitos are in the Soudan, They attacked 

 every part of the skin which was tight, and seemed 

 to find cane-bottomed chairs pecuharly convenient. 

 Another point that requires clearing up is the defence 

 against thenij In "Euterpe," xcv. Herodotus says : 

 *' The Egyptians are provided with a remedy against 

 gnats (mosquitos) of which there are a surprising 

 number. They who live in marshy grounds use a net 

 with which they fish by day, and which they render 

 useful by night. They cover their beds with their 

 nets and sleep securely beneath them. If they slept 

 in their common habits, or under linen, the gnats 

 would not fail to torment them, which they do not 

 even attempt through a net." 



Mosquitos do undoubtedly find their way in by 

 rents in a mosquito curtain far smaller than the mesh 

 of an ordinary fishing net. I have seen somewhere 

 the testimony of a clergyman who protected himself 

 from gnats by a i J inch mesh fixed over the aperture 

 of the window, provided the room was lighted only 

 from one side. The gnats come through if there are 

 back or side lights. Has this been confirmed by the 

 experience of other observers ? It would also be 

 interesting and important to know if chestnut trees 

 planted near houses drive away mosquitos, as they 



are said to do. 



J. J. MuiR, F.L.S. 



RED HILL. 



THERE are few localities within so short a 

 distance of London, that can include in their 

 floras such an endless variety as the rapidly increasing 

 town of Red Hill. Like most other spots so dear to 

 the true botanist, it is fast being spoilt, not only by the 

 continual enclosing of ground for building purposes, 

 but also by that numerous class 'of so-called amateurs, 

 who ruthlessly destroy and root out, solely for the 

 sake of possession, the few rarities that are left to us 

 in England. It is a well-known fact that no county 

 can boast of such pretty rural landscapes as Surrey ; 

 the secret beauty of these views lies in the luxuriant 

 vegetation. The diversity of soils in the neighbour- 

 hood of Red Hill, as well as its position, being on the 

 southern slope of the North Downs, are sufficient to 

 account for its extreme richness in prizes of botanical 

 interest. It will be as well in giving the following 

 list of a few of the rarer plants that can be found in 

 this most delightful locality, simply to name them, 

 and leave it for those who are really interested to find 

 the habitats for themselves ; the search will be as much 

 enjoyed as the find, and whoever like to try can come 

 home with a well-filled vasculum. Soon the time for 

 active work will commence, when that pretty little 

 drooping flower, the snowdrop, can be found in 

 comparative abundance close to the railway ; a very 

 scarce variety of cuckoo flower with double blossoms 

 may be met with in Gatton Park, and a little later on 



the well-known four-leaved herb Paris, occurs not 

 far distant. As regards the natural order Orchidacese, 

 Red Hill can boast of as long a list as any locality 

 of the same size in the kingdom. The following were 

 all found last year within a radius of about four 

 miles : early purple, green-winged, spotted, man, fly, 

 tway-blade, musk, butterfly, hellebore, pyramidal, 

 and marsh orchis. On some marshy ground 

 near Reigate, the bogbean, and that curious little 

 insectivorous plant the round-leaved sundew, grow 

 abundantly, also the delicate little ivy-leaved cam- 

 panula. To come a little nearer home, on a high 

 bank on the road to the Reigate Hills, the beautiful 

 silvery stellate blossoms of the drooping Star of 

 Bethlehem may be noticed by a close observer, though 

 only two small clumps, consisting of two or three 

 plants each, are there ; yet it is a sufficiently valuable 

 prize to encourage one to a thorough search. Along 

 the slopes of the hills many flowers may be found, 

 notably the deadly nightshade, tooth wort, colum- 

 bine, and Martagon lily ; the exact spots, though, are 

 only known to a few local botanists. Towards 

 harvest time in some fields where the soil is very 

 sandy, the fashionable corn marigold grows in pro- 

 fusion, in places quite killing the colour of the crops 

 with its golden blossoms. In concluding these few 

 lines, the only advice that can be offered to our friends 

 in the botanical department about Red Plill, is to go 

 and see for themselves, and, if they wish to preserve 

 their bodies in a perfect condition, to beware of man 

 traps and spring guns, which, if the notice boards 

 speak truly, are rather plentiful in that neighbour- 

 hood. 



J. R. M. 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



The statement as to the atmosphere of Italy 

 containing an unusual amount of peroxide of hydro- 

 gen, made by Dr. Moffat, has been contradicted by 

 Mr. Lennox Browne, who shows that the atmosphere 

 of that country contains no more than that of any 

 other country. Our readers will remember that the 

 "tenor voice" of Italians was believed to be due to 

 this compound, and an artificial preparation of it was 

 stated to be capable of producing artificial tenor 

 voices ! 



In a paper recently read before the Chemical 

 Society, by Sir J. B. Lawes and Dr. Gilbert, on certain 

 experiments conducted at Rothamsted, those gentle- 

 men showed that the influence of the season on the 

 composition of the ash of plants is much more 

 marked than the influence of the manures. 



Incandescent lamps immersed in water are now 

 used in the powder-houses of the Royal Factory at 

 Waltham Abbey, where before no artificial light 

 whatever was allowed. 



