98 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Confervoid filaments (something of the character of 

 the mycelium of the fungi) are found, with tuberous 

 thickenings (gemmae) which eventually become de- 

 tached, and produce new plants. The gemmae again 

 are not always confined to the confervoid filament, 

 they are discovered, as the most ordinary observer 

 of mosses may have detected, on the axils, the 

 surface, or the tips of leaves. In time they fall off, 

 and curiously illustrate the fact (known generally in 

 the development of desmids) that a single released 

 cell of a tissue is capable of erecting a new plant ; 

 the leaves of moss often throw out rootlets, but the 

 primary function of germination emanates from the 

 spore, a mere speck dropped from the sporangium, 

 by the expansion of the peristome. 



It may seem strange to a mind undirected to 

 biological research, how so apparently insignificant a 

 plant as moss can involve such mysteries. But simple 

 as the plant appears, there is no branch of mor- 

 phological botany which presents greater paradoxes, 

 and it is an acknowledged fact that, as affecting 

 many particulars, the entire subject under closer 

 observation and finer instruments, requires revision 

 and re-investigation. Taking the leaf alone, seem- 

 ingly a matter of the least importance, as compared 

 to embryology, it shows in various specialities, 

 striking contrasts, reticular thickenings in cell walls, 

 differences in the superimposition of tissues, diversi- 

 ties in the epidermis, in the arrangement of lamellae, 

 some inserted in the midrib, others on the whole 

 surface of the leaf, and the more inexplicable fact 

 that in the same leaf some cells containchlorophyll, 

 others do not. 



Possibly no order of plants play a more important 

 part in the economy of nature than Mosses. They 

 form the nidus for vegetation of a higher order, being 

 for the most part aerial, with no true root, but 

 simply attached by filaments to their habitat, deriving 

 nutriment and substance from the surrounding air ; 

 their decay and accumulation, collected through the 

 agency of organic chemistry, forms a substratum of 

 material for higher growth. The peat deposits con- 

 sist of little else than the accumulated debris of 

 centuries of the decadence of the aquatic species — 

 Sphagnum. 



The drawing for the plate was made from a mounted 

 specimen under reflected light. If a well-ripened, 

 dry capsule be subjected to moderate steam moisture, 

 or breathing upon it, the teeth of the peristome (a 

 highly hygroscopic tissue) will unfurl, separate, and 

 stand erect, round the periphery of the sporangium, 

 revealing the contents within. 

 Crouch End. 



Query as to Strange Birds. — Science- 

 Gossip, No. 229, p, 23. The birds seen by your 

 correspondent, W. H. Summers, were probably 

 lesser redpoles {^Linoia linaria). — H, Miller, Jun. 



TEN DAYS IN SCILLV. 



I WAS never more surprised in my life than I was 

 on the 8th of last May, when I stepped oiT the 

 steamer that had conveyed me from Penzance to St. 

 Mary's and landed me on the semi-tropical shores of 

 Scilly. 



The weather that had been genial in the morning 

 on the mainland did not appear the least concerned 

 about the reputation of the islands, for the temperature 

 actually fell as we approached them. 



But it was not the increasing coldness alone that 

 excited my suspicions, for, in conversation with one 

 of my fellow passengers about the tropical productions 

 of the place, he remarked, that I had arrived too 

 early, the mats would not be off the palms ; this made 

 me very unhappy. 



Many and various have been the opinions advanced 

 with regard to the climate, but I must here record my 

 own — it seemed to me to be windy. 



By June the 13th, I had spent five days in one of 

 the most bracing breezes I ever had the chance of 

 invigorating my constitution with — how it did blow ! 

 It blew on to the islands, and off the islands, and up 

 them and down them, and then by way of change 

 round them ; it was decidedly unfavourable for 

 entomologising, whatever it might be for witches. 



From time to time I expressed my surprise to 

 persons I met, but the promptness of their apologies 

 and the glibness with which they were uttered made 

 me suspect they were in the habit of it. 



In very windy weather even at home, it is some- 

 times necessary to secure one's hat to prevent its 

 being blown off, but here in Scilly the roofs of the 

 houses are firmly lashed with ropes and secured with 

 belaying pins to the walls. So violent are the gales 

 that sweep over these Isles of the Blest, 



The chief object of my visit was a hunt for beetles, 

 but how to begin puzzled me. The moment I raised a 

 tuft of grass, sand and beetles blew away together, 

 with the exception of what went into my eyes ; of 

 trees there were scarcely any, and hedge-rows were 

 rather the exception than the rule, but I did not des- 

 pair. There were large slabs of stone in all directions. 

 These suggested themselves as the only possible 

 hiding-places for beetles, and it was under these the 

 bulk of my captures were made, and amongst them 

 were the following : On Annet Island — Otiorhynchus 

 Ugnetis, Hylastes palliatiis. On Scilly — Heliopathcs 

 gibbiis, Otiorhynchtis sulcatus, and Otiorhynchus 

 atroapterus, Calathus mollis, Brosciis cephalotes 

 Creophilus inaxillostcs (var. ciliaris, Stephens), 

 Philonthus fnsais , and Calathus micropterus. 



One of the pleasantest excursions I made was 

 to the Island of Annet — totally uninhabited, and the 

 head-quarters of the sea birds. 



Except in calm weather the landing is not easy, 

 but, that difficulty over, the scenery is most wild and 

 wonderful ; it literally swarms with birds from one end 



