HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



139 



tions, including that by polarised liglit, which ex- 

 hibits so clearly and beautifully the subcutaneous 

 scales of the eel. I venture to caution intending 

 observers that many scales .may generally be found 

 adhering to the turbot's skin ; but they are those of 

 other fishes which have been in contact with it in the 

 trawl, or the trunk, or the fishmonger's ice-box. 

 These should therefore be carefully washed and 

 wiped away, before search be commenced for those 

 which are said to belong to the turbot itself, but the 

 existence of which I doubt. Donovan also states 

 that the turbot has tubercles both on the upper and 

 under side, those on the upper surface being larger 

 and more numerous than those on the under, or 

 white side. This is certainly incorrect. The turbot 

 has no tubercles on the under side, except in the rare 

 cases of malformation occasionally seen, when the 

 fish has both sides alike dark-coloured. — Heiiry Lee, 

 Savage Club. 



Provincial Societies. — There is no more 

 significant sign of the progress of science than the 

 fact that local scientific societiesare springing up and 

 multiplying in every town and city of the empire. In 

 this way local talent is made the most of, and papers 

 are often read at the meetings of these societies equal 

 to many of those which appear in the Transactions of 

 the learned societies of London. Among the publica- 

 tions of these provincial societies we may mention the 

 following as having lately appeared : — The Pro- 

 ceedings of the Norwich Geological Society, vol. i. 

 part viii. containing papers on local geology by 

 Messrs. F. W. Harmer, F.G.S., John Gunn, F.G.S., 

 H. B. Woodward, F.G.S., W. .Whitaker, F.G.S. 

 (President), F. J. Bennett, F.G.S. , T. V. Holmes, 

 F.G.S. , S. C. Sothern, &c. The 31st annual report 

 of the Nottingham Naturalists' Society contains the 

 following papers: — "Disease Germs" (illustrated), 

 by Dr. Seaton (President) ; and " Bank Tokens and 

 their Forgeries," by Mr. G. Mundon (illustrated). 

 The 14th Annual Report of the Wellington College 

 National Science Society contains notes and report 

 on the local entomology, flora, and phenological 

 observations, together with admirably condensed 

 abstracts of the numerous papers read at the meetings. 

 The Transactions of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists' 

 Club show that our kinsfolk across the water are 

 manifesting their love of Nature in the same manner 

 that we are. The last number contains a most able 

 address by the President (Mr. James Fletcher) ; 

 papers on "The Laurentian System," by Mr. F. D. 

 Adams; "Fishes of the Ottawa District," by Mr. 

 H. B. Small ; " Fossils from the Trenton Limestone," 

 by Mr. W. R. BilHngs ; "The Ducks of the 

 Locality," by Mr. W. P. Lett; together with 

 accurately drawn-up reports on the geology, miner- 

 ^^ogy> palseontology, botany, conchology, ento- 

 mology, ornithology, &c., all 'showing good and 

 valuable work in the cause of practical science. 



BOTANY. 



On the Continuity of Protoplasm. — Though 

 ill no way and in no sense responsible for the para- 

 graph to which Mr. Gardiner takes objection, I 

 cannot allow his remarks thereon to pass altogether 

 unnoticed. Ostensibly written on a question of 

 priority, nearly two-thirds of his letter is an attempt 

 to discount the value of my paper on " Protoplasmic 

 Continuity in the Floride^e," published in the February 

 and March numbers of " The Journal of Botany." 

 To me this appears a somewhat irregular mode of 

 procedure, but I do not care to dwell upon it. On 

 the matter of priority, Mr. Gardiner writes as if his 

 work and mine were identical. This is not the case. 

 So far as I have yet learnt, his investigations have 

 had reference to certain special tissues of phanerogams, 

 while mine have dealt with the whole thallus of 

 several leading genera of the large group of Floridese. 

 This being so, it seems to me that each may fairly 

 claim priority over the other in his own branch of the 

 inquiry, but nothing more. So much I, for my part, 

 am very willing to allow to Mr. Gardiner, and so 

 much I must demand for myself. Having dealt with 

 the question of priority, Mr. Gardiner turns off at a 

 tangent, and endeavours to discredit my results on 

 two grounds : (i.) that they are not new, but were 

 known before, and (ii.) that they are inaccurate. 

 Now if he knew of these results before my work was 

 published, and if, besides, he knew them to be in- 

 accurate, why did he wait for the publication of my 

 paper before taking upon himself to controvert them ? 

 Is it to be inferred that he was only led to look up 

 the literature of the subject when he became ac- 

 quainted with what I was doing ? But, despite the 

 authoritative tone assumed by Mr. Gardiner, I am 

 not disposed to accept his view of the extent to 

 which my results were anticipated, and I am sup- 

 ported by botanists, no less competent than himself, 

 in the opinion, that none of the authorities he men- 

 tions definitely realised in their entirety the various 

 points I have sought to establish. Chief among these 

 are the following : (i.) that protoplasmic continuity 

 is very widely, if not universally distributed in the 

 Floridese ; (ii.) that where found it obtains prac- 

 tically over the whole thallus ; (iii.) that the connect- 

 ing threads are permanent and not merely temporary 

 structures; (iv.) that the threads retain their vital 

 activity, growing in thickness with the growth of the 

 cells ; and (v.) that they give rise to differentiated 

 structures. Be this, however, as it may, I am content 

 that my statements can now be examined and tested 

 by all who care to do so, and to their judgment 

 I leave them. That Mr. Gardiner has not given 

 them attentive perusal I can hardly believe, but I 

 had difficulty in repelling a suspicion to that effect 

 when I read in his letter that " there can be little 

 doubt that the continuity of the protoplasm in the 



