164 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



BOTANY. 



*'A Synopsis of the Bacteria and Yeast- 

 Fungi."— By W. B. Grove, B.A, (London : Chatto 

 and Windus). Most of our readers will remember 

 Mr. Grove's valuable papers, which appeared in this 

 journal during 1882 and 1883, under the title of " The 

 Schizomycetes," &c. They roused much interest 

 at the time, for the Bacteria had never before been 

 treated in this country in a systematic manner so 

 that students could approach them. Consequently 

 we have no doubt whatever that many of our readers 

 will be pleased to hear these papers have been re- 

 published, in an enlarged and fuller form, in a hand- 

 somely got up and attractive little volume, by the 

 above-mentioned publishers, at 3^-. (id. To young 

 medical students (and indeed old medical students 

 as well) this handbook will prove most valuable, in 

 enabling them to see at once all that has been said 

 and done about Bacteria and other disease germs, &c. 

 The volume is not less important to every brewer. 



OiclDiUM Jacob^/E (Grev.)— Thiscecidium I have 

 demonstrated by a series of experiment cultures has 

 nothing uncommon with either Piiccinia glomerata or 

 P. compositariiin, but is a true heteroecismal uredine, 

 the teleutospores of which occur upon Carcx arenaria. 

 This puccinia is quite distinct from P. caricis, from 

 which it can be distinguished readily enough by 

 the naked eye. It is more nearly allied to P. dioica 

 (Magnus), but whether these two Puccinias be iden- 

 tical I can hardly at the present time say. — Charles 

 B. Plowright. 



Distribution of Plants in England.— I think 

 a list of the wild flowers to be found in an ordinary 

 country lane here, would be interesting, if similar 

 lists from other districts, wide apart, could be pub- 

 lished in Science-Gossip. I mean the common 

 plants which are the particular features of the road- 

 sides in those districts. The following are the more 

 common plants in a lane near Maidstone. The hedges 

 on either side are composed of hawthorn, common 

 elder, cornel or dog-wood, common elm, hazel, 

 and here and there a blackthorn bush. The plants 

 under the hedges are Paiucnathts repens, Urtica 

 dioica. Sisymbrium alliaria, Lamium albitiii, Geiim 

 nrbatiiim, Stellaria Holostca, Galituii Aparine, G. 

 MoUugo, Stachys sylvatica, Ballota nigra, and Poteti- 

 tilla reptans. — Henry Lamb, Maidstone. 



Cucumber-Tree. — In North America, Mapiolia 

 acuminata, Linn, is called the Cucumber Tree, from 

 its fruit, which is about 3 inches long, resembling a 

 small cucumber. The flowers of the tree are large, 

 and the petals bluish-coloured, from which it is some- 

 times called the blue magnolia. The wood is of fine 

 grain and orange-coloured. — I\I. H. 



GEOLOGY, &c. 



"CHALLENGER" MUSINGS. 



By A Terrigenous Philosopher. 



critical areas.* 



HOW great is Nature ! how divine 

 The means adapted to her ends ! 

 The bottom of the ocean bends, 

 And all is part of one design. 



But not in the abysmal deeps 

 Of solemn ocean far from land ; 

 Nay round the continent and strand 



This movement of the sea-bed keeps. 



With such devices she entraps 



The sediment ground from the shore. 

 And keeps it as a muddy store 



To build up future lands, perhaps. 



Thus naught is wasted in her hands ; 



The balance of the globe she keeps ; 



And stops deposit in the deeps ; 

 The ocean waits her stern commands. 



Outside the land she draws a line. 

 The land and ocean toe the mark ; 

 And e'en the little islets hark. 



Nor seek to disobey the sign. 



Within these boundaries hard and fast, 

 She garners harvests from the shore ; 

 Or well within the breakers' roar 



Her bank-deposits are amassed. 



Nor outside of the limits fixed 

 Do bendings of the crust appear 

 Of earth — a fact that seemeth queer 



To one with notions rather mixed. 



And well within this submarine 



And sunken trough around the land. 

 The future strata are trepanned. 



And this methinks has ever been. 



So as was first of all observed, 



How great is Nature ! how divine I 

 That she should thus mark out the line 



That continents may be preserved ! 



For should detritus find its way 

 To ocean depths, it would be lost ; 

 Instead of staying tempest-tossed 



Upon the shore or in the bay. 



For the abyss but sinks and sinks — 

 Its general tendency, they say — 

 Though on occasion it may stay 



To rise a little, Murray thinks. 



* See " The Nomenclature, Origin .and Distribution of 

 Deep-Sea Deposits."—" Nature,'' June 5th. 



