272 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



referred to, which must form the basis of all future 

 ^\ork upon the Selachian ftjssils of the Carboniferous 

 strata. Most of the genera and species are founded 

 upon single detached teeth, which have been met 

 with in considerable numbers in the Carboniferous 

 Limestone of Armagh, and are occasionally found in 

 the Lower Carboniferous of England. Figs. lySand 

 r79 are sketches of the forms known respectively as 

 Copodiis corimtiis and PleitrogornpJius aiiriciilatiis, 

 and these will give an idea of the most prominent 

 characteristics of the group.- 



PLANT-NOTES. 



l>y the Rev. H. Friend, Author of "Flowers 

 AND Flower-Lore." 



THE interesting jottings on this subject by Mr. 

 Robinson suggest a few reflections, and demand 

 some comment. It is interesting to hear of the 

 courage-cup still made in Cheshire, but is it true 

 that the word borage " is merely a corruption of the 

 word, corage or courage (cor and ago)"? If so, 

 where can the form be found ? The word occurs in 

 tlie Romance languages, thus : French, bourrache ; 

 old French, borrace (see Brachet) ; Italian, borraggine; 

 Spanish, borraja ; Portuguese, borragem ; Low 

 Latin, borrago. Some suggest that ihe root of the 

 word is Oriental, but seeing that the family bears 

 ihe general name of bugloss (see Britten's and 

 Holland's Diet, of Plant Names), from the leaf being 

 rough like an ox-tongue, we may, I think, fairly 

 accept the most general derivation of the word from 

 borra, rough hair, whence several words denoting 

 roughness (see Skeat and Diez, also Pritzel and 

 Jessen, " Volknamen der Pflanzen," i. 60). 



The elder is largely employed for hedges in Bucks 

 and Northants, and I have already referred to the 

 idea that the plant may have been emjjloyed for a 

 ]n-otection against witchcraft (see " P'lowers and 

 Flower -lore," p. 543, and Index s. v. Elder). If 

 Air. Robinson will consult the valuable Dictionary 

 of Plant Names now being issued by the English 

 Dialect Society, I think he will find the synonymf)us 

 expressions used in various parts of the country for 

 the elder support the idea that it was called bourtree 

 or bore-tree, because of its bore, or hollow stem. 



The Clote of Drayton can scarcely be any other 

 than the yellow water-lily. The burdock is the only 

 important rival. Earle gives (" English Plant 

 Names," page 46) "Lappa, bardane, clote," from 

 a trilingual vocabulary of plants written in the 

 thirteenth century. But this does not bear a yellow 

 flower (see Dr. Printzcl, i. 201-2). Moreover ihe 

 Nitplmr liitea is still called Clot or Clote in the 

 south-west of England. Marshall tells us that in 

 East Norfolk it is applied to the coltsfoot (Tiessila^o 

 farfara). In any case there appears to be reference 

 to the large globular flower-head, from clot, "a 



ball," hence particularly inapplicable to Galium or 

 Galeobdolon, the former of which could scarcely 

 claim attention, except on the ground that some 

 varieties, especially Aparine or Cleavers, produced 

 round seeds. Moreover, the words elate, cleat, elite, 

 &€., which are employed in many parts for cleavers, 

 coltsfoot, and other plants have quite distinct histories 

 and etymologies, and refer either to the shape of the 

 leaf, the habit of the seed, or some other similar 

 peculiarity, so that the water-lily is in undisputed 

 possession of the field. 



Mr. Robinson does not seem to be aware that the 

 lines he quotes from Hogg have been more than once 

 discussed, and that Dr. Johnston has pretty clearly 

 proved that the line "When the blewart bears a 

 pearl," has reference to the beautiful little speedwell 

 {Veronica CIia?nadrys), the "pale, glaucous under- 

 side " of the corolla being remarkably like a pearl 

 when the l^lossom is closed. It is, however, true 

 that the corn bluebottle is known in the North as 

 blewart or blawart. Th hairbell question was fully 

 discussed in Science-Gossip for 1881. The cockle 

 of St. Bernard was no doubt the Lycliuis GithagOy 

 still known under that name in the Midlands. One 

 of the German names of the plant is kuckel. 



A great deal of plant-lore yet remains uncollected. 

 I have found some interesting names and customs in 

 the Midlands quite recently. Thus, at sheep-shearing, 

 it used to be the fashion here to decorate the shearers 

 with posies, and the small white rose so common in 

 cottage gardens being in bloom at this season, it 

 became a favourite flower for the purpose, and bore 

 the name of sheep-shearing rose. This name is still 

 in use in certain parts of Bucks. 

 Brackley. 



GOSSIP ON CURRENT TOPICS. 

 By W. Mattieu Williams, F.R.A.S., F.C.S. 



THE researches of M. Miquel, recorded in the 

 "Semaine Medicale," on the distribution of 

 bacteria in the atmosphere, are very interesting, 

 whether regarded from a jihysical or physiological 

 point of view. The standard quantity of air examined 

 was ten cubic metres. At heights of 2000 to 4000 

 metres on the Alps (6561 to 13,123 feet), none 

 were found. Thus bacteria cannot cross the Simplon 

 or Mount Cenis, the heights of these passes being 

 respectively 6578 and 6773 feet, therefore Dr. Koch's 

 cholera germs cannot pass directly from Italy to 

 Switzerland, unless it travels through the tunnels. 



On the Lake of Thun, 560 metres above sea level, 

 eight were found ; at 500 metres, near the Hotel 

 Bellerne, twenty-one. In a room in the hotel, 600 ; in 

 the Pare de Montsouris, 7600 ; and in the Rue de 

 Rivoli, Paris, 55,000. 



Why is this ? It is not the low temperature, as 



