HA RD WICKE'S SCIENCE- G OSSIP. 



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crystals are plentiful, while graphite, witherite, 

 barytes, hornblende, stilbite, and chlorite have been 

 found in small quantities. There is a magnificent 

 development of the metallic minerals, more especially 

 of galena, which occurs in the largest crystals ever 

 found at the Laxey and Foxdale mines. It is worked 

 for at some twenty mines in the island, and is ex- 

 tremely rich in silver, containing in one spot as much 

 as iooo oz. thereof to the ton of lead ore : the average 

 for the whole Manx mines being about 20 oz. to the 

 ton of pure lead. Hsematite is found in three mines ; 

 iron pyrites is common in rather good crystals ; while 

 limnite, titaniferrite, and vivianite are found in small 

 quantities. Chrysocolla occurs in a massive incrust- 

 ing state, and chalcopyrite (sometimes in very beauti- 

 ful crystals) is yielded by four mines. Molybdenite, 

 antimonite, and pyromorphite have been found 

 sparingly. Blende is yielded by seven mines, and is 

 here occasionally of a slaty-blue colour, and very 

 beautifully crystallised. Umber and rottenstonehave 

 also been discovered in three different localities. 

 On the whole, considering its size (viz. 33 miles 

 long by 12 broad) the Isle of Man is extremely rich 

 in mineralogical and metalliferous products. The 

 earth's upper crust is here apparently thinner, and 

 nearer the inner crust, as it were, than in most 

 localities ; hence the lavish effluence, and the 

 superior beauty and purity of its constituent 

 materials, proceeding from the very heart and core, 

 so to speak, of the parental fountain of Nature 

 herself. The granite, merging as it does into the 

 quartz or quartzite, is here evidently an igneous rock, 

 a fresh, unadulterated portion of the clear, fire- 

 scathed contents of the very bowels of the earth. 

 Through the cracks and cavities of the crushed, 

 contorted slates the pure elemental metals, lead, 

 zinc, etc., charged with sulphur, etc., have won 

 their way, distilled from the adjacent beds, or more 

 probably ejected in jets and streams pure and fresh 

 from the subterranean reservoirs. 



Botany. 



But the crowning glory of the Isle of Man is its 

 Botany. In what is designated the mid-agrarian 

 zone, viz. that which extends from tide- level upwards 

 to some 900 feet, its treasury is specially rich. 

 From its splendid nurseries, its rich soil of pure sand 

 and gravel, intermixed in many places with calcareous 

 matter, springs forth a chaplet of pearls matchless 

 and unparalleled among our natural flowers. The 

 furze and broom, those brilliant tenants of the wastes 

 and wilds, are here magnificently developed, clothing 

 the hedges and lane-sides with festoons of yellow 

 drapery. The marsh marigold, the mallows, the 

 elder, heath and ling, the bog-bean, henbane, the 

 mullein, the foxglove, the yellow iris flourish in rich 

 and lavish luxuriance. The curraghs or sand-plains, 

 the rocky bluffs and headlands, the rifts and gullies 



in the wild sea rocks nourish bouquets of plant 

 organisms rarely found in the neighbouring coasts 

 and islands. There may be found sea-kale {Cram be 

 maritima), sea rocket {Cakile maritima), tamarisk 

 {Tamarix Anglica), squill {Scilla verna), sea-holly 

 {Eryngium maritimum), kidney vetch {Anthyllis 

 vulneraria), dwarf furze [Ulex nanus), flax {Linum 

 angilstifolium), Isle of Man cabbage (Brassica 

 Mo it en sis), henbane {Hyoscyamus niger), cowbane 

 {Cicuta virosa), saltwort {Salsola Kali), sand-spurry 

 {Spergularia neglecta and peploides), etc. 



At one spot in Poolvash Bay, near Castletown, 

 where some limestone rock seamed with basalt 

 underlies the lap of the sea meadow, its carpet was 

 gloriously enamelled with bright-painted sea-pink 

 interspersed with bladder-campion and bird's-foot 

 trefoil, the whole forming a motley company disposed 

 in waving ranks most beauteous to behold. That 

 familiar tenant of the time-shattered ruin, the rare 

 and interesting pellitory of the wall {Parietaria 

 officinalis), spread its pink wreaths lavishly over the 

 broken stones. 



The common navelwort or wall pennywort {Coty- 

 ledon umbilicus) is extraordinarily abundant all over 

 the island, studding with its stiff stems, thick leaves, 

 and bell-shaped flowers, the old walls and ditches of 

 every road and lane. On the other hand, there is no 

 alpine flora upon the mountains, no dwarf willows, 

 alpine sedges, sorrels, rues, saxifrages, hawkweeds, 

 rock-cresses, chickweeds, etc., the highest summit, 

 viz. Snaefell (2034 ft.), not being sufficiently 

 elevated to furnish a garden suited for the culture of 

 such exquisite organisms. 



The following plants were personally observed in 

 the island : — Pepperwort {Lepidium Smithii), bugle 

 {Ajuga reptans), spearwort {Ranunculus flammula), 

 marsh marigold {Caltlia palustris), horned poppy 

 (Glaucium lutcuul), scurvy grass {Cochlcaria offici- 

 nalis), milkwort {Polygala vulgaris), bladder campion 

 {Silcnc maritima), sea mallow {Lavatera arborea), 

 sandwort-spurry {Spergularia neglecta), cranesbill 

 {Geranium molle), hop trefoil {Trifolium procumbens), 

 kidney vetch {Anthyllis vulneraria), purple astragal 

 {Astragalus hypoglottis), wood vetch {Vicia sylvatica), 

 marsh cinquefoil {Potentilla comarium), wall penny- 

 wort {Cotyledon umbilicus), golden saxifrage {Chryso- 

 splenium oppositifolium), sundew {Drosera rotuudi- 

 folia), sea holly {Eryngium maritimum), bilberry 

 (Vaccinium myrtillus), cross-leaved heath {Erica 

 telralix), sea milkwort {Glaux maritima), bogbean 

 {Menyanthes trifoliata) , small bugloss (Lycopsis 

 arvensis), henbane {Hyoscyamus niger), foxglove 

 {Digitalis purpurea), yellow and red rattle, ragged 

 robin, ground ivy (Nepeta glechoma), red deadnettle, 

 figwort {Scrophularia nodosa), wood-sage, pellitory of 

 the wall {Parietaria officinalis), yellow iris, blue-bell, 

 purple and butterfly orchis {Habenaria bifolia), sea 

 pink {Armeria maritimi), pondweed {Potanwgeton 

 natans), horse-tail {Equisetum talmateja). 



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