2o6 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



living a few years ago, while the parent was over 

 seventy years of age, and will continue growing as 

 long as the nurse-tree lives. 



A remarkably perfect specimen of this aftergrowth 

 was exhibited by me at the S. A. B. Society, in 

 Edinburgh, a few years ago, and obtained the 

 society's silver medal. The same specimens were 

 exhibited at The Forestry Exhibition in Edinburgh. 



I may here mention, careless observers in going 

 over old woodlands, where larch, spruce, silver, &c, 

 are left, might have observed an effort on the part of 

 the stump to produce an aftergrowth. But there 

 being no nurse-tree to feed them, their existence is 

 only until the elaborated sap is used which will be 

 the first year after being cut down. 



Silver, Douglasii, nobilis, Albertania, spruce larch 

 will produce aftergrowths quite freely : also some 

 other pines. But it seems the pine tribe have not 

 the same property of freely growing over, although on 

 examining any suspected specimen it will be found 

 they are growing and making wood a little under the 

 surface. 



Again, to illustrate this more clearly, as I am 

 anxious these growths should be thoroughly under- 

 stood, suppose, for instance, that a man receives an 

 injury, having lost so much blood thereby that it is 

 found he has not enough to nurse the vaiious organs 

 of his body until more blood could be made to make 

 up what was lost : suppose, then, all the bodily 

 functions are quite healthy ; if an opening is made 

 in his arm, whereby more blood could be passed into 

 his body from the arm of another man beside him, 

 the man would recover. Now this admirably illustrates 

 the present case before us. The tree has been 

 deprived of its elaborating organs ; it has no way of 

 manufacturing blood (sap), but the nurse-tree performs 

 that function for it, and supplies it with elaborated 

 sap (blood), which not only keeps it alive, but forms 

 wood yearly, the same as if it had been in full 

 connection of all its functions. Nor does this exhaust 

 my observations. Not far removed from the tree 

 given in the illustration, I found another remarkable 

 instance of aftergrowth. A leader from one tree had 

 become engrafted into the leader of another tree 

 about four feet from the stem. In this case the roots 

 were both running in the same direction. After the 

 tree had been cut down many years, and all the wood 

 rotted away, I discovered that the shell of the main 

 root, practically known as the "tapins," was alive, 

 being fed by a nurse-tree, and had been making faint 

 layers of wood almost unrecognisable for many years. 

 This specimen was also exhibited. 



Again, I have found numerous instances of natural 

 engrafting among stems and branches. This might 

 form the subject of another paper. 



Now, in the first place, it is observed that, in order 

 to produce an aftergrowth, the trees must become 

 engrafted during life, when connected they will live 

 on as long as the nurse-tree lives. 



A slight difference takes place among hardwoods 

 which become engrafted. They grow on as long as 

 they are fed by the nurses the same as the Conifers. 

 But should these hardwoods throw out leaves and 

 shoots, as is sometimes the case, they might then 

 continue to live, although deprived of the connection 

 and the nurse, because then they would have lungs of 

 their own (leaves). If they had not these, then if 

 severed from the nurse they would die the same as 

 would Conifers. 



Ashford Castle, Gahuay. 



ASTRONOMY AND METEOROLOGY. 

 By John Browning, F.R.A.S. 



ANOTHER American observatory is to be pro- 

 vided with a very large refracting telescope ;. 

 this fortunate observatory is Denver University,. 

 Colorado, which is to have a new refractor 20 inches 

 in diameter. The expense of this is to be defrayed 

 by Mr. H. B. Chamberlin, of Denver. The instru- 

 ment will be mounted 5000 feet above sea level, that 

 is 800 feet higher than the great Lick refractor. 



It is a strange thing that none of our great 

 capitalists should present such a telescope to one of our 

 observatories. England is now behind every country 

 in Europe, and, of course, immeasurably behind 

 America, in optical means of research in astronomy. 



Such great apertures should be of enormous value 

 in photographing the heavenly bodies, and it is now 

 evident that the future of astronomy lies entirely in 

 this direction. 



At the meeting of the Astronomical Society of 

 France, held on July 6th, Mr. Trouvelot presented 

 the society with a set of photographs of celestial 

 objects made at the observatory of Harvard College,. 

 U.S., and forwarded by Mr. Pickering. 



The photograph of the Pleiades is peculiarly 

 interesting, as it shows the same curious rectilinear 

 trails of the nebulous matter which are so strikingly 

 visible in the last photograph taken by M. M. Henry. 



Really valuable photographs of nebulce cannot be 

 taken except with telescopes of large aperture. 



There will be no occultations, eclipses, or other 

 celestial phenomena of interest during September. 



Mercury will be an evening star during the latter 

 half of the month. 



Yenus will be an evening star throughout the- 

 month, and will be in Virgo near to Spica on the 

 22nd. 



Mars will be an evening star, but will be too low 

 for observation. 



Jupiter will be an evening star, and will be near 

 Mars on the 12th. 



Saturn will be between Cancer and Leo. 



Meteorology. — This subject is unfortunately so fertile 

 of interest that to treat it adequately would require 



