HARD WICKE ' S S CIE NCE - G OS SIP. 



17 



Mediterranean is not to be considered a distinct zoo- 

 logical province ; most of its animals have come from 

 the ocean, and the more we get to know of the 

 animals off the oceanic coasts of Portugal, Spain, 

 ^lorocco, and Senegal, along with Mediterranean 

 fauna, the more do differences between the two dis- 

 appear. In the Mediterranean, near the shores espe- 

 cially, species seem often to have a more active 

 growth and reproduction than in the parts whence 

 they migrated, and the new conditions of life have 

 somewhat modified the external characters. Various 

 interesting types of crustaceans, mollusca, bryozoa, 

 ccelenterata, &c., were met with, many of them found 

 only in the Atlantic before, some corresponding to 

 fossil forms, some presenting a transition between 

 oceanic and Mediterranean fauna, and so on. A new 

 species ofgalathodes (a crustacean largely represented 

 in the Caribbean Sea) was found at 455m. depth ; 

 like its congeners, it is blind. Between 500m. and 

 2600m. there are found in certain places enormous 

 masses of empty shells of pteropoda and heteropoda. 

 The finding (at depths below 550m.) of specimens of 

 the splendid sea-star Brisinga, which has been thought 

 to tenant only the deep and cold parts of the ocean, 

 was quite unexpected. No infusoria were obtained 

 at great depths ; there were few rhizopods, and the 

 finest granulations from the bottom never revealed the 

 presence of bacteria or other minute forms of life. 

 Below 600m. sponges were rare and represented by 

 only two species. 



BOTANY. 



Notes on the Flora of Maidstone .a.nd 

 Neighbourhood. — The following is a list of some 

 of the most uncommon plants to be found in this 

 district. N'orth Downs. — Accras anthropophora, 

 Ophrys cipifera, O. arachnites, Orchis inilitaris, O. 

 tephrosanthus and 0. hircina. (The four last named 

 have all been found on the hills, the monkey and 

 lizard orchids about ten miles from this town.) O. 

 pyramidalis, O. Jnsca, Epipactis grandiflora, E. lati- 

 folia, Ononis arveiisis, Reseda Ititea, R. luteola, Heli- 

 antheinnni znilgare, Atropa Belladonna, Vihirniim 

 Lantana, Iris faetidissivia. In Withering's " British 

 Botany," ed. 1841, Wrotham is mentioned as a 

 locality for Anemone raniinculoides. Banks of the 

 Medway. — Geraniiitn pratense, Symphytum officinale, 

 Saponaria officinalis, Achillea Ptarmica, Lysimachia 

 vulgaris, Bidens cerntia, B. tripartita, Petasites vul- 

 i^aris. Lychnis Flos-cuculi. Woods and fields. — Pri- 

 mula elatior, Neottia nidics-avis, Ophrys muscifera, 

 Epilobium angustifolium. (The latter grows in a 

 wood near the river, apparently in a wild state.) 

 Habenaria bifolia, Paris qnadrifolia, Geranium colum- 

 binum, G. lucidum, Erodium cicutarium, Malva 

 moschata, M. rotundifolia. I have found Reseda J'ru- 



ticulosa in one or two localities, iMelilotus officinalis, 

 Alercurialis perennis, Clienopodium Bonus-Henricus. 

 Digitalis purpurea grows in many localities in this 

 part of the country. Cobham (the locality for Salvia 

 pratensis and Althca hirsuta) is about twelve miles 

 from Maidstone. I found both of these plants there 

 last year, growing in a waste field near Cobham park, 

 with Viola tricolor, Sherardia ai-vensis and others. — 

 Henry Lamb, Maidstone. 



Moss Labels. — Students and collectors of our 

 moss flora are indebted to Mr. Cash, Coston Park, 

 Alanchester, for a Catalogue of our British Mosses, 

 available for labelling purposes. They are uniform 

 with the second edition of the London Catalogue, and 

 are so beautifully and neatly printed that we advise 

 all collectors to obtain them. 



Diagnoses of Ferns.— I should be much in- 

 terested if some of the correspondents of this Journal 

 would send suggestions for a specific diagnosis of 

 a fern ; that is to say, their idea of the proper order 

 of the points to be ascertained in identifying a speci- 

 men. I am endeavouring to base the nomenclature 

 of my collection on Hooker's Synopsis, and would like 

 to get a well-considered list of diagnostic points so as 

 to fill up the form from the specimen, and then to 

 refer to the Synopsis or any other descriptive work, 

 for identification. For my own use I drew up the 

 follov/ing arrangement when commencing the study 

 of ferns. But I am dissatisfied with it, and wish to 

 have it improved and made as full and comprehensive 

 as possible, so that when filled up it may be a com- 

 plete catalogue, history and description of any and 

 every specimen in my collection. — A. H. 



Suborder 



Species . . 



Locality and Date 



Sori . 



Form 

 ' Position 



Capsules 



Involucre 



Caudex 



Stipes I 



Frond... ^,^hape ,.;.■■; .' 

 I icxture ' 



Vernation 



Desmobryoid ....) „, , .. . , 

 Eremobryoid . . . . t" ,OfJ. Smub 



Syn I 



References 



Polarity of Moulds. — Two months ago I was 

 struck with what appeared to be a novelty to me. 

 The mould forming on exposed lemon juice, when 

 floating upon the surface of some water, was dis- 

 covered to possess positive and negative properties m 

 a marked degree to bodies placed near it, in the liquid. 

 One piece partaking of a somewhat cordate form, was 

 found to be forcibly attracted by a steel bar, or a 

 match, placed near either of the lobes in the water ; 

 whereas the apex was as forcibly repulsed by the same 

 objects. This phenomenon is not analogous to the 

 attraction the sides of a vessel appear to have for a 



