HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



163 



Sir Walter Scott exclaim, " This is worth coming to 

 see." Here, growing to the height of a man, there 

 bending gracefully over the water's edge, Osmunda 

 holds his royal court. And yet he is the first to 

 succumb to the early frosts, and in autumn presents a 

 sad contrast to his former self as he shrinks, pale and 

 withered, before the advancing stride of winter. In 

 one or two places in the Muckross woods, I found 

 Ophioglosstcm vulgatiini, but it cannot be said to be 

 common. Polypodiiim pkegopieris is also a rarity at 

 Killarney, and I am indebted to the courtesy of the 

 Rev. I. Brougham, who kindly informed me where it 

 could be found. I shall ever remember the pleasure 

 I felt on first seeing its pale green fronds glistening 

 with the spray from a waterfall which came dashing 

 and foaming through a deep gorge near the Turk 

 cascade. The variety of Athyrium known as A. lati- 

 JoUiim is common. The characteristic ferns of Kil- 

 larney are the Hymenophyllums. It is extraordinary 

 in what abundance //. Timbridgeiise grows. Like P. 

 phegopteris, this fern thrives best near falling water, 

 but it seems to find lodgment in almost every little 

 watercourse. Long matted tufts, yards in length, may 

 be pulled from the face of the bare rock, where no 

 other plants could possibly grow. H. Wihoni is not 

 so common, and seems to prefer the branches of 

 decayed trees. I have before mentioned Adiantum 

 nigrum — on one or two occasions I found bifurcated 

 specimens of this fern, and the variety called aciitiim 

 is by no means rare. Why is this form recognised as 

 a variety ? So far as I can judge, the pecuhar elonga- 

 tion assumed is caused by the situation of its growth : 

 wherever found, it was al\vays in the crack or fissure 

 of some rock, and hence I infer that the branches and 

 leaflets simply become pointed in their search for light. 

 I was told that Polystichum lonchitis grew on the 

 mountains, but I never succeeded in finding it either 

 on Turk or Mangerton. How delightfully simple 

 must the classification of ferns have been to the Kerry- 

 men of the past, judging from an old Flora I saw at 

 Muckross Abbey. This book mentions about eleven 

 species as found in the neighbourhood, but out of 

 these four are Adiantums, three Filices, two Tricho- 

 manes ; the other two are called Miltwast and Phyllitis 

 multifida. I should like to give the extract in cxtenso, 

 but I fear these notes would be too lengthy. I am 

 quite unable, however, to identify those mentioned. 

 What fern is meant by Adiantum album crispum 

 alpinujii, and again, Adiantum nigrum pinnulis 

 CicutariiL divisum ? And among the Filices are found 

 Filix montana ramosa minor argente denticulata, Filix 

 saxatilis caule tenui fragili. I may have a word or 

 two at some future time on the flowers of Killarney, 

 if agreeable to your readers. — John Rasor. 



Botanical Atlas.— By Mr. D. M'Alpine, F.C.S., 

 (Edinburgh, W. & A, K. Johnston), Part i. This 

 is a very acceptable work to a botanical student, 

 giving detailed coloured diagrams of all the repro- 



ductive organs of plants, selected on account of their 

 representative character. 



"Natural Selection incompatible with 

 Atheism." — By John Gibbs. (Chelmsford, John But- 

 ton, price 6(?'.) This is an exceedingly well-written 

 and ably-reasoned pamphlet, directed chiefly against 

 " the errors of Dr. Aveling." The author demon- 

 strates that the new philosophy of flowers, as formu- 

 lated by Darwin, does not in any way favour the 

 views of atheism. 



Peculiar Cucumber. — The cucumber referred to 

 by Mr. G. H. Payne, as having a leaf projecting from 

 the side of it, is probably an instance of the not very 

 uncommon adhesion of a fruit to an adjoining leaf- 

 stalk. The cucumber would show on examination 

 some ridge or mark indicating the position of the 

 leaf stalk.— ^. T. Mott, Leicester. 



Malformation of Daisy. — The case mentioned 

 by E. G. H. of two divisions united on a stalk which 

 was partially split, is an example of synanthy, or 

 the cohesion of flowers, affecting in this case not two 

 single flowers, but two compound inflorescences. It 

 is frequent in the dandelion, and in many other 

 plants. The best work to refer to for all questions 

 about malformations in plants is Dr. 1\I asters' " Vege- 

 table Teratology," published for the Ray Society in 

 1869.— A T. Mott, Leicester. 



The red-blossomed Hawthorn.— It is related 

 that this handsome garden shrub is a variety of the 

 common hedge plant of no greater antiquity than the 

 days of Ray ; and my authority adds, it is somewhat 

 remarkable that all the red-blossomed hawthorns 

 have not been propagated from the same tree, but, 

 that several red-blossomed seedlings have been found 

 at different times and at various places. The impor- 

 tant question arises then, at what times and places 

 have these seedlings been found ? For example, I saw 

 a moment ago over a neighbour's wall, a red garden 

 thorn, with one single twig of snowy May blossom on 

 it ; and yesterday when walking out on the road to 

 Albury, over against St. Martha's Hill, I came on a 

 long hedge of wild quickset quite dappled with pink 

 blossoms. The hedge lay exposed to the blight of 

 the late disastrous south-wester, and I have ques- 

 tioned can this metamorphosis be the eff"ect of wind 

 and wet ? It would be of interest to set cuttings of 

 these strange shoots in the ground, and to notice 

 whether the new plants had white or pink blossoms, 

 as by that means we might perchance learn some- 

 thing further regarding the influence of the seasons 

 on variation and the production of races.— /i. H. 

 Swinton, Guildford. 



Preserving Crustacea.— I should be much 

 obliged if any of your readers could inform me how 

 to preserve Crustacea, so as to keep the natural 

 colour. — T. D. 



