HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



211 



spot near Holmsley. In addition to this, one very 

 small tuft was found in a bog near Lyndhurst, which 

 I think is the same variety as the subject of the 

 present note, and forms an interesting addition to the 

 New Forest moss flora. I believe it is the intention 

 of Dr. Braithwaite to describe it fully in one of the 

 forthcoming numbers of his work on mosses. — J. 

 Saunders, Litton. 



Spiranthes .^stivalis. — It may interest the 

 readers of SciENCE-Gossir to know that the above- 

 named plant has occurred in very limited quantities 

 this summer in the station given in the New Forest 

 guide book. Scarcely a dozen plants were observed, 

 but not a single tuber was taken, nor all the flower 

 spikes. It was an agreeable surprise to find it, for it 

 did not grow there last year, as the writer searched 

 the bog carefully for hours, covering every square 

 yard, and could not have avoided seeing so conspicu- 

 ous a plant if it had been there. Moreover, a labour- 

 ing man living near had searched unsuccessfully for 

 it, being stimulated by the offer of \s. 6d. a root. The 

 letter containing the request for them was shown me, 

 and it was in a lady's handwriting. Surely this is 

 one of the most effectual means of exterminating a 

 rarity, especially as the man had succeeded the pre- 

 vious year (1880) in securing nearly a dozen plants. It 

 is some satisfaction, however, to know that there are 

 at least ten tubers left in the bog, at the present time. 

 It is still more gratifying to learn from an article by 

 Mr. Marquand, in Science-Gossip 1879, that it 

 occurs plentifully in another bog in the New Forest, 

 the name of which he rightly reserves. Knowing 

 this, myself and a friend carefully searched every bog 

 that we met with, but did not find it again. We 

 were, however, amply repaid for some thirty hours' 

 bare-footed bog-trotting when once their delicate 

 spikes met our view. — y. SainiJers, Litton. 



Dispersion of Seeds. — It is remarkable what 

 design is shown in the arrangements in various plants 

 for dispersion of their seeds ; an instance of which 

 brought itself forcibly to my notice one day recently 

 in the case of Geraniitin sylvaticuin. In this plant 

 the seeds are cast long distances by the sudden re- 

 curving upwards (as of a strong spring suddenly let 

 loose), of the style segments attached to each vessel 

 tearing one seed. Struck by seeing the seeds thus 

 cast off, I tried several portions of a plant, detach- 

 ing branches and testing them on a level surface by 

 laying large sheets of paper in front, and then slightly 

 easing the tension of a style segment attached to a 

 seed vessel, being careful to impart no appreciable 

 thrust forward. The result of several experiments 

 gave ten feet six inches as the greatest measured 

 distance a seed was cast off; though, as a few seeds 

 were thrown sideways, some may have exceeded this 

 space. Now to bring about this result, we have — 

 the gradual loosening of each seed in its vessel : the 



long-continued adhesion of parts of the style all 

 round, just above the seeds : the strong recurving 

 power of each segment into which the style becomes 

 split up : and all combining so that just at the right 

 stage of ripeness the seeds are cast such long dis- 

 tances. On a mountain side, as on Helvellyn, where 

 last year I found many of these beautiful plants fring- 

 ing a stream pouring down to Thirlmere, they may 

 sometimes be thrown considerably farther, in a 

 favourable wind especially. I would call attention 

 also to the beautiful form of this and other Gerania, 

 when all seeds are ejected ; the curves of style seg- 

 ments, still attached to the seed vessels being 

 exquisitely proportioned, and combining to form a 

 design well adapted for copying, for architectural or 

 domestic jDurposes. — Horace Pcarce, F.L.S., Stoiir- 

 bridge. 



Ladies' Traces. — My statement that "ladies' 

 traces" is a corruption of ladies' tresses, is in ac- 

 cordance with the views of Withering, Babington and 

 others. Mr. Meehan is mistaken in supposing that 

 tresses mean wavy or curly hair only. The Latin 

 equivalent is cincinnits cirri, " Cirri inter se decussa- 

 tim implexi " — hair plaited in tresses. The French 

 tresse (from which our word is derived) means a 

 braid or plait — and one of the meanings of the verb 

 trcsscr is to braid or plait hair. The Spanish trenza 

 also means a braid of hair. The German liaarlockc, 

 the equivalent of tress, means a lock of hair. Will 

 Mr. Meehan give his authority for the statement that 

 "ladies' traces" were the cords used in olden time 

 for drawing ladies' dresses together? I am unable to 

 find any account of them. — F. K. 



GEOLOGY. 



Erratics in Glacial Deposits. — Professor 

 James Geikie continues his valuable paper on the 

 " Intercrossing of Erratics in Glacial Deposits," in the 

 last number of the " Scottish Naturalist." 



The Geologists' Association. — The last number 

 of the Proceedings of this society contained (besides 

 notices of the ordinary meetings, &c.) two valuable 

 papers on " Some Recent Researches among Lower 

 Paleozoic Rocks in the British Isles," by Dr. Henry 

 Hicks, and the other on "Lakes and their Origin," 

 by Professor Martin Duncan. In the latter paper the 

 relative age and origin of lakes is studied from their 

 zoological contents. 



What is Jet ?— A paragraph in the last number 

 of Science-Gossip, with respect to the origin of jet, 

 set me looking through a variety of scientific works 

 and periodicals, but with very little result. The 

 subject does not seem to have received very much 

 attention. In the volume of Science-Gossip for 

 1871, I found the only article of any length relative 



