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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



to jet, which I have yet come across ; but in this the 

 writer speaks of it as a kind of resin, pitch, or gum, 

 a description which does not at all commend itself to 

 my mind. It appears to me that the brief .notice 

 given in a much older work, " The Penny Cyclo- 

 pjcdia," is more in accordance with fact. Therein I 

 read : "Jet, a variety of coal, which occurs some- 

 times in elongated reniform masses, and sometimes 

 in the form of branches, with a woody structure." 

 On the table before me I have a section of jet, pre- 

 pare! by Mr. Wheeler ; viewed under a low power 

 of the microscope, its " woody structure " is unmis- 

 takeable.— y. Ford, IVolverhampon. . 



Origin of Jet.— This substance is considered as 

 a species of amber, and most probably had its origin 

 from the exudation of some tree, as no doubt it is 

 derived from vegetable matter. In Prussia it is 

 generally known by the name of " Black Amber." 

 It occurs in nodules and lumps, in lignitic strata, and 

 is found in great purity hnd abundance in the cliffs of 

 alum shale on tlie coast of Yorkshire, where the well- 

 known jet manufactories of \Vhitby and Scarborough 

 are situated. Like amber it is electric when rubbed ; 

 is more resinous in lustre than the finest cannel coal, 

 and is also specifically lighter. There is little about 

 its appearance to the naked eye to indicate that it is 

 a fossil wood, as it does not show a woody texture like 

 lignite, but it is uniform like asphalt. Its intense 

 velvety black well adapts it for the numerous orna- 

 ments into which it is manufactured. — Dipton Burn. 



Coal Measure P"ossils. — A few days ago I had 

 the pleasure of spending a few hours in examining 

 the valuable collection of coal measure fossils 

 gathered by Mr. J. Sims, a working miner at West 

 Cramlington, Northumberland, and among the many 

 specimens in his collection gathered from the Low 

 Main Coal Shale, I saw a group of fragments of shale 

 which he had obtained from a then unworked seam 

 of coal which lies a few feet from the Low Main, 

 and was passed through in driving a drift through a 

 fault, from Low Main to Low Main. The shale is 

 hard and black, and the fragments of coal upon it are 

 liard and shining. This shale is very rich in fossil 

 remains, in fact it is crowded, and on the few speci- 

 mens I examined I found the characteristically tipped 

 teeth of Pygopterus, spines of Acanthodopsis ; scales 

 and head bones |of Ccelacanthus, scales of Rhizo- 

 dopsis, teeth and scales of Megalichthys, lanceolate 

 tooth of Loxomma, teeth of Diplodus, teeth of 

 Ilelodus ; these I found during a most cursory ex- 

 amination, and the only regret I felt was that more 

 of the shale had not been obtained, as it is now 

 finally buried from view. I also found a large tooth 

 resembling Helodus and Psammodus in external 

 markings, but not in form, and when I identify the 

 tooth, I propose to forward particulars for insertion 

 in SciENCE-Gossir.— Z: P. Barkas, Nrwcastk-on- 

 Tyitf, 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



White Heather, &c. — As there have been 

 notices on the white heather in several of the last 

 numbers of the " Gossip," commencing in December, 

 1881, I have been expecting that some correspondent 

 from the neighbourhood of Manchester would have 

 noticed the subject. As none such has appeared, 

 with your permission, I purpose making a few 

 remarks myself. In answer to your correspondent in 

 the December number, I may say that the common 

 ling (Calhuia vulgaris), with white flowers, was very 

 plentiful on Lindon Common, near Wilmslow, twenty 

 years back. I have frequently gathered it, with white 

 flowers, on the racecourse near the old workhouse ; 

 but now it has almost disappeared. I, however, 

 gathered a few branches of it, near the Black Lake on 

 the racecourse, in the year 1880. I think with W. 

 Macgillivray that this white-flowered ling is a distinct 

 variety. I may say here that in July, 1880, I visited 

 this common, and I found cross-leaved heath (Erica 

 tdralix), with, white flowers, in several places near the 

 Row-of-Trees, on the same common. On this occa- 

 sion I entered on the common at the Row-of-Trees, 

 before mentioned, and crossed to the Paddock-hill 

 side, and, when not far upon the common, I found 

 those two pretty plants Drosera rotiuidifolia and 

 loiigifolia very near together ; and I also found another 

 pretty plant, Andromeda poUfoVta (bog rosemary), 

 with flowers varying from purple to near pure white, 

 in abundance. I also gathered bog asphodel (iVat-the- 

 citim ossifragum) in profusion ; and, in a ditch near a 

 small farm-house, near the edge of the common, I 

 gathered the common skull-cap (SaUellaiia galerim- 

 lata). From the Paddock-hill side of the common I 

 made for the Rifle Battery, and on to Newgate and 

 Morley Green, crossing the common in this direction j 

 and on this route I gathered the sun-dew {Drosera 

 anglica), so that I gathered the three varieties of 

 sun-dew that day. I am, however, afraid that it 

 will soon disappear, for, as the common is cultivated, 

 those parts become scarce, and eventually die out. 

 My object in mentioning these plants is for the infor- 

 mation of my botanical friends in the neighbourhood 

 of Manchester, who may not have been on this 

 common, or not on the southern side of it. I may 

 say that on the lower level— that part from which the 

 turf has been cut — on the Morley side, I found a few 

 young plants of the Osmunda, very small ones. A 

 few years back I have found this plant 7 feet high on 

 the Mobberley side of this common, but the fern- 

 gatherers find them and take them away, so that now 

 this plant is getting very scarce indeed here. In 

 returning to Wilmslow I gathered the wall-rue 

 {Aspleniiim riita-muraria) on the garden-wall of the 

 old workhouse ; and it also grows upon the old garden- 

 wall up the foot-road behind the Hawthorn Hall. 

 — John Slater. 



Pond Life. — I can endorse the remarks of E. T. 

 D. in the April number of Science-Gossip, as to the 

 spring months being the best time for starting a new, 

 or inoculating an old tank for microscopic observa- 

 tions. As during Eastertide, whilst on my rambles, I 

 procured, from a seemingly undisturbed pond, a 

 sufficient quantity of the sediment to cover the 

 bottom of a moderate-sized glass vessel to the depth of 

 about one inch, also bringing a bottle containing 

 water from the same pond, together with some of the 

 water-weeds ; and having placed these within the 

 glass, I afterwards added sufficient rain-water to 

 complete my extemporised micro-tank. Having 



