HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



255 



more than a foot long in the deserted Sihirian 

 quarries near Ledbury. 



The secondary rocks contain true Scrpiila, and 

 these fossils are not without a special value to the 

 physical geologist. Some of them may be found 

 sprawling over the interiors of bivalve shells, or 

 covering the naked tests of sea urchins — in both 

 instances plainly informing us that the life and death 

 conditions of the ancient sea-floors were very like 

 those of our day. Moreover, the occurrence of these 

 creeping worm-tubes over the dead tests of such sea- 

 urchins as the Aiianc/iytes — one of the commonest in 

 the chalk — shows us that the chalky ooze must have 

 been forming very slowly, or it would have bairied up 

 the dead animals before the sea-worms tiad managed 

 to spread their tubes over and about them ! 



We frequently get the tubes of Serptla attached to 

 fossil bivalves in the Lias and Oolitic rocks : some- 

 times they form dense and tortuous masses, as in the 

 Oolitic marlstone near Banbury, and in the well- 

 known " Serpula-bed " at Blue Wyke Scar, near 

 Scarborough — where the geologist may obtain abun- 

 dant fossils and enjoy some of the finest coast scenery 

 in England at the same time. The Tabular Iron- 

 stone of the Gault of Kent is frequently full of 

 annelid borings. A hard band of clay in the Gault 

 near Charing, in the same county, is occupied with 

 serpula tubes, which form a thin stratum two inches 

 thick. Scrpiila plexus is always common in the chalk, 

 and near Norwich and Margate it frequently occurs 

 in masses, or completely investing the larger fossil 

 shells, such as Inocerainiis. 



In the Eocene beds the commonest fossil worm- 

 tubes are those of Ditriipa, which was evidently free 

 or unattached to objects, after the manner of the 

 Tentacidites, &c., already described. It is usually 

 found in large numbers, and appears to have been 

 gregarious in its habits. We may get large numbers 

 of this fossil worm in the London clay beds of 

 Bognor, Hampshire. Ditriipa plana is the name 

 of the common species. Ditrupa is also found in 

 the Crag beds of Suffolk, but it may have been 

 redeposited there from denuded Eocene strata. 



J. E. Taylor. 



How THE Fuchsia is fertilised.— In your 

 August number, Mr. E. Step states that the good 

 offices of bees are necessary for the fertilisation of 

 fuchsias, as the stigma is so situate that the pollen 

 cannot fall upon it. He is however mistaken on this 

 point. I have known for some years that fuchsias 

 grown in windows produce ripe fruit, and since 

 reading his statement I have noticed that'fertilisation 

 is brought about by pollen which falls upon the 

 viscid edges of the stigma; this being so indoors 

 without motion, insects cannot be necessary for ferti- 

 lisation in the open air, where the wind keeps the 

 flowers moving. — William Bradley. 



THE FLORA OF WHITBY. 



BEAUTIFUL for situation is Whitby, and deeply 

 interesting alike to the archaeologist for its- 

 ancient abbey (the home of ^the first Saxon poet, 

 Ceedmon), to the artist for the charming views to be 

 met with almost everywhere in its neighbourhood, and 

 to the botanist for its flora. Thinking that, of the 

 thousands who yearly visit this health-giving resort, 

 there may be some to whom some information as to- 

 the wild plants of the district will be acceptable, I 

 will briefly jot down a few notes likely to be of interest 

 to such. First, let me state, that the physical contour 

 of the district, with its steep hills and rapid streams, 

 causes an entire absence of all those freshwater plants, 

 so common in many parts of England in stagnant 

 ponds, and sluggish drains. The searcher for salt- 

 water plants will, however, find ample scope for 

 work in Saltwick Bay ; and along the sloping sides 

 of the cliffs which surround it may be found during 

 different periods of the year, Arcnaria peploides, 

 Triglochin palitstrc, Galium palustrc, Plantago 

 maritima, Parnassia palnstris, Epilobiiim hirsiitiim, 

 and Cochlearia officinalis ; while on the top of the cliffs 

 are Potcrium sanginso7-l>a, Etythnva centauriuvi, with 

 many others. On the slopes of the West Cliff, will also 

 be found abundantly Piiiguicula vulgaris, Parnassia 

 palustris, Listera ovata, Gymnadenia conopsea (the 

 fragrant scented orchis), and close by the Battery, 

 Genista tinctoria with its glabrous green leaves and 

 bright yellow flowers. Here, too, but earlier in the 

 season, is Anthyllis vulueraria. Leaving the town, 

 the botanist will find excellent ground in the woods 

 surrounding Mulgrave Castle, famous in early spring 

 for Galanthus' nivalis, and, ..ater, iox Pri7nnla vulgaris 

 in rank profusion. One of the pleasantest walks he 

 can have, is across the fields to the village of Ruswarp. 

 On descending the steps, leading into the natural basin 

 in which this village is situated, believed by geologists 

 to have been the bed of an ancient lake, he may pick 

 up Ranunculus sceleratus, Apium graveokns, and 

 Alisma plantago, and on the low muddy shore of the 

 river close by, where the high tides often flood the 

 flat expanse with sea water, Glaux maritima and 

 Aster tripolium. Near the Garden House, he will 

 also ^n^ Malva sylvestris (a plant far from common in 

 this district), Cochlearia armoracia and Chenopodium 

 Bonus-IIenricus. Here, too, the writer has found 

 one solitary specimen of Borago officinalis. 



Continuing his walk, he will next pass by the long 

 wall of the garden, and on it is Asplenium ruta- 

 inuraria and Linaria cyvihalaria in abundance. 

 Along the wall of the old mill at the village, Cheir- 

 anthiis cheiri grows in a perfectly wild condition, as 

 it also does among the ruins of Whitby Abbey 

 Iheris amara is very rare, but is occasionally met 

 with. Crossing the bridge, and continuing his walk 

 to the Cock Mill Woods, he will see under a garden 

 wall, Aconitiim napcllus, and in the hedges on either 



