25-6 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



hand, Loniccra pcriclymciiuin, Coiivohulus scpiiini 



(C. arvciisis is conspicuous by its absence in this 



district), and Taimis continniiis. In a wood — a 



very paradise for botanists — omitting innumerable 



commoner plants, he will find Stachys IJctonica, 



S. sylvatica, Mdavipyfuiit sylvalicnni, Lysimachia 



.nemorum, and, near the old water-mill, My7-rhis 



.odorata, where, earlier in the year, AUiaria officinalis 



and Alliuvi insiintm flourished in abundance. Here, 



itao, about the middle of August, are Vicia sylvatica^ 



Jjathyrtts macrorrhizus, Tanacdum viilgare, Eitpa- 



torhim cannabiinim, ChcUdotiium majus^ and Scnecio 



.saraccnicus. Another pleasant ramble may be 



•had by first taking the train to Sleights, and then 



ascending Blue Bank, the hill beyond the village, 



to the moors above, and oh ! what a prospect ! 



Descending thence, into Iburndale, by way of 



Throstle's Nest, we find Lactuca mitralis, and in, 



•or near, the cornfields, Githago segctuni, Mentha 



arvcusis, and Gakopsis Tetrahit. Clustering under 



the hedge-rows is the pale green and slender Corydalis 



clavicnlata, and, in the valley below, Ilkraciiini borcak, 



Scnecio aquaticus, and ^gopodiiun podag7-a7-ia, with 



several vetches — Vicia tctrasperma, V. sepium and 



V. sativa. Or a day may be agreeably spent in a 



walk from Grosmont, viA Egton Bridge, through 



Arncliffe Woods to Glaisdale. On the banks of the 



Esk, shortly after leaving Grosmont, we meet with 



Geranium sylvaticiun, and, in the woods, abundant 



store of ferns and fungi, as well as many of the plants 



already mentioned. Goathland, too, is well worthy 



■of a visit. The moors here are covered everywhere 



with Erica tetralix, E, vulgaris, and E. cinerea with 



Vaccininm inyrtilhis in plenty, and in the boggy 



parts Drosera rotimdifolia. In the water-courses 



above Darnholme, Pingnicula vulgaris and Pedicularis 



sylvatica abound and near Beckhole Osinunda rcgalis 



.is, or rather was, found, for the tourists with basket 



and trowel have been here. Folypodium dryopteris 



is also to be met with in this neighbourhood. Near 



Mallyan's Spout, a much-visited waterfall, we meet 



with Gnaphalium dioica, Valeriana dioica, Euphrasia 



■officinalis. Ranunculus aquatica, Habenaria bifolia, 



Eychnis Flos-cucuU, Scabiosa succisa {S. arveusis is 



singularly rare) and Digitalis pur/>urea in great plenty. 



The writer has been told that Trollius Etiropaus 



.grows here, but he has never succeeded in finding 



.a specimen. Visitors to Whitby, desiring further 



.information on the Natural History of this district, 



.may apply to 



Thomas Newbitt. 



Query as to Bee. — The bee described by E. H. R. 

 on p. 232 v!, Andrcna fulva. The word "larger" 

 at the end of the third line, is probably a lapsus 

 .calami, for this species is certainly smaller than the 

 hive bee. With one exception, the males of all 

 JBritish bees are smaller than the females. — E. D. M. 



PRACTICAL NOTES ON WEATHER STUDY. 



SOME time ago (Science-Gossip, October, 1S81) 

 I gave the first of a series of " Hints to Local 

 Meteorological Observers." I have been prevented 

 from continuing the execution of my plan ; and on 

 taking the subject up again, I think it will be well to 

 make some changes. I now propose to offer from 

 time to time, in no particular order, remarks upon 

 such lines of investigation as amateur meteorologists 

 may follow with a likelihood of arriving at useful 

 results. 



The number of people in the British Isles who 

 keep "weather diaries" is, I believe, enormous. 

 They note the state of the barometer, the tempera- 

 ture, the direction of the wind, and the weather. 

 They often put themselves very much about to pre- 

 serve the continuity of their records. They accumu- 

 late a great pile of manuscript observations before 

 they die. And were they asked to describe the 

 nature of the problem to the solution of which they 

 are devoting so much time and pains, they couldn't. 

 The fact is, they have never thought of a problem. 

 They think that in recording the weather they are 

 contributing to the literature of meteorology. So 

 they are ; but, heaven knows, meteorological liter- 

 ature of that kind is voluminous enough already. 



It is very doubtful if British science would suffer 

 much were all these gentlemen to put their baro- 

 meters and thermometers in the fire. It is they, I 

 fancy, who supply the local newspapers with thermo- 

 meter readings when the heat or cold becomes un- 

 usual. During the last few winters these readings 

 have been quite phenomenal ; many degrees below 

 zero (F.) the commonest thing in the world. It is 

 quite evident that either the printers, the observers, 

 or the instruments must have got a little deranged 

 somehow — most probably the observers. I think it 

 stands to reason that observations of this kind will be 

 fully better conducted at regular observatories, where 

 the instruments are accurate. Private weather diaries 

 have never yet contributed to the progress of meteoro- 

 logy, and they probably never will, for the tempera- 

 ture readings, barometer registers, and other records, 

 generally show internal evidence of such eccentricity 

 that no person is willing to trust them. Although 

 disapproving of such work, it must not be supposed 

 that I mean that there is no useful work for amateur 

 meteorologists to take up. On the contrary, there is 

 a great deal. Astronomy and the natural history 

 sciences have not benefited more by amateur work 

 than meteorology might do. I beUeve the only 

 reason why it has not hitherto done so is simply 

 because very few people have known what to observe 

 and how to observe it. If I am able to help in any 

 way to overcome this difficulty, I shall feel that I 

 have done something towards advancing meteorology. 

 The subject of my next paper shall be " The Rain- 

 band." J. A. Westwood Oliver. 



