54 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE -GO S S IP. 



It certainly seems a very strange phenomenon, 

 and is opposed to what we might imagine the fitness 

 of things, that, as far as the continuance of the race 

 is concerned, the more important of the two sexes, 

 the females, in so many cases, are unable to go far 

 from home. We think this fact, together with the 

 circumstance that the so-called perfect form falls 

 far short of the larval state in the means of locomo- 

 tion, external decoration, or the possession of some 

 organs, renders the inquiry, " Why are some insects 

 wingless ? " worthy the consideration of scientific 

 naturalists. — Trans, of Brighton and Sussex Nat, 

 Hist. Soc. 



QUILL-WOETS. 



A SHORT reference to a class of the Mar. 

 sileaccffi, E. Br. (Lycopodiacece, Berkeley, in 

 "Treasury of Botany"), of which several new species 

 have of late years been discovered in Algeria, may 

 be interesting to the English botanist. I allude to 

 the Isoetes (Quill-worts), of which one species only, 

 viz., the /. palustris, appears in Hooker and 

 Arnott's British Elora. 





Fig. 35. British Quill- wort {Ixuetes palustr'n,). 



Some of the Isoetes are aquatic, others terres- 

 trial ; the former, consisting of /. setacea of Gram- 



mont Montpellier (/. Delilei), I. Peyrremondei, and 

 /. longissima, both of Algeria, and the British I. 

 laciistris. Of the terrestrial there are two, viz., 

 /. histrix and I. Durienmi, both of Algiers. The 

 I. setacea of Montpellier, as being better known, 

 it is hardlynecessary to'.describe ; and the /. Peyrre- 

 mondei, Bory, is only a variety of it, not more than 

 half the size, found in the south of France as well 

 as in Algeria. The I. longissima, found near the 

 Lac Houberia, Canton de la Calle, is distinguished 

 by the fineness and enormous length of its leaves, 

 and with a bulb proportionately smaller than all the 

 other species. Of the terrestrial, the I. BwriencBi 

 is found in the lightest sandy ground near the town 

 of Algiers ; it has a large bulb, and at the base of 

 each leaf are three sharp teetli (not spines). The 

 /. histrix has altogether a singular appearance, 

 quite different from all the others ; has a bulb 

 covered with spines, three at tlie base of each fallen 

 leaf, dry and hard to the touch, black and shining, 

 and so long and numerous it might almost justify 

 the name of a miniature vegetable hedgehog ; it is 

 found in the very driest and hardest uncultivated 

 ground, where the bulbs are no larger than those 

 of the /. lacustris ; but in very moist fine sandy 

 surface soil (the shallow drainage from cultivated 

 land) it is found as large as a small walnut. M. 

 Bory de St. Vincent planted some bulbs of the 

 I. histrix taken in April or May, in the following 

 November, in mould, which produced fine plants 

 the following spring. He also reared some under 

 water, the same as the /. lacustris, without their 

 losing any of their characters. Some bulbs that I 

 gave to Professor de Notaris, of Genoa, were 

 planted and succeeded in ordinary mould. I gave 

 some very fine specimens of all that I had collected 

 to the late Sir William Hooker, and suggested that 

 he should plant some of them ; but he replied they 

 were too precious, and must go into the herbarium. 

 It appeared that he had never seen them before. 

 It is said the 1. histrix has been found at Cannes, 

 on the Mediterranean; and Mr. Berkeley says it 

 has lately been found in the Channel Islands, 

 though he adds, it may be another species. Mr. 

 Renter, Director of the Jardin des Plantes at 

 Geneva, tried to rear the /. histrix from seeds 

 received from Mr. Bory, but failed ; from which it 

 would appear they only retain their vitality in the 

 bulbs. I believe the /. Peyrremondei is identical 

 with the plant better known in Algeria ^^I.vellata, 

 being found both in water and very moist soil. 



T. B. W. 



Humming-bird Hawkmoth. — I liave known this 

 creature, like some other insects, counterfeit death 

 when apprehensive of danger, fall on its back and 

 appear in all respects devoid of life, Avhen in a box. 

 As soon as a fit opportunity arrived, it would dart 

 away with its usual celerity. — Knapp, ^'Journal of a 

 Naturalist!^ 



