23G 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



tioxis work, oC no slight", interest to the antiquary 

 and historian, and still more so to the geologist, as 

 showing how many unexpected points of contact 

 the "s-tony science" has to deal with. The general 

 purport of the paper is to show that tlie land divi- 

 sions of the South-east of England have a well- 

 marked and constant relation to the great physical 

 features, which cannot possibly be the result of 

 accident ; and that from this relation we may 

 safely infer that, whatever may have been the 

 origin of manors or parishes, as such, they both 

 depend upon older divisions of the land, which 

 were not formed by the arbitrary act of Church or 

 King, but resulted necessarily from the great 

 physical features of the country. 



' New Species of Synocladia. — Mr. Robert 

 Etheridge, jun., has just described a new species of 

 Synocladia from tlie Carboniferous Limestone series 

 of Mid-Lothian. Hitherto this genus had not been 

 found below the magnesian limestone of the 

 Permian formation. The new species differ from 

 the Permian forms in the arrangement of the cell- 

 apertures on the celluliferous face— an arrangement 

 which departs considerably from thehitlierto recog- 

 nized Synocladia type, in many points approaching 

 that seen in Fenestella, yet distinct from it. The 

 name of Synocladia carbonaria has been given to 

 this new species of fossil poljzoon. 



Quarkymen's Terms for Fossils.— Having 

 read with considerable interest the article on 

 " Pick-cheeses and Fairy-loaves " in last month's 

 Gossip, I should like to add a few words on tlie 

 terms used by the Lincolnshire quarry men for the 

 fossils they find there. During my stay in that 

 county, strange to say, I never heard the words 

 "pick-cheeses" or "fairy-loaves" applied to any 

 fossils, although I took occasion to visit a good 

 many different chalk-pits, and made friends with 

 the workmen there employed. It seems peculiar 

 that these names, which are so generally used in 

 Norfolk and nearly all the other counties of Eng- 

 land in which chalk is found, should not be used in 

 Lincolnshire— at all events, in the more northern 

 part of it. Of Echinodermata found there, Anan- 

 chyles hemisphcericus is about the most common 

 form, specimens of it being called " Mushrooms ; " 

 and perhaps there is a small resemblance between 

 the two. To increase this, the quarrymen some- 

 times cut away the matrix of chalk so as only to 

 leave a sort of stem on the under side of the Anan- 

 chytes, and when this is done they will sell it you 

 as "a petrified mushroom." The Terebralulce, 

 which occur in great variety, arc all classed as 

 " Mussels," while the Rhjnclionella. are known ns 

 " Cockles." The palatal teeth of Ptychodiis, which 

 the men now and then find, are called " Palates," 

 and I think that to be a very good guess indeed. 

 In the shingle of the H umber many lias fossils 



are found. Of these the Ammonites and Belemnites 

 go by their usual names, "Serpents" and "Darts," 

 while the Gryphea incurva rejoices in the euphonious 

 title of a " Bishop's Thumb." Why it is more like 

 a bishop's than any other person's thumb 1 cannot 

 understand. — Chas. Cockson. 



NOTES AND aUERIES. 



Ethnology oe Somersetshire. — At the meet- 

 ing of the Somersetshire Archaiological and Natural 

 History Society held at Wells a short time since. 

 Dr. Beddoe gave a brief sketch of the elhnological 

 history of the county, and showed its bearings upon 

 the physical aspect, of the population at the present 

 day. We learn from the paper that the people of 

 the eastern half of the county have, on the whole, 

 broader heads, lighter hair, and darker eyes than 

 those of the western half. In all these respects the 

 eastern men approach more to the ordinary Enslish, 

 the westt-ru to the Irish, standard. The mixed- 

 blooded inhabitants of the towns appear to be 

 lighter as to both eyes and hair than the people of 

 either division. The fair and handsome Frisian 

 type is pretty common in the north of the county, 

 lu the hilly south-eastern region about Wincanton 

 dark complexions and dark or even black hair attest 

 the late and imperfect Saxonization of the country ; 

 the same may be said of the Quantocks. About 

 Minehead and Dunster, perhaps from the less fixil.y 

 of the population induced by seafaring, tliere is more 

 evidence of mixture of blood ; and in Exmoor and 

 in some villages of Mendip the narrow skull, pro- 

 minent jaws, and bony frame of the Gaelic type 

 and the Turanian oblique eye and pyramidal skull 

 crop up. 



Earthquakes in South America. — A despatch 

 from Havana, dated August 19, states the late ad- 

 vices from Lima and Peru report a serious accident 

 had occurred sixty miles from that city. A body of 

 earth, estimated at. 10,000,000 cubic yards, fell from 

 a mountain side into a valley, severely injuring a 

 number of persons, and damming up a river, the 

 water of which had risen 109 feet above its usual 

 height. Engineers were of opinion that the water 

 would soon burst its barriers, when it would rush 

 towards Lima, sweeping everything before it, and 

 submerging the lower portion of the city. Several 

 towns in Chili had been greatly damaged by earth- 

 quakes. 



A Sensible Parrot. — A friend of mine has a 

 very sensilDle parrot. Some time ago the lighted 

 end of a cigar fell by accident just under the door 

 of Polly's cage. The fumes soon attracted her atten- 

 tion, and she iiistanily set about removing the 

 danger. Taking up a small cup containing cold tea 

 (for which she has a great partiality), she poured 

 the contents on the burning end, with the greatest 

 coolness imaginable, and extinguished it. — G. 0. 

 Ilowell. 



The Landrail (Crex pratensis).— Ibeg to in- 

 form Mr. F. Anderson that, in the years 1870 and 

 1871 the landrail was very plentiful in the neighbour- 

 hood of Gravesend. In tlie following year, however, 

 there was a marked diminution in the numbers both 

 seen and heard ; whilst this year ii has, apparently, 

 disappeared altogether. I am unable, however, to 

 account for its disappearance.- (?. 0. Howell. 



