260 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



There are one or two very peculiar local names in 

 the list, and I shall be glad if "E. D. B.," or some 

 other correspondentj can tell me the origin of Mush, 

 room as applied to Tausy ; why Bulrush should be 

 called Daisy (" Levers " is applied to other flag- 

 like plants). Why should Eieabaue be Camels? 

 Erigeron is not, like a chamomile. Why is the fruit 

 of Black Briony Roio-herries ? and what can be 

 the origin and meaning of Hasty Rogers "^—Robert 

 Holland. 



The Northern Limit or Flowering Plants. 

 — Captain Markham, who came home recently with 

 the crew of the F.olaris, brough with him a collec- 

 tion of plants obtained by him in Arctic regions. 

 Some were collected by Dr. Bessel in lat. 82° N., 

 the most northern point from which any flowering 

 plants have as yet been obtained. They include 

 Braha alpina, L. ; Cbrastium alpmum-, L. ; Taraxa- 

 cum densleonis, Desf. var. ; and Poa flexuosa, Wahl. 



ZOOLOGY. 



Ianthina fragilis.— On a visit to Islay this last 

 month I collected above six dozen of Ianthina 

 fragilis, Lam. They were of various sizes, some 

 with the animal in— putrid, others clean : they were 

 most of them perfect. Prom what I can learn they 

 have been gathered nearly fresh there. I do not 

 think that this locality is recorded in the books. — 

 B. r. Green. 



Hyal^a TRispiNOSA. — I have torecord the occur- 

 rence once again in British waters of Hyalcea tri- 

 spinosa. I was fortunate enough to discover two 

 specimens of this shell a few days ago adhering to 

 a log of timber which some fishermen had found 

 adrift off" the island of Herm. The shells were quite 

 perfect, and though the animals wei'e dead, and only 

 a small portion of them remained, I have no doubt 

 they were alive when the log was found by the 

 fishermen, and that they were killed by its having 

 been drawn up high and dry at Guernsey, two or 

 three days before I examined it. I do not know 

 whether Hyalcea trispinosa has been noticed on any 

 of our coasts since it was taken, " on floating timber 

 near Dublin ;" at all events, its claim to rank among 

 our true British species is as yet very slight. Still, 

 that it is an occasional, though a rare and probably 

 an unwilling, visitant to our shores, is authenticated 

 by the two specimens now in mypossession. — Murex, 

 Ouernsey. 



King-Crab off the Dutch Coast.— Li last 

 month's Zoologist, Mr. Thomas Southwell, P.Z.S., 

 records the occurrence of the King-crab (Limulus 

 polyphemus) off the Schelling light, on the Dutch 

 coast. The specimen was taken by some Yarmouth 

 fishermen in about ten fathoms water. 



Stinging Fish. — The fish which Mr. Lovett in- 

 quires about (in Science-Gossip, p. 239) is probably 

 the Lesser Weever {Trachinus vipera^. If he will 

 procure the August number of Science-Gossip for 

 1871, he will find a drawing of this unpleasant little 

 gentleman, together with an account of other fishes 

 of the same tribe, and some information respecting 

 their poisoning apparatus, and references 'to books 

 containing fuller details. — Lieut .-Colonel Holland, 



The Natural History of Eastbourne.— The 

 Natural History Society of Eastbourne have just 

 published a pamphlet giving a list of the mammalia, 

 birds, reptiles, amphibia, fishes, marine, fresh- water, 

 and land moUusca, polyzoa, insects, lepidoptera, 

 Crustacea, and all the species of the lower animal 

 kingdom found in their neighbourhood. To this has 

 been added a catalogue of the local flowering plants, 

 ferns, mosses, lichens, algse, diatoms, &c. The 

 introduction is very modest, but it will be seen that 

 the work done is enough to distinguish the East- 

 bourne Natural History Society as one of the best 

 of our numerous provincial associations. 



GEOLOGY. 



Loess of Northern China. — One of the most 

 interesting addresses in the geological section of the 

 British Association was by Baron Von Richtofen, 

 on the above subject. The Baron has devoted 

 three years to examining the Loess which covers 

 the whole area of Northern China, being found 

 from ^the sea-level to 12,000 feet above it. Tne 

 deposit averages from 1,000 to 2,000 feet in thick- 

 ness, and the Baron is convinced it is due entirely 

 to sub-aerial action, that part of the world having 

 been dry land since the Triassic epoch. No remains 

 are found in it, except of land shells and land 

 animals, and the area is intersected with deep 

 ravines cut through by the rains. 



Popular Names of Fossils.— A few days ago, 

 whilst working the carboniferous limestone in the 

 neighbourhood of Clitheroe, Lancashire, I obtained 

 the following names in vogue there for some of the 

 fossils :— " Tup's horns " {Naticd) ; " Cat's feet " 

 {Terebratula acuminata^. Trilobite was a well- 

 known term among the older quarry men, but pro- 

 nounced " Thrilobite." "Human head" was the 

 name given to a species of Flatycrinus, whose 

 plates give to it a not unnatural resemblance to a 

 cranium. — /. U. Taylor. 



The Oldest Fossil Butterfly.- There has 

 recently been brought to light a wonderfully 

 perfect impression of the front wing of a butterfly 

 from the slaty limestone of Oxfordshire (Lower 

 Oolitic formation) ; the oldest species previously 

 discovered having been found in the white sand- 

 stone of Aix, in Provence (Upper Cretaceous). It 



