90 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



acid ; the solution afforded reactions not characteristic 

 of any known rnetal, this brown powder was accord- 

 ingly inferred to be a new element. Further investi- 

 gation has shown that the oxide resembles alumina 

 and zinc oxide, though it distinctly differs from both ; 

 the amount obtainable from nickel oxide is about one 

 from fifty. Further investigations are in progress ; 

 and I believe that up to the present time (March ist) 

 the new substance has not been named, — Arthur W. 

 Harrison, ]Vestminstcr Hospital, S. W. 



We are sorry to have to announce the death of the 

 Rev. J. G. Wood, M.A., F.L.S., &c. the popular 

 science lecturer and writer, who died suddenly on 

 Sunday, March 2nd, at Coventry. The Rev. J. G. 

 Wood was at one time a frequent contributor to our 

 columns. He was born in London, in 1827, where his 

 father followed the profession of surgeon : and finished 

 his education at Merton College, Oxford, where he 

 was elected Jackson scholar. On leaving college, he 

 became chaplain at St, Bartholomew's Hospital. 

 Amongst the deceased gentleman's most important 

 works are "Natural History," "Insects at Home," 

 "Insects Abroad," "Homes without Hands," and 

 numerous others. Perhaps no writer has more 

 thoroughly influenced the minds of young people 

 towards natural history than Mr. Wood. 



Two other old contributors to Science-Gossip 

 have recently died, both of them well-known botanists : 

 Professor the Rev. Churchill-Babington, of Cockfield 

 near Bury St. Edmunds ; and Mrs, Merrifield, of 

 Brighton, 



There is a capital portrait, and an equally good 

 biograpical sketch, of Professor Boyd Dawkins, 

 F.R.S., &c., in the March number of " Research." 



"The Naturalist" for February contains a 

 capital paper, on the " Bibliography of the Geology 

 and Palaeontology of the North of England, 1887," 

 by S. A. Adamson and A, Harker. This the fourth 

 annual list is very exhaustive, and contains many 

 names of men of note as well as those of humbler 

 pretensions. 



MICROSCOPY. 



The Royal Microscopical Society.— No. 67A 

 of the Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society 

 contains the title-pages, index, &c., for 1888. No. 68, 

 besides the summary of current researches, contains 

 the following papers : " Observations on the Special 

 Internal Anatomy of Uropoda Krameri," by Albert 

 D. Michael; "List of Desmids from Massachusetts, 

 U.S.A.," by Wm. West; "Reproduction and 

 Multiplication of Diatoms," by the Abbe Count F. 

 Castracane. 



ZOOLOGY. 



The Darts of the IlELiciD.^i. — Replying to 

 the query of C. A. W, in Science-Gossip for 

 February, the darts are to be found in the helicidse 

 all the year round. In specimens which have been 

 long hybernating the dart does not present that firm 

 appearance it would at any other time, and is more 

 likely to be overlooked. I think if your correspondent 

 boils the dart sacs in a solution of caustic potash, he 

 will find that the majority of specimens have darts. 

 The following table shows the percentage possessing 

 darts out of a number of dissections I have lately 

 made from hybernating specimens : — 



Species. 



No. of 

 Specimens. 



Helix pomatia 



, , aspersa 

 „ minora lis 

 , , riifcsceiis 



5 



15 

 II 



20 



Number pos- 

 sessing Darts. 



5 

 12 



9 



20 



— IV. E. Colliiige, Blenheim Place, Leeds. 



Darts, — It would be interesting to know where 

 C. A, W, procured his " dartless " H. aspersa ; Early 

 in the summer of 18S8 Mr. Standen and myself 

 examined a number of mature shells of the same 

 species, collected on the coast near Blackpool, with- 

 out finding a single dart. This is all the more 

 remarkable, because specimens of H. nemoralis 

 collected at the same place and time yielded a large 

 percentage of darts. Early in December, I received 

 a' large quantity of H. aspersa from Ross, Hereford- 

 shire, taken from their winter quarters. About sixty 

 per cent, had darts. About the same time I dissected 

 twenty-four hybernating H. pomatia, all these, or a 

 hundred per cent, had perfect darts. On Feb. 2nd, 

 1889, I examined four species of Helix, all 

 hybernating, with the following results. — From one 

 H. hispida I got two darts (there are only four 

 species having two darts each), from four H. virgata 

 I got three darts. Four specimens each oi H. caperata 

 and lapicida all had perfect darts. This proves, 

 without doubt, the dart is present at all seasons of the 

 year, provided the sheet is full grown. Perhaps the 

 sheets examined by C. A. W. were immature ? — 

 W. H. Heatluotc, M.C.S., Preston. 



Love Darts in Snails. — I have only just seen 

 the note of C. A. W. on page 44 of the February 

 number of SciENCE-GossiP, asking me to help him 

 over his difficulty, relative to his not finding darts in 

 the hibernating specimens of Helix aspersa he has 

 examined. I have found darts in various degrees of 

 development in hibernating //. aspersa, but I am 

 not going to state that they are invariably to be found 

 in hibernating specimens, for during hibernation all 

 metabolism in the animal is in abeyance, and possibly 



