HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



141 



Natural History Transactions of Northum- 

 berland, Durham, and Newcastle-on-Tyne. — 

 Part I, vol. X. has just been issued to the members, 

 snd consists of 219 pages, of which 132 are occupied 

 v/itli a Catalogue of those Specimens of the Hutton 

 Collection of Fossil Plants that have been presented to 

 the Natural History Society by the Council of the 

 ^.lining Institute, and are now exhibited in the 

 Museum of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The collection 

 was commenced by Mr. Hutton about half a century 

 •ago, and previous to that time there was no public or 

 •even extensive private collection of these fossils in 

 Newcastle. A large number of the specimens was 

 ■obtained from the shale above the Bensham Colliery 

 at Jarrow, which is exceedingly rich in fossil plants. 

 The catalogue is enriched by extensive and valuable 

 explanatory notes by Mr. Richard Howie, curator of 

 the museum, who was entrusted with its preparation. 

 A synopsis of the coal seams in the Newcastle district 

 is also included, which gives the depth of the pits 

 from the surface, and also the thickness of coal. The 

 catalogue is illustrated with woodcuts and litho- 

 graphic plates. This part also contains the Presiden- 

 tial Address to the Members of the Tyneside Naturalists 

 Field Club for the year ending May 1887, giving the 

 results of the various meetings during that year, and 

 also the address of the president for the year ending 

 May \%%%.—Dipton Burn. 



Llandudno Mollusca. — The following addi- 

 tions to the list of Llandudno Mollusca may not be 

 uninteresting; for complete lists hitherto, see Q.G.C., 

 vol. iv. page 206, and vol. v. No. I. Hyalina pura. 

 Alder, and its var. margariiacea, Jeff., not uncommon 

 on the Great Orme. Pupa marginata,\ Drap., 

 plentiful on the coarse grass-stems of the Morfa. 

 Cochlicopatrideiis, Pult., abundant with Hyalina piira. 

 This is not an actual addition to the list, as it is 

 chronicled in Rimmer, page 179,' as a Llandudno 

 shell. It seems, however, to have been a lost species 

 ihere for many years, and I take this opportunity of 

 recording its re-discovery. The occurrence of C. 

 tridens in Wales was unknown to Jeffreys (at any rate 

 when he wrote B. C. vol. i.), and Llandudno is, as 

 far as I know, the only Welsh habitat on record at 

 the present day. There also occurred in the same 

 spot four adult specimens of Cock, lubrica, var. 

 .hyalina, — Brockton Tomlin, Pembroke College, Cam- 

 bridge. 



Arion ater.— In the "Naturalist," 1888, p. 284, 

 Mr. W. D. Roebuck has described a variety of 

 A. ater from Nottingham as var. cincrea v. nov. 

 This appears to be the same variety that I found at 

 Bedford Park, and described in Science-Gossip, 

 1S85, p. 224, as of a very dark slate colour, with a 

 dark brown margin. But Westerlund has described a 

 var. cinerea oiA. ater, which, unless it is possibly really 

 referable to subfusais, will have priority ; so I would 

 suggest that cinerea, Roeb,, be changed to cine- 



rascens. Another variety, combining brown and 

 black, is found at Chislehurst, and may be called 

 seminiger. It has a very dark brown mantle and a 

 black body.— r. D. A. Cockerell, West Cliff, Colorado. 



Coronella L/Evis in Hampshire.— Mr. Field's 

 note on page 91 rather surprised me, because C. lavis 

 has long been known in Hampshire ; and when I turn 

 to back records, I find Mr. Field recorded it himself 

 for that county in 1887. In the same year he re- 

 corded Lacerta viridis from Margate, which was 

 more extraordinary, as it is quite incredible that that 

 lizard is native there. I lived some years at Margate, 

 and never saw any sign of it.— r. D. A. Cockerell. 



BOTANY. 



CEdogonium.— I beg to make the following cor- 

 rections in my paper on CEdogonium (April number), 

 which I got to hand very late, as I was away. In 

 the explanation to the figures, " Androgonidia" has 

 to stand for " Androgonia " (Fig. 72 : 8), and 

 " Antherozoid" for " Anthrozoa " (Fig. 72: 11).— 

 O. V. Darbiskire. 



Alchemilla vulgaris in the South.— In the 

 February number of this paper, Mr. Lamb seeks 

 information of Alchemilla vulgaris, which he has 

 found in Kent. In June 1887 I found this plant on 

 the borders of the Broadhouth Woods, near Seal 

 Chart, Kent, but did not notice the description in 

 the third edition of the "Student's Flora," "absent 

 in Kent," until last autumn, when upon searching 

 the records I found it recorded only in a " Report 

 of the Greenwich Natural History." If this ever 

 reached the author of the "Topographical Botany," 

 the evidence was considered insufficient, for it 

 is not recorded in the last edition of that great 

 work. Through the courtesy of the editor, my dis- 

 covery was published in the October number of the 

 "Journal of Botany." Alchemilla vulgaris is un- 

 doubtedly rare in the south-east of England. It has 

 been found in a few localities in Surrey, mostly 

 about Dorking ; in Middlesex and Herts, also, in a 

 few places. It is a common plant in the west of 



England, on limestone rocks and by streams. 



H. W. Mojtington. 



Ophrys apifera.— Your correspondent refers to 

 this plant as a " fast-becoming rarity " in Gloucester- 

 shire. If this plant is becoming rare owing to its 

 being less prolific, it seems to be an interesting 

 confirmation of Darwin's prophecy respecting it — on 

 account of its habit of self-fertilisation. Professor 

 Henslow, in his work on "Floral Structures," main- 

 tains that self-fertilisation is not generally injurious 

 to plants. — y. If. King. 



TUSSILAGO farfara (Coltsfoot), &c.— This 

 plant during March and April was profusely ia 



