HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



m 



attraction for a number of large Tortoise-shells 

 {Vanessa polycldoros) and other insects. On the 

 sand-hills near Schevening I saw a Queen of Spain 

 fritillary {Argyrus Jatho7iia), but searched in vain 

 for Pieris Daplidii and Collas hyale, which were 

 so common in Brittany. The flora of these sand- 

 hills was different from both those of Brittany and 

 the English ones. I have seen amongst the flowers 

 Saponaria officinalis, the " Soapwort," which was 

 very conspicuous. 



The Water Villarsia {Villarsia nympli(coides^ was 

 very plentiful in the smaller ditches, and the Marsh 

 Sow-thistle {Sonchus palustris), also the flowering 

 rush (Bidomus umbellafus) flourished everywhere. 



In the neighbourhood of Ghent, in Belgium, the 

 Gipsy-moth (Liparis dispar) was so abundant as 

 to be quite a feature in the natural history of the 

 district. In some places the roadside pollard 

 poplars were inhabited by the female moth, cocoons, 

 larvae, and eggs, all at the same time, while the 

 male insect flitted up and down with the same sort 

 of zigzag, rapid flight as the Vapourer moth, in 

 the sunshine. As far as flight was concerned, it 

 seemed to me the female Gipsy-moth would have 

 done just as well witiiout wings, for I never saw 

 any of them move. They clung to the bark with 

 great tenacity, and after laying their eggs, remained 

 resting on the trunks till they died and fell off, or 

 the rain washed them down. The females varied a 

 good deal in size and colour. The eggs are not at 

 all concealed, as the colour of the down with which 

 they are covered seldom matched the tint or texture 

 of the bark on which they were placed : they 

 appeared to prefer the south side of the tree-trunk. 

 The slight cocoons were spun on the rough bark, 

 sometimes one or two over the otlier. My obser- 

 vations dated from the d-th of August. 



A friend of mine, residing in Antwerp, told me 

 he was summoned by the civil authorities to show 

 why he had not killed the caterpillars in his garden, 

 and he found there was a law compelling every one 

 to kill the caterpillars on his premises. Those of 

 the Gipsy-moth must afford them considerable 

 trouble, from their numbers. The Swallow-tail 

 {Papilio machaon) was to be had in the clover- 

 fields about Ghent. Those I saw were in good 

 condition, and belonged to a second brood. I took 

 some once about the same date at Horning Een, in 

 Norfolk. 



There was an interesting section of the sandy 

 strata on which the town is built, under the fort, 

 where some excavations had been made. As far as 

 I could tell, they appeared to be marine Tertiary, 

 lower Eocene ; they contained a good many fossils, 

 a species of Ostrea, a large Cardium, a Solarium, 

 and a number of shark's teeth and fish-remains. 

 I should say the spot would be a profitable one to 

 a geologist; it is close to the town. 



Hae-ky Leslie. 



A MYCOLOGICAL IIAMBLE. 



A LATE number of Science -Gossip and the 

 -^^ propitious weather induced me a few days 

 ago to revisit a woodland spot about two miles off, 

 which during the years 1854;-9 I used very fre- 

 quently to explore for fungi. I was then alone, but 

 this time I had with me five young companions, 

 some of them keen observers and collectors, and all 

 of them well able to attest the delight of a success- 

 ful mycologicai ramble. Ours lasted about two 

 hours and a half, in the afternoon. A few only of 

 our findings can be mentioned, but these may suffice 

 to show the variety of beautiful and interesting 

 fungi obtainable during a short autumn walk in a 

 good locality. 



Amongst the Agarics the Amanitse were not so 

 numerous as we had anticipated. A. rufescens- 

 abounded and was in great perfection. A. phal- 

 loides and A. mappa were found, but not satisfac- 

 torily exhibiting the delicate and finished structure 

 proper to this royal family amongst the fungi. 

 Trlcholoma rutilans, with its pileus like the sunny 

 side of an American peach, was worthy of itself. 

 Clitocyhe infundihuUformis showed a chalice neater 

 than the finest work in terra-cotta. A magnificent 

 tuft of PhoUota aureus was descried far enough off 

 to give scope for a good race. A. fine Psalliota, tall 

 and large, with bright yellow pileus and base, 

 was received with the remark — "it is not in our 

 books," though I have seen it figured somewhere 

 very recently. Paxillus involutus was, of course, 

 not rare, and P. panuoides, very like a golden Chan- 

 tarelle, grew where it did in 1858, on the spot from 

 which it was sent to be identified by the Rev. M. 

 T. Berkeley. I must not attempt to mention ray 

 old favourites the Mycente, graceful as ever, though 

 many familiar forms were absent. The Boleti, 

 Pezizse, and Sphseria, were not very numerously 

 represented ; possibly some of the finest species 

 had passed away. The Polypori, however, were in 

 grand condition. The common P. sqnamostis has, I 

 think, seldom been seen to greater advantage. P. 

 intybaceus was hailed, as well it might be, with 

 great delight, its many confluent stems looking as 

 if sculptured in Bath stone. P. betulinus was first 

 descried growing on a broken branch of a birch-tree, 

 more than 20 feet from the ground. The necessity 

 for a climb was happily averted by the discovery on 

 the ground of a portion of the broken branch on 

 which were growing four beautiful specimens. Some 

 sacrilegious hand or foot liad made sad havoc with 

 a noble growth of P. (jiganteus, which was still 

 beautiful even in its ruin. Several smaller species 

 occurred ; amongst them P. picipes and P. adustus. 

 The species of Stereum were only just beginning 

 their winter growth. The specimens of Fistulina 

 were Protean in shape, colour, and size. The 

 Clavarias yielded the coral-like C. rugosa, and flaming 



