150 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[July 1, 1867. 



frontispiece view of Surlingharn bro cd (not executed 

 in Hahhart's best style) will give a general idea of 

 one of these waters. Tills will be assisted by Mr. 

 Stevenson's description. "Deep, sedgy 'ronds,' 

 or' dense masses of reeds and rushes, shut out, at 

 times, the adjacent marshes. On the one hand, a 

 wide expanse of swampy ground, relieved here and 

 there with belts of alder and birch, or dwarf coverts, 

 suggestive of pheasants and woodcocks in autumu, 

 blends broad with broad ; on the other, some slight 

 recess in the waving reed-screen is covered in sum- 

 mer with a profusion of water-lilies, or an alder- 

 carr, fringing the water's edge, casts a grateful 

 shade in strange contrast to the surrounding glare. 

 Everywhere the rich aquatic herbage teems with 

 bird-life. Reed and sedge — warblers, with their 

 constant companion, the black-headed Bunting, are 

 heard on all sides ; and occasionally, though yearly 

 becoming more scarce, the beautiful little Bearded 

 Titmice, may be seen uttering their sweetly musical 

 notes as they flit amongst the reeds. Coots, Rails, 

 and Water Hens, appear and disappear at every 

 bend. Black-headed Gulls from their breeding- 

 grounds at Hoveton, mingle their incessant cries 

 with the warning notes of the Lapwing and Red- 

 shank ; and the common Snipe, which here breeds 

 regularly and in considerable numbers, adds its 

 strange drumming noise, at intervals, to the 

 ' armony of fowles.' Wild Ducks in large quan- 

 tities, and many a ' coil ' of Teal, are also reared 

 on these waters, and afford good ' flapper ' shooting 

 in July and August ; and of the rarer species that 

 may still be named as summer residents on the 

 larger broads, are the Shoveller, Garganey, and 

 Great Crested Grebe ; the Ruff, now confined 

 entirely to Sickling, and the Marsh Harrier, if by 

 chance escaping the doom of its race. The Spotted 

 Crake, as well as the common Water-Rail, nest in 

 the almost impenetrable swamps, which accounts 

 for their eggs being so rarely obtained ; and the 

 accidental discovery, at Potter Heigham, during the 

 past summer, of the nests and eggs of Baillon's 

 Crake, never before known to breed in Norfolk, 

 shows that even greater rarities may pass un- 

 observed in such localities." 



It is stated, on the authority of Professor Babing- 

 ton, that out of 1,767 species of flowering plants 

 found in Britain, 1,067 are found in Norfolk. Out 

 of somewhere about 350 species of British birds, 

 our author observes that the actual number forming 

 the bird-Pauna of Norfolk, amounts to no less than 

 291 at the present time. 



The book before us could hardly have been written 

 by any one except a resident, and no better resident 

 for the purpose need be desired than Mr. Stevenson. 

 All will read it (or should do so) who are interested 

 in the Natural History of the Eastern Counties. 

 To ornithologists it will be welcome as the produc- 

 tion of a field naturalist, and a practised observer. 



And to the general reader it will commend itself by 

 its popular style, the absence of pedantry, and the 

 presence of an earnest purpose, and an ardent love 

 for the feathered ornaments of God's creation. 



GERMINATION OP THE TOAD-RUSH. 



"OASSING through a deserted brickfield, some 

 *- few weeks since, my attention was drawn to 

 a dense carpet of minute bright green threads, each 

 tipped with an orange-brown knob, which, wet with 

 recent rain, now glistened in the sun like a veritable 

 little topaz. Not recognising at the moment to 

 what this appearance was due, and having no time 

 for investigation, I hastily snatched up a tuft of the 

 mossy, jewel-bespangled pile and brought it home for 

 more leisurely examination. When an opportunity 

 occurred, I tried to make out what my carpet was 

 composed of; but, at first, I could see nothing but 

 the green threads, a little curved at the upper end, 

 and there bearing- the glistening knobs aforesaid. 

 What could they be ? It was little use speculating 

 vaguely when a pocket-lens was at hand which 

 might dissipate the conjecture in a moment. Better 

 to use the lens first, and if that did not reveal the 

 structure there would then be all the more room for 



Fig. 14g. Toad-rush Seedlings. 



conjecture. The lens, however, solved the mystery 

 at once, by showing that the little knob was a seed ; 

 but what was the thread supporting it ? Not a 

 root, from its green colour; besides, there was the 

 root below it, fine, hair-like, and all but destitute of 

 colour. Was it the stem ? Hardly, for stems do 

 not usually, at any rate, go downwards ; besides, 

 when one came to look at other specimens, there 

 was a little thickeniug to be seen at this junction 

 between the hair-like root and the green thread, 

 while the lower part of the hitter was clearly seen 

 to be split on one side; and, in other cases, 

 emerging from the chink so formed, another green 

 thread was seen to protrude. So, then, the green 

 thread resolved itself into a sheath ; now, neither 

 roots nor stems form sheaths of this character, so 

 our green thread must be a leaf, and if so it must 

 be the first leaf— the seed leaf, or cotyledon — one 

 end of which remains within the seed, the other end 

 being pushed downwards along with the root. 



Clearly, then, the plant was monocotyledonous ; 

 and, putting two and two together, I arrived at the 

 conclusion that the seedlings were probably those 



