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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE - GOSSIP. 



[Dec. 1, 1867. 



And though at all times in the midst of life we 

 are in death. Winter is still the time of death, as 

 death is the winter of our lives ; and as in propor- 

 tion to our love of Summer must be our sorrow at 

 its departure, so in proportion to our love of life 

 must we look forward to its termination with 

 regret. The fear of death is but the complement 

 to that desire for self-preservation which He who 

 made the beating heart implanted there, and, 



Whatever crazy sorrow saith, 



No life that breathes with human breath 



Has ever truly longed for death. 



Midst racking pains and overwhelming griefs, 

 death may, and often does, appear the lesser evil, 

 but 



'Tis life — whereof our nerves are scant, 

 Oh life— not death, for which we pant : 

 More life, and fuller, that we want. 



But death will come, as came the Winter, surely, 

 inevitably ; and as we 



Seethe leaves around us falling, 

 Dry and withered, to the ground, 



the salutary waruing is refreshed in our minds, 

 "Work while it is called to-day, for the night 

 cometh in which no man can work." W. C. 



LICHEN-DYES* 



I DESIRE particularly to avail myself of the 

 present opportunity of directing the attention 

 of this section of the Association to what I am 

 compelled to regard as the present unsatisfactory 

 state of the chemistry of Lichens — more especially of 

 the Lichen-dyes. I have studied the literature of 

 this subject for nearly twenty years, and my in- 

 quiries have led to the conclusion that — 



I. The results obtained by analysts are — fre- 

 quently at least — not stated with due perspicuity. 



II. The nomenclature of the various colorific or 

 other principles is most confused. 



III. What are apparently the same principles 

 are described under different names by different 

 authors. 



IV. Error and confusion have arisen in some 

 measure from the inaccurate determination of the 

 botanical species operated on. 



V. There is a want of concentration and clas- 

 sification of the results obtained in Britain and the 

 Continent up to this date, with the desirability of a 

 uniform and simple nomenclature. 



VI. There is room for a new series of researches 

 to be undertaken conjointly by competent chemists 



* Being the concluding paragraphs of a paper " On the 

 Present Uses of Lichens as Dye-stuffs," read before Section 

 B (Chemical Science) of the British Association at Dundee, in 

 September last, by Dr. Lauder Lindsay, of Perth. 



and lichenologists, so that the one may assist or 

 correct (as the case may be) the other. 



There is every reason for believing that orchill 

 will not be superseded by the coal-tar or other dyes ; 

 and that the Lichen-dyes are of sufficient importance 

 to commerce to merit an exhaustive examination by 

 modern methods of research. I am persuaded the 

 result would be to raise still higher the comparative 

 place or value of the Lichen colouring-matters 

 among accredited commercial dyes, and to develop 

 and utilise some beautiful colours which have been 

 hitherto ignored (such as the brilliant reds produced 

 from parietinic acid by the action of potash). 



It is not irrelevant, I think, here to express the 

 opinion that our two International Exhibitions were 

 most useful in indicating distinctly the past and 

 present — and, to a certain extent also, the future — 

 applications of Lichens to the purposes of the dyer or 

 colorist ; and the same is probably true of the similar 

 Expositions at Paris. But I regret I cannot speak 

 in the same terms of commendation of the illus- 

 trations of Lichen-products contained in our 

 principal public museums. The Museums of 

 Economic Botany at Kew and Edinburgh, the 

 Technological Museum of the Crystal Palace, the 

 Museum of Science and Art, Edinburgh, and the 

 Museum of Irish Industry, Dublin, as well as minor 

 museums in various provincial towns, contain suites 

 of specimens illustrative of the pictorial appli- 

 cations of Lichens. Of these, the best I have seen 

 is that of Kew. But in none of the museums which 

 I have visited have I found the illustrations in 

 question properly cared for or arranged : in 

 none is there what I consider as anything ap- 

 proaching a fair display of the colorific value of 

 Lichens. In the majority of instances the fluid 

 dyes are destroyed from want of due aeration or 

 oxygenation, apparently; many colours are faded 

 from undue exposure to light ; many articles are 

 «;mamed, while others are wrongly named. In a 

 word, thereis a necessity in all cases for rearrange- 

 ment by a lichenologist possessed of competent 

 chemical knowledge. Moreover, marvellously few 

 are the standard works of reference, whether tech- 

 nological, chemical, or botanical, which contain 

 correct accounts of Lichens, their products and ap- 

 plications. Even the recently issued " Treasury of 

 Botany " perpetuates obsolete terms and exploded 

 errors which only serve to confuse and mislead the 

 student. 



The Study of Nature. — From the schoolboy to 

 the philosopher, all grades find in it something 

 admirably suited to their minds. It brings us into 

 closer presence of the great mysteries of life ; and 

 while quickening our sense of the infinite marvels 

 which surround the simplest object, teaches us 

 many and pregnant lessons which may help us 

 through our daily needs. — Lewes' Seaside Studies. 



