HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



the prothallia will soon be developed. Now, by 

 keeping these just damp for some time, and then 

 suddenly giving them a larger supply of water, you 

 will induce numerous Antheridia and Archegonia to 

 open themselves ; and in an hour or so after this the 

 surfaces of the larger prothallia will be covered 

 with moving antherozoids. If some canals of the 

 Archegonia be now laid open, you may occasionally 

 see these antherozoids in motion. 



go 



a 



Fig. 12. Development of spores &c., of Adiantum, i to 6 ; 

 7, spore of Oak-fern ; 8, ditto oi Polystkhiiiii lobatinn, &c. 



As a plain practical method of raising ferns from 

 their spores take the following. 



First, get a piece of turfy peat about three inches 

 square and dip it into boiling water, in order to kill 

 all animal or fungoid life that may be in it. Then 

 break it up, and mix it with some fresh cinders. 

 Place the compost in a saucer, and spread the spores 

 over the surface, leaving them exposed to view on the 

 top of the mould. Cover the whole with a bell- 

 glass to protect it. If after this you keep the soil 

 damp but not wet, and in a warm place, you will find 

 the spores germinate more quickly than if they were 

 kept at a lower temperature. 



Peat may be used by itself, but it is apt to get 

 soppy. Or you may sow on silver-sand, or even 

 porous sandstone. Do not attempt to transplant the 

 young ferns till they have acquired their third or 

 fourth fronds, and then move them into pots with 

 care. W. Brewster. 



THE HISTORY OF THE GOURDS. 

 {Ciuiirbitacea:), 



THE plants of this genus belong to the natural 

 order of the Cucurbitacea?, and are very nearly 

 allied to the Cucumber. There are several varieties, 

 some of them beautiful in form and colour, others 

 of an immense size. Those which are commonly 

 cultivated in England for food are the Pumpkin 

 (6\ Pepd), and the Vegetable Marrow (C. Snccada). 



The Gourd tribe was well known to the ancients, 

 and we find them mentioned in several places in the 

 Scriptures. It furnished a model, according to the 

 marginal reading of Knops (i Kings vi. l8), for 

 some of the carved work in cedar in the temple of 

 Solomon. 



The Greeks appear to have been acquainted with 

 several varieties of the Gourd, and they were to be 

 seen at Athens with other products of the spring and 

 summer, in the cold season of the year ; for Aristo- 

 phanes, in his " Seasons," speaking of the glories of 

 that luxurious city, says — • 



There you shall at mid-winter see 



Cucumbers, gourds, grapes, and apples. 



And wreaths of fragrant violets. 



Covered with dust as if in summer. 



» « • • • 



There you may see fine pumpkins joined 



To the round rape and mighty turnip, 



So that a stranger well may fear 



To name the season of the year. — Athen-BUS, b. 9, 14. 



Diodes states that the best round gourds are those 

 grown near Magnesia, a town of Asia Minor. 

 Euthydemus, the Athenian, in his book on vege- 

 tables, states that the seeds of the long gourd were 

 originally introduced from India. Pliny, in his 

 Natural History, tells us that gourds resemble the 

 Cucumber in their manner of growing, and he 

 classifies them into two primary kinds : the first, 

 which, from the rapidity of its growth, shooting 

 upwards and creeping along the rough surfaces of 

 walls and covering the roofs of houses in a very 

 short time, he calls the " Roof Gourd." This kind, 

 he says, bears a fruit of considerable weight, which 

 is quite immovable by the action of the wind, 

 although the stalks are of a remarkable thinness, 

 This plant is considered by Fee to be C. longior 

 of Dodoneeus and J. Bauhim, the long gourd and 

 other varieties probably of the calabash gourd— the 

 C. leiicantha of Duchesnes. The second kind men- 

 tioned by Pliny are those which creep upon the 

 ground, most probably the Pumpkin and its varie- 



