HARD WICKE 'S S CIENCE - G O SSI P. 



119 



tirely denuded of leaves, yet blossoms were produced 

 in abundance at the extremities of the branches. The 

 same phenomenon took place during December, and 

 up to the present time flowers are being produced, 

 showing that though the leaves have fallen, there is 

 still circulation of sap. Why did the leaves fall if the 

 sap was still in sufficiently active circulation to pro- 

 duce perfect flowers? — J. H. A. Jcnncr. 



Tea-leaves as manure. — These leaves abound 

 in sphceraphides, which are calcareous crystals ; and 

 so, independently of the decaying vegetable matter, 

 might be reasonably expected to prove very valuable 

 for mulching plants in pots. At a late scientific 

 meeting, Prof. Gulliver gave demonstrations of the 

 spha:raphides in tea-leaves ; and of these and several 

 other allied ciystals, which are so abundant in British 

 trees, as to lead to the conclusion that the constant clear- 

 ing of the dead leaves away from the roots, is one cause 

 of the decay of trees in shallow soils, as in Hyde Park. 

 In short, depriving the plants of the rotting or rotten 

 leaves is simply withholding an important part of the 

 food of trees which have no other manure given to 

 them.— (2. F. 



" Vestiges of the Natural History of 

 Creation. "^Mr. Robert Chambers or his friends 

 may not have chosen to acknowledge his connection 

 as author with this book. That he was the author I 

 was long since confidently told by the late Mrs. 

 Edmondston, of Balta Sound, Shetland, ^^■hose hus- 

 band M'as long the respected physician in that district, 

 and a regular correspondent of Thomas Bewick. 

 Mrs. Edmondston was a literary lady of distinguished 

 talents, mother of the promising young naturalist — 

 too early lost to science — who first discovered 

 Arena7-ia A^crzvgica in Britain ; and her husband 

 was an able and zealous ornithologist, still repre- 

 sented by descendants or connections of the same 

 taste in the Shetland Isles. — Q. F. 



Daffodils. — The instructive paper by E. 

 Edwards, while giving us some agreeable poetical 

 associations, has omitted Milton's, who, in his 

 " Comus" has, 



" Pansies, pinks, and gaudy daffodils" ; 



and in his " Lycidas" makes it a mourning flower — 



" Bid amaranthus all her beauty shed, 

 And daffadillies fill their cup with tears, 

 To strew the laureat grave where Ljxid lies." 



It is remarkable that this great poet spells daffodils 

 with an a instead of an in the second syllable. But 

 my chief reason for noting this plant is to mention 

 that it is an excellent one in which to examine true 

 raphides, of which figures are given in Professor 

 Gulliver's papers in Science-Gossip, May, 1873. It 

 is necessary to M'arn the reader against the still com- 

 mon error in the " Micrographic Dictionary" and most 

 recent botanical books, of confounding raphides with 

 other and very different microscopic plant-crystals. — 

 Q.F. 



Ventriculites ? — Not long since a friend of mine 

 found an enormous sponge (?) embedded in a block of 

 the upper chalk at Whitecliff Bay. The fossil was 

 well preserved and very perfect ; it measured fully 

 20 in. in diameter, and the whole was converted into 

 red iron pyrites. It resembled a huge circular fan 

 spread out on the rock. The fossil was the most 

 perfect one of its kind I have ever seen. The outer 

 foliation, theskin, and even the perfect rootswere beau- 

 tifully preserved. Could any of your readers inform 

 me if this is of common cccurrence, and if fossil 

 sponges often attain these gigantic dimensions ? — 

 G. IF. C. 



Mildness of the Season. — Some of the readers 

 of Science-Gossip may be interested I)y the following 

 facts, in reference to the unusual mildness of the for- 

 mer part of the present season. During the latter 

 part of January I was staying in the east of Somerset- 

 shire, near to Frome, and between January 20th 

 and 27th, I observed the following wild flowers in 

 full bloom : — Creeping Buttercup, Shepherd's-purse, 

 Whitlow-grass {Draba veriia). Thyme-leaved Sand- 

 M'ort {A. scrpyHifolia), Herb-Robert Geranium, 

 Furze, Wild Strawberry, Daisy, Dandelion, White 

 and Purple Deadnettle, Primrose, Procumbent Vero- 

 nica ( V. agrestis), Spurge Laurel [Daphne laureola). 

 Snowdrop, Hazel. I also saw on February 3rd and 

 4tli, near Oxford, SeiUrio squalidns and Lesser Peri- 

 winkle (in abundance). It will give some idea of the 

 remarkable earliness of the plants if I give the mean 

 date and earliest appearance of each flower, as taken 

 at Rugby, since the year 1867. Creeping Buttercup, 

 mean date, May 15, earliest appearance, May 9, 

 1874 ; Shepherd's-purse has been seen on January i ; 

 Whitlow-grass, mean February 19, earliest February 

 I, 1869 ; Thyme-leaved Sandwort, mean June 7, 

 earliest May 24, 1867 ; Herb-Robert Geranium, mean 

 May 6, earliest April 23, 1872 ; Furze has been seen 

 on January i ; Strawberry, mean April 12, earliest 

 April 4, 1872 ; Daisy and Dandelion have been seen 

 on January i ; White Deadnettle, mean February 

 9, earliest January 20, 1869 ; Purple Deadnettle, 

 has been seen on January i ; Primrose, mean 

 March 6, earliest February 17, 1872 ; Procumbent 

 Veronica has been seen on January i ; Spurge 

 Laurel, mean February 28, earliest February 3, 1875 ; 

 Snowdrop, mean February 13, earliest February 2, 

 1868 ; Hazel, mean February 15, earliest January 23, 

 1875; Senecliio squalidns, not found at Rugby; 

 Lesser Periwinkle, mean April 12, earliest March 23, 

 1869. The only one of these flowers about whose 

 identity I am not certain, is Thyme-leaved Sand- 

 wort. I dare say other botanists have noticed the 

 early appearance of plants, and could add many more 

 to my list. I may add that the leaves of Aricm 

 macidatnni are springing up everywhere in abun- 

 dance ; usually, I believe, they do not appear till 

 much later in the year. — // W. Trott. 



Occurrence of Rabies in Wild Canine 

 Animals. — The lamentable case of a gentleman 

 worried by three dogs left in his charge by a friend, 

 has called forth, in a morning paper, a leader in the 

 " dog-fancying " interest. The writer maintains that 

 canine madness is unknown, or nearly so, in polar 

 and in tropical regions, and is caused by the confine- 

 ment to which dogs are subject in civilized countries. 

 Now I have always understood that rabies is ex- 

 ceedingly common among jackals in India, and far 

 from rare among wolves on the Continent. Perhaps 

 some of the correspondents of Science-Gossip may 

 be in possession of facts bearing on this subject. — 

 J. W. Slater. 



Communications Received up to 7TH ult. from : — 

 T. S.— Prof. G.— Dr. C. C. A.— H. G. G.— D. E. S. C— H.P. 

 —A. S.-T. P.-W. E. T.— G. K.— A. H. W.— E. L.— 

 M. L. W.— W. B.— T. W. S.— F. J. A.— T. C. R.— J. T. R.— 

 G. W. R.— T. B.— W. H.-A. W.— W. J. S. S.— T. W.— 

 J. s. W.— Dr. G. B.— T. H. B.— G. H. R.— M. S. Mc. D.— 

 W. E. G.— W. J.— A. W. S.— J. H.— S. E. L.— G. G.— D. D. 

 — W. M. P.— J. E. S.-G. H. R.— A. B.— J. H. S.— 

 R. H. N. B.-C. D.-F. L. P.-C. R.-J. P. P.-H. S.- 

 J. G.— A. M.— J. D.— J. A. L.— M. H.— G. O. H.— Dr. R.— 

 E. S.— J. Y. G.— W. V.-J. C.-E. F. M.— J. F. P.— G. B.— 

 G. C.-W. G. P.-H. G.-J. W. S.-V. G.-J. W.-D. J.- 

 C. D.-H. E. B.-J. C.-Dr. P. Q. K.-T. C.-G. C. D.- 

 C. A. O.-H. F. P.-R. M. C.-T. H. H.-A. H. S.— W. T.- 

 A. L. S.— A. S.-C. A. O.-G. R. Y.— J. M. \V.— H. M.- 

 R. H.— J. B.— J. P.— £. H.— H. N., &c. &c. 



