HARD WICKKS SCIENCE- G OSSIF. 



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counties, by Mr. W. J. Harrison, F.G.S., of the 

 Leicester Museum (published by Simpkin, ]Marshall, 

 & Co.). It is a reprint from White's Gazetteer, drr., 

 of those counties. The author gives us an outhne of 

 each formation, its area and outcrops, fossils, &c., in 

 the most compendious and, at the same time, hicid 

 manner. To add to the scientific vahvs of this little 

 work, there are twelve large photographs of the most 

 remarkable sections, both natural and those exposed 

 in quarries. Geological students may here see how 

 valuable an adjunct photography may become to 

 students of field work. We sincerely congratulate 

 Mr. Harrison on the success of his " Sketch," as he 

 modestly terms it. 



"Scepticism in Geology." — This is the title 

 of a clever little book, by "Verifier," published 

 by John Murray. The author attacks many promi- 

 nent geological doctrines, although he seems to be 

 hardly aware that in many cases he sets up his 

 own skittles only for the sake of knocking them down. 

 One of the most direct attacks he makes, in which 

 we cannot for one moment agree with him, is that 

 rivers never can and never did cut gorges in I'ocks. 

 This leads us to believe that the author has worked 

 very little in the field, or he would have seen the 

 process for himself. The criticism of the book, how- 

 ever, is on the whole healthy and fair. It is cer- 

 tainly able, and would have been more so had the 

 author been a Jield instead of evidently a hook geo- 

 logist. 



The Origin of Mountain Chains. — The 

 Editor, Science-Gossip, notes on p. 236, "Mr.Malet 

 forgets that the entire region of the Alps is folded.'''' 

 With due deference, M. Malet begs to say he does 

 not forget what he never knew. He is fully aware 

 of present ideas of mountain formation, but the con- 

 traction and folding theoiy has not yet been proved 

 to be a fact— I/. P. Malet. 



Fossil "Glass-rope" Sponges. — Mr. Carter 

 calls attention, in the September number of Annals 

 and Magazine of Natural History, to the occurrence 

 of the remains of certain fossil sponges allied to 

 Hyalonenva, or the well-known recent ' ' Glass-rope 

 Sponge" in the Carboniferous limestone of Dairy, 

 Ayrshire. 



Fossil Lizards. — Prof. O. Fraas has described 

 an extraordinary group of fossil lizards, twenty-four 

 in number, all found beautifully preserved in one 

 slab of Triassic sandstone, at Heslach, in Germany. 

 It has been named Aetosaiirus, or " Eagle Lizard," 

 because of certain bird-like characters which this 

 new genus presents. 



Notamia bursaria. — Having found Notamia 

 hiirsaria at Hove, Brighton, I should be glad to 

 know if it is still considered a rarity, and also where 

 I can find a later and fuller description of it than that 

 given in the last edition of Johnston's " British Zoo- 

 phytes." — Annie Michael. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



The Goatsucker {Caprimulgus europLcus). — 

 There is an interesting point in the history of this 

 singular bird which is not referred to in the remarks 

 on p. 149 ; namely, that it lays later than probably 

 any other of our single-brooded birds. White of 

 Selborne had eggs brought him on July 4th, "one 

 of which had been laid this morning, as appears 

 plainly, because there was only one in the nest the 

 : evening before " ; and on another occasion two were 

 ' given to him on July 14th, " full of young and just 

 ready to be hatched." Four or five years ago I 

 found a couple as late as the 5th of August. 1 w-as 

 ' entomologizing in Darenth Wood when a nightjar 

 rose from a slight hollow among the fern almost at 

 my feet. After a close search, I discovered the eggs 

 lying on the bare ground, unprotected by the smallest 

 vestige of a nest. They could not have been laid 

 more than four or five days. These eggs, which I 

 have now in my collection, are dissimilar in marking, 

 but not so strikingly as those described by Mr, 

 Whistler. Both are beautifully marbled with bluish 

 grey and yellowish brown on a white ground, and 

 one of them has near one end a zone of pale brownish 

 streaks and blotches : if this were washed away, the 

 eggs would be as nearly alike as possible. The 

 Nightjar arrives here punctually on the 1 7th of May, 

 and retires during September. I never observed it 

 uttering its note on the wing, but Gilbert White says, 

 " I have always found that though sometimes it may 

 chatter as it flies, as I know it does, yet, in general, 

 it utters its jarring note sitting on a bough" ; and the 

 Rev. F. O. Morris says it jars "at times on the wing." 

 Last year I timed one which had stationed itself in a 

 clump of trees not far from my garden, and I was 

 surprised to find that the song was begun almost 

 every evening with the utmost punctuality. For 

 instance, on three consecutive evenings the jarring 

 commenced precisely at 8.27, and on the fourth at 

 8.26, Occasionally it would be five or ten minutes 

 late, having perhaps overslept itself, or strayed away 

 and got lost among the neighbouring trees. Is the 

 song continued all the night through, and if not, at 

 what hour does it recommence in the morning ? I 

 have heard the chattering half an hour before day- 

 break at the end of May. — E. D. Marquand, 

 Brockenhurst. 



Doctrine of Evolution, — Your correspondent 

 Dipton Burn refers (p, 167) to the very common 

 mistake of attributing the doctrine of evolution solely 

 to Mr, Darwin. If readers of "The Origin of 

 Species " would take the trouble to read the historical 

 summary prefixed to the 6th edition of works on the 

 subject, previous to the first edition of Mr. Darwin's 

 book, commencing with those of Lamarck, perhaps 

 the mistake would not be so general, — R. Egerton. 



Blister-beetle (p, 166). — I find it stated in 

 Rye's "British Beetles" (p, 171), that the Blister- 

 beetle [Lytta vesicatoria) is occasionally taken in the 

 southern counties, but cannot be considered as truly 

 indigenous. — R. Egerton. 



Exudation from Sycamores (p. 165). — The 

 exudation noticed by W, J, Horn is honey-fall, or 

 honey-dew, which became remarkably abundant in 

 this neighbourhood upon sycamore, and, indeed, 

 all other trees during the hot weather we had a fort- 

 night since, and at the present time still exists in very 

 large quantities, in spite of several heavy showers of 

 thunder rain. During the hot weather it dropped off the 

 trees like rain, and if one stood under a sycamore-tree it 



