HA RD WICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



123 



developed must be taken into consideration. The 

 three assertions are (a) that the shell was originally 

 "horn-coloured;" (/3) that, secondly, it was white; 

 (7) that bands arose as spots. The last head has 

 been sufficiently discussed. 



(o) If it be assumed that the shell was at first 

 represented only by animal substance such as is 

 produced in the shell-i;land, it would certainly be 

 horn-coloured — but this is arguing in a circle. 



[&) If this primitive shell became calcareous it is 

 likely that its appearance, owing to its containing 

 little carbonate of lime, would be whitish or semi- 

 transparent — but it would not be homologous with 

 the secondary shell, or assuming that the secondary 

 shell arose in this way, the white flecks which occur 

 in the shells of Limna-a are at any rate more likely 

 to be a reversion to the more completely calcified 

 shell of their marine ancestors, than a survival of a 

 primitive whiteness, the tenuity of the shells :of the 

 Basommatophora having been acquired apparently 

 in their present environment. 



BOTANICAL NOTES FROM KEMSING AND 

 ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. 



BEING anxious to call the attention of those 

 interested in the local flora of England, I have 

 collected a few notes this last summer on the flowering 

 plants around Kemsing, and its neighbourhood, which 

 may prove useful to some botanist. Kemsing, a tiny 

 rural village, nestles on the slope of a long range of 

 chalk hills, which stretch for many miles above the 

 villages of Otford, Kemsing, Wrotham, and others, 

 through that part of Kent known as " the Garden of 

 Kent." It is the district along these hills of which I 

 particularly wish to speak. Without exception, it is 

 the most prolific spot for wild plants with which I 

 have ever met. 



ITie common plants — lovers of chalky soil — such 

 as %vild marjoram, field scabious {Kiiautia arvettsis), 

 £upkrasia officinalis, Scabiosa cohimbaria, Erythrtza 

 centaiirium, CJilora perfoliata, Thymus serpylhtm. 

 Reseda lutea, Helianthemtim vulgare (rock rose), 

 which emblazons the mossy banks, with its associate, 

 Poly gala viilgaris, etc., grow most profuselynip the 

 grassy slopes, while in the woods higher up the hill- 

 side the sight of the great masses of Dipsacus sylves- 

 tris, in full bloom, and, mixed with that in the tangled 

 underwood, thick beds of Senccio Jacobaa, is one really 

 worth while going far to see. 



Hypericum perforation, Clematis vitalba, Ramincnhis 

 repens, Reseda luteola, Mclilotus officinalis. Geranium 

 Robertiannm, Galeopsis tetrahit, and vast numbers of 

 other common species in the Ranunculacea, Caryo- 

 phyllaccK, Umbelliferoe, Compositoe, Labiatse, and 

 Leguminosae orders are found everywhere about 

 there, in the lanes and on the hillsides. 



Of the orchids I found but few, owing to the late- 

 ness of the season, but from various sources I learned 



that it is a rich locality for them. All I came across 

 were Ophtys apifera. Orchis pyramidalis, Gymnadetiia 

 conopsea, and in the woods just above Kemsing, some 

 splendid spikes of Epipactis latifolia, in full bloom. 

 Ophrys mitscifera abounds in June, besides most of 

 the commoner species ; Orchis hii-cina (lizard orchis), 

 is to be met with, but is very rare. 



Thanks to the kind directions of a local botanist, 

 of Ightham, I was lucky to find some fine plants of 

 Ativpa belladonna in an old chalk-pit near Wrotham. 

 The plant grows nearer Kemsing, but I failed to find 

 the spot. The lane (Pilgrim's Road), below Beechy 

 Lees, near Kemsing, affords fine specimens of Tri- 

 foliu?ii fragifenim, Lcpidiiim cainfestre, and Linaria 

 vulgaris, and farther down a lane, which crosses the 

 railway line between Kemsing and Seal, I discovered 

 a corner where dwelt some Thlaspi arvense (honesty), 

 and Lathy rus macrorrhizits. 



At Beechy Lees, in the lane there, are two good- 

 sized plants of Lithospermutn officinale; this plant 

 grows but sparingly. A slight declivity in the hill- 

 side near Kemsing is ablaze with masses of Papaver 

 somiiiferum — I never saw a more luxuriant growth of 

 them. Amongst the other lovers of the downs are 

 Gentiana amarella, Fragai'ia vesca, and in the corn- 

 fields on the range, Anagallis arvensis, Valcrianella 

 dentata, Li?taria spiiria, Anthirrinum orontium, and 

 a small quantity of Atiagallis arveftsis, var. caridea. 

 Farther along we find Nepeta catana (cat-mint), 

 Mentha arvensis, Spergula arvensis, Echium vulgare, 

 Filago germaftica, and others. I saw a specimen of 

 Lathyrus aphaca, just gathered on the hills, but 

 found none myself. Space forbids of my mentioning 

 other plants more particularly, but I would strongly 

 urge any one, who cares for botanising, to run down 

 and pay a visit to the Kentish hills and lanes around 

 Kemsing on the earliest opportunity. 



K. E. Styan. 



OUR LANE. 



{Ccmtinued frcmt p. 101.] 



LIMITED space precludes me from dwelling at 

 length upon the curious forms of insect and mol- 

 luscan life that are to be found in our lane. I cannot, 

 however, refrain from describing a creature probably 

 unfamiliar to many naturalists. One gloriously bright 

 day, during the past summer, I was reclining upon 

 the close-cropped turf on the summit of the Down, 

 when, hard by, my eye happed upon a tiny hole — 

 about large enough to admit a small pea. Presently, 

 some half inch adown it, I see an object slowly 

 rising — it stops — and for some few minutes I keep 

 my eye riveted upon it. Slowly, very slowly, again 

 it upward moves — reaches the margin of the hole, 

 then once again stops. So nicely adjusted in size 

 to the orifice is the object, and so exactly does it 

 assimilate to the earth in color, that, it is hard to 



