196 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



as if so, they may be able to reach a great depth, but 

 this can hardly be termed burrowing as we understand 

 the word in regard to the moUusca. It will be as 

 well, perhaps, to mention that my experiments were 

 carried out on a fairly heavy soil. In future 

 observations it would be useful to state whether the 

 soil is clayey, sandy, compact, or loose. — 77^1? Con- 

 chologist. 



ROSSENDALE RHIZOPODS. 

 No. 4 — Continued. 



THE following notes and figures were unavoid- 

 ably left out of Mr. Lord's last communication 

 on this subject : — 



Fig. 170. A common brown form, front and side 

 views of A. vulgaris. 



Fig. 171. A colourless variety, with a cancellated 

 shell, approaching A. dentata. 



Fig. 172. A beautiful variety of A. vulgaris, in 

 which the summit and sides of the shell are depressed 



Fig. 172. — Arcella vulgaris. 



Fig. 173. 



Fig. 174. — Arcella. 



into a number of shallow concavities. Colour, light 

 brown. Pseudopodia extended. Uncommon. 



Fig. 173. An irregular or deformed specimen, 

 dark brown. 



Fig. 174. Large specimen, fij of an inch in 

 diameter, with extended pseudopodia and numerous 



cont. vesicles. Colour, pale straw-yellow. From a 



shaded well. 



My next contribution will be on the beautiful 



genus Nebela, and will be illustrated by numerous 



drawings of the chief varieties. 



J. E. Lord. 

 Rawtejisiall, 



THE STANDING STONES AND DOLMENS 

 OF CARNAC. 



By A. H. SwiNTON. 



WHO would pass the sounding surge of Scylla 

 and Charybdis unmindful of the songs of 

 the Syrens ? who would scorn the blandishments and 

 rose-crowns that invite the wayfarer to the iron- 

 bound coasts of Brittany ? for there lies the Amorique 

 point and portals of the Joyeuse Gard and the 

 headlands and islands where the dwarf palm, orange, 

 and camellia perfume the sunless northern skies. 

 Over Bayeux, Mans, Font Evraud, and queenly 

 Chinon, the vagrant raven has cast a sepulchral 

 shade ; but Castle Gaillard it has a merry note, the 

 crickets creek it, the birds can chirp it, and the frogs 

 will reply with a bagpipe drone, " Ha te zou 

 Gaillard ! " 



Well, the bakers' strike is on, a number of the 

 "iLanterne" and " Intransigeant " lies at my bedside, 

 and a dream of mystery and terror starts up before 

 me. Suddenly a rattling explosion shakes the hotel 

 and I rush into the passage. What has occurred and 

 who are the victims ? A heavy smoke rolls up the 

 staircase and there is a villainous taint of powder. I 

 look out of the window over the probable scene of 

 the accident and notice the Breton servant who is 

 cleaning fish at the tap. Surprised at such sagacious 

 conduct, I eagerly inquire what has happened, and I 

 am given to believe that the landlord is endeavouring 

 to remove a stone in his cyder-cellar. Presently I 

 notice that the ceiling of my room is peppered over 

 with little moths that hold their heads erect, and 

 that a minute beetle that has drilled the wine-corks 

 is disporting on the muslin curtains in the sun. 

 After the smoke came up the locusts. I sally forth 

 grateful that these are not clothes-moths, and walk 

 down an elm avenue where the leaves hang like lace, 

 and their edges are fringed with brown blisters. I 

 pass onwards between hedgerows of pollard oaks and 

 they are fluttering with the green tortrix ; I pause 

 beside a brown pool where the amorous dragon-flies 

 who have knit the knot, shimmer like blue and 

 carmine floss. It is the height of summer : come, let 

 us stray through the meadows and visit the menhirs 

 and dolmens of our ancestors that lie thick strewn 

 around the Gulf of Morbihan ; for see, the meadow 

 brown butterflies have found a delight in the high 

 and leafy hedgerows, and their hind-wings as they 

 flit show the ermine border as though they had 

 bleached them in the blinding dust. 



