282 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



The Great Green Grasshopper. — I have in my 

 possession a female grasshopper, Grylla viridissima, 

 three inches in length, which was caught at Barford 

 on the Ouse, in Bedfordshire on September iSth, 1891. 

 It died on October 4th, having lived for sixteen days 

 in captivity, during which time its food consisted 

 entirely of French beans. Ova began to be deposited 

 on October 3rd, the last egg being laid on the 4th, 

 the day on which the insect died ; the total number 

 of eggs it laid was sixty-four. The process of egg- 

 laying as I observed it, is as follows : — The long 

 horny sheath which is a prolongation of the abdomen, 

 and is divided into two parts, forms, when shut, an 

 instrument for piercing a vertical hole in the ground. 

 When this receptacle is deemed of sufhcient depth, 

 an egg slides into it down the open sheath. By 

 means of its two hind-legs, the insect then throws 

 earth down until the cavity is filled up, the process 

 being not unlike that of seed-sowing. A longitudinal 

 section of the ova viewed beneath the microscope 

 appeared as a yellowish mass bounded by dark lines 

 and dotted with minute black circles (probably blood 

 corpuscles) ; enveloping the mass was a white 

 viscous iluid — the albumen. The horny casing of 

 the ova was tough and of great strength, as appears 

 from the two following experiments : — 1st, An entire 

 egg being placed in cold water in a test-tube gradually 

 sank, emitting air bubbles ; the water waslhen allowed 

 to boil, and kept at boiling-point for three minutes, 

 during which time the egg underwent no external 

 change. On being cut open, however, at the ex- 

 piration of that time, the yellow mass was compact 

 and crumbly, like the yoke of a hard-boiled egg ; the 

 albumen had become for the most part also set, but 

 the dark lines and black circles were no longer 

 visible. 2nd, The 'casing on being treated with 

 potassium hydrate, changed from a greenish-brown, 

 to a dark slate-blue colour, and had a tendency to 

 curl up. The size of the eggs are about 1 of an inch 

 long and ^^g broad, oblong in shape and blunted at 

 either end. Externally the colour of the case is of a 

 greenish-brown, with a smooth and shiny aspect ; 

 internally it is black, smooth, and highly polished. — 

 D. V. iM. 



Crossbills in Bucks. — A flock of crossbills, Loxia 

 curvirostra, has lately been observed in the parish of 

 Hughenden. My informant tells me they appeared 

 about six weeks ago, and after an interval of three 

 weeks reappeared in reduced numbers. Several 

 were killed, and a pair were sent to me, and have 

 been preserved. — Thos. Marshall, High Wycombe, 

 " Field;' Dec. 29, i888. 



The Marcle Landslip. — In reply to Mr. James's 

 enquiry in last month's Science-Gossip, I am able 

 to give some information. The occurrence was not 

 an earthquake, but a landslip, and in its fall it 

 buried Marcle Chapel. It is still called the Marcle 

 Wonder ; and the straight outline of the Marcle 

 Ridge is sensibly depressed at the spot, when the hill 

 is viewed from a distance. There have occurred other 

 landslips in the same locality, and they are thus 

 described by the Rev. W. S. Symonds, F.G.S., " Proc. 

 Woolhope Nat. Field Club, 1878." " All the Wool- 

 hope landslips occur on the line of junction between 

 the harder limestones of the Aymestry rocks and the 

 softer Ludlow shales, while you may observe that the 

 angle at which the beds dip tells of their high incli- 

 nation from the axis of upheaval." — E. Armitage, 

 ITercfordsliire. 



The White Flower Question. — Although 

 neither I nor any other person is in an altogether 

 satisfactory position to fully and adequately discuss 



the subject, nevertheless I will endeavour, without 

 wishing to pose as an authority, to answer to tha 

 best of my ability Mr. Davey's questions seriatim, as 

 given at page 2H ante, I. Do the deviations {i.e. of 

 colour into albino) occur through a modification of 

 the pigment cells ? Certainly not ; who said they 

 did ? The cell as a mere normal structure has 

 nothing to do with the pigment, although in some 

 cases it may be that the depth of the colour is 

 proportionate to the number of superimposed layers of 

 the cells in the petal, which act like so many layers 

 of pigment ; and in other cases the shades of colour 

 may be somewhat modified by accidents of surface, 

 as in velvety petals, for example. 2. Is there an 

 intensified oxidation of the chromule? I conclude 

 not, rathe/ the reverse, unless the oxidation goes as 

 far as utter dissipation and destruction, but of this 

 latter it would be difficult to satisfy one's self. 3. Is 

 there really an absence in the pigment of certain 

 elements essential to the normal colouring? Just so, 

 most assuredly there is, i.e. the organic basis, so to 

 speak, of the colouring-matter has not (because of 

 too early flowering) got as far as the petals, or it 

 has got there in excessively minute quantity, or 

 possibly in some cases it has been washed out by rain 

 or by acid or saline substances present in moist air. 

 The patient reader will understand that in order 

 to do full justice to this subject, a lengthy memoir 

 and a lavish expenditure of ink and paper would be 

 imperatively necessary, to all which the editor might 

 object. To cut the matter short, however, it may be 

 observed that in the course of my researches I have 

 never seen anything very incongruous with the view 

 expressed by various eminent chemists and biologists, 

 that the tannins (or rather their derivatives, I think) 

 are the bases of the pigments and colouring prin- 

 ciples of the flowers at all events. Now, I have 

 personally verified what seems the fact, that in utterly 

 and absolutely white flowers (these are very rare) not 

 an iota of tannin, or of its allies or derivatives, can be 

 detected ; in very deeply-tinted petals there is plenty 

 of either of these, both altered and unaltered ; and 

 in moderately dyed and very delicate petals, such as 

 the harebell, the transmutation is excessive, so that 

 the original principle can hardly be recognised. But 

 enough has been said, let us hope, to more or less 

 justify the foregoing answer to this third query. 

 Now then for number 4. Are these variations the 

 outcome of a progressive or retrogressive develop- 

 ment of colouring-matter ? Well, all considerations 

 relative to this question may be scouted to the realms 

 of the poetical imagination. In deference, however, 

 to the feelings of certain individuals who may have 

 been enticed or distracted by sundry so-called 

 theories published in some intensely popular tracts, 

 lectures, or treatises, it maybe remarked, that white is 

 no more an advance on yellow than windy gas is on 

 solid stuff' or mobile fluid ; that in many cases, 

 though not in all, pink, purple, lilac, violet, and 

 perhaps blue petals owe their tint to one and the 

 same substance influenced by the reactions of the 

 vegetable juices ; that in cases where the yellow 

 pigment of a flower has been fastened on a definite 

 chemical compound, the latter is a distinct advance 

 and improvement (whatever that may mean) on the 

 compound to which some and possibly all of the more 

 decidedly and utterly red colouring-matters can be 

 attributed ; and finally, it would appear that in the 

 purest and least adulterated blue flowers (harebell, 

 flax, etc.) the quantity of the dye is relatively small ; 

 wherefore, in so far as mere quantity is concerned, 

 these lag behind in respect to " evolutionary develop- 

 ment." It need hardly be added, that the reason 

 why yellow flowers rarely sport into white is glaringly 



