i5 2 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



have not hitherto been able to discover. The Fir 

 Club-moss (Lycopodium selagd) occurs on Setley 

 Heath and near the old Beaulieu Road station. 



Of mosses I have collected many fine and interest- 

 ing species. Anomodou viticulosus is frequent on 

 trees, and so is Neckera pumila, which fruits at 

 Knyghtvvood. Campylopus brevipilus is common on 

 the borders of some woods ; near the sea we have 

 Orthotrichum phyllanthum, and at Sway Leptodon 

 Smithii. About fifty species of Hypnitm have come 

 under my notice, and probably several others occur. 

 Among these are H. arspitos/tm, H. glareosuni, 

 H. megapolitanum, H. illecebrum, and H. chryso- 

 phyllum. In some of the woods near Brockenhurst 

 H. triquetriim fruits abundantly, and H. scorpioides 

 grows to a very large size ; I have seen it nearly a 

 foot in length. Splachnum anipitllaceiim occurs in 

 the bogs, and the Sphagnums include some very 

 curious forms, which it will probably be less difficult 

 to identify when Dr. Braithwaite's new work is 

 published. 



The New Forest may perhaps be regarded as the 

 metropolis of corticolous lichens, while the saxicolous 

 sections are either very poorly represented or alto- 

 gether absent. The Graphidei are very abundant, 

 and in this tribe I have collected such species as 

 Gr aphis dendritica, Opegrapha leutiginosa, O. viridis, 

 and Arthonia pimctiformis, some of which are common, 

 and I have found many of the rarer Calicia generally 

 distributed. At Knyghtwood, not far from the famous 

 Knyghtwood Oak, the largest oak in the Forest, may 

 be seen within a few yards of each other three interest- 

 ing cryptogams : Pannaria rubiginosa, Stictina limbata, 

 and Hypnitm loreum, and at no great distance Ricasolia 

 latevirens fruits abundantly. On Roydon Common, 

 near Brockenhurst, grows the curious Pycnothelia 

 papi llaria with inflated podetia, and in the Hinchelsea 

 woods the delicate little Normandina pulchella, which 

 has something of the appearance of a pale blue scale- 

 moss. The species of Lecidea, Lecanora and Verrucaria 

 are " too numerous to mention." 



And now in conclusion I have just two words to 

 say as to the Diatomacese, of which I have collected a 

 considerable number of species in this neighbourhood. 

 I find my notes have already stretched to such a 

 length that I cannot even mention the names of many 

 interesting forms ; three species, however, on account 

 of their rarity, deserve brief mention. The first is the 

 pentagonal variety of Amphitetras antediluviana ; the 

 discovery of which I recorded in Science-Gossip in 

 January, 1877. It is rare, and always accompanies 

 the more common form, the var /3. All those who 

 have seen it will, I am sure, agree that it is one of 

 the most striking and beautiful of British diatoms. 

 The next is Sitrirella elegans, figured in Science- 

 Gossip, vol. iv. p. 132, a diatom identical with the 

 Sur. sclesvicensis of American deposits, but which as a 

 British species appears to be very little known among 

 diatomists. It has occurred in almost all my bog 



gatherings, sometimes in abundance and of very large 

 size ; indeed I look upon it as about the commonest 

 oiowx Surirelhc, excepting perhaps S. biseriata. Lastly, 

 another of the same genus described and figured as a 

 new British diatom in Science-Gossip, vol. v. p. 61, 

 under the name of 'Sitrirella Capronii, a species differing 

 from all others of the genus by the possession of two 

 hornlike processes springing from the median line. 

 I found it in small numbers in a salt-marsh gathering, 

 and my specimens are very much larger and finer 

 than the ordinary forms of S. splendida. The only 

 British locality for it then given was Shere, in Surrey. 

 This brings my remarks on the fauna and flora of the 

 New Forest to a close. Very imperfect they cannot 

 fail to be, since only a few species have been selected 

 to illustrate each section ; and even my own lists, 

 compiled from personal observation and comprising 

 some thousands of names, are in almost every 

 department still far from approaching completeness. 

 But there are many naturalists devoted to special 

 branches who might add largely to our knowledge 

 of the rich natural resources of one of the most 

 delightful, interesting, and exhaustless districts in the 

 United Kingdom. 



NET LIGHTNING. 

 By the Rev. S. Barber, F.M.S. 



HOW glorious and awe-inspiring a spectacle is 

 presented to the student of nature's mysteries, 

 when, flashed in an instant through the impenetrable 

 gloom of night there stands out before his unsuspect- 

 ing sight a varied and sublime expanse of cloud 

 scenery, distinctly revealed ; towering crags, dark 

 abysses, and every lineament of its gorgeous struc- 

 ture, traced sharply out by the dazzling and unearthly 

 splendour of the lightning. 



By daylight, in such a condition of the atmosphere, 

 when the electrical tension of the individual cloud 

 masses towards each other and between these and 

 the earth is unusually strong, we cannot fail to observe 

 the sharpness of definition, apparent solidity and 

 great volume which the cumuli exhibit. There is, 

 however, no more remarkable characteristic observ- 

 able at these times of electrical disturbance than the 

 individuality of structure, if I may so express it, 

 which they present to view ; an individuality of form 

 which appears to be intimately related to the electrical 

 tension of each mass of vapour. This may be well 

 seen when two highly condensed and vertically posed 

 peaks rise aloft, and drawing into close proximity to 

 one another, leave a long narrow interstice with 

 jagged edges between them. (See fig. 123.) 



Such an appearance is probably never seen in settled 

 weather, being, in fact, one of the most striking in- 

 dications of electrical excitement. The forms illus- 

 trated in the sketch are perhaps rather evidences of 

 repulsion than attraction between the masses. 



