HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



43 



Peculiar Fossil Brachiopod. — Mr. John Young, 

 F.G.S., has discovered a new species of Rhynchopora 

 in the upper series of the carboniferous limestones, at 

 Bowertrapping, near Dairy, Ayrshire. This genus 

 was established by Professor M. King, of the Queen's 

 College, Galway, for a species of Rhynchonella, whose 

 shell showed a distinct perforated structure, which he 

 had found in some places on the Continent in the Per- 

 mian formation. Before the discovery of a perforated 

 structure in this species it was included in the genus 

 Rhynchonella, but is now named Rhynchopora Gcinit- 

 ziana. Mr. Young finding the carboniferous specimen 

 to be distinctly perforated sent it for determination 

 to Mr. Thomas Davidson, F.G.S., Brighton, author 

 of the Monograph of the " British fossil Brachiopoda," 

 and he being satisfied of its punctate structure, for- 

 warded it to Professor King, who writes that it is 

 undoubtedly a new and second species of his genus 

 Rhynchopora, and that he considers the carboniferous 

 species an interesting discovery, confirming all he had 

 already written as to the structure of the Permian 

 shell. It is proposed by Mr. Davidson, who will 

 figure and describe Mr. Young's specimen, to name 

 the species Rhynchopora Yonngii in honour of the 

 discoverer. 



Silurian Fossils in the Girvan District. — 

 This is the subject of a monography by Professor 

 A. Nicholson and Robert Etheridge, jun., published 

 by W. Blackwood & Sons. The monograph is a de- 

 tailed descriptive catalogue of the fossils of the 

 Silurian area of Girvan in Ayrshire, a district which 

 has long presented peculiar geological difficulties. 

 The authors have been assisted in their arduous work 

 by a Government grant made through the Royal 

 Society, and also by Mrs. Robert Gray, whose cabinet 

 of Girvan fossils is especially rich, and has been of 

 great use to the authors. 



Fossil Entomology. — We specially direct the 

 attention of our geological readers to the exhaustive 

 and suggestive series of papers which are appearing 

 in the " Entomologist's Monthly Magazine," on 

 " Fossil Entomology," by Mr. Herbert Goss, F.L.S., 

 F.G.S. The fourth paper appeared in the January 

 number, on "The Insecta of the Carboniferous 

 Period, and the Animals and Plants with which they 

 were correlated." 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



Piping Bullfinches.— With reference to a query 

 under head of " Piping Bullfinch " inserted in 

 Science-Gossip for January, I would remark that 

 Gilbert White no less than three times in his 

 " Natural History of Selborne " alludes to the fact of 

 the plumage of bullfinches becoming dark or black- 

 coloured from the administration of hemp-seed. In 

 the latest edition of White's " Selborne," by Thomas 

 Bell, Esq., the author in a footnote states that the 

 effect of a diet of hemp-seed in blacking the plumage 

 of birds, and particularly the bullfinch, is now well 

 known. — John Cohbrook. 



The Doubleday Collection. — Having lately 

 gone through the above collection, it is satisfactory to 

 say the collection is less deteriorated than appeared to 

 be at first sight. There is not one type in the whole 

 collection lost. Some erroneous statements have 

 crept into several periodicals, stating that 238 species 

 have been destroyed by mites. This I deny in toto. 

 The collection is open for inspection, and all those 

 interested are invited. — James English. 



Leafless Trees. — Although at the present wintry 

 season of the year but few flowers either in the garden 

 or the woods are left to gladden the sight, there is 

 still to the observant eye a never failing charm in the 

 leafless trees. When seen against a clear grey sky, 

 each one has a form and beauty all its own — 



" Alike yet various. 



Here the grey smooth trunks of ash, or elm, or beech, dis- 

 tinctly shine 

 Within the twilight of their distant shades." 



No tree in all the grove but has its charms, and 

 each its hue peculiar at all seasons of the year ; 

 and we may, if we are observant, learn to distin- 

 guish the several kinds of trees as easily by their 

 outlines in winter as by their leaves in summer. 

 We have also been much interested in noticing the 

 colour of the leafless trees surrounding our home 

 when the sunshine has lighted them up ; they then 

 appear as if tinged with a deep red colour. We have 

 much pondered over this appearance of the trees in 

 the sunlight. We have since seen it noticed in a little 

 book on " Field Flowers," by Shirley Hibberd. He 

 remarks that, " if you had to paint a winter scene 

 with sunshine, you would have to wash all the trees 

 with a tone of red." What is the reason of this ? We 

 should be grateful if any of the readers of Science- 

 Gossip would kindly explain the cause. Could it 

 arise from the russet case, or envelope, in which the 

 tender germ of the leaf is folded, uninjured, with 

 inimitable art, till the bitter winds and cold frosts of 

 winter have passed away ? May be, Keble refers to 

 this appearance of the trees in the wintry sunshine 

 when he writes in one of his most beautiful hymns : 



" Red o'er the forest peers the setting sun; 

 The line of yellow light dies fast away 

 That crowned the eastern copse ; and chill and dun 

 Falls on the moor the brief November day." 



E. Ediuards. 



Parasites on Pigeons. — The best means for 

 destroying the parasites on fantail and other pigeons, 

 your correspondent " M. G." will find is to syringe 

 well the house in which the pigeons live, themselves, 

 and their nests with carbolic acid, diluted with water, 

 at the same time using very freely Keating's Insect 

 Powder. There is no danger of the parasites found 

 upon pigeons, fowls, or other birds, forsaking them for 

 man or womankind ; they will not live upon the human 

 body. The most sensible reason why pigeons' feathers 

 should not be used for stuffing pillows, &c, appears to 

 be, because they are too stiff, they would tnat together, 

 and so make but an uncomfortable rest for the head. 

 For the same reason game and other small birds' 

 feathers would not be desirable for stuffing pillows ; 

 the old superstition why they should not be thus used, 

 we believe to be entirely without reason. — E. Edwards, 



Interesting Plants in the Royal Gardens, 

 Kew. — On the west side of the palm-house is a 

 most remarkable plant, which has given rise to a great 

 deal of writing upon the disputed phenomenon of 

 parthenogenesis, viz. Ctzletiogyne ilicifolia, a native of 

 Australia, and included in the natural order Euphor- 

 biaceas. It is a small dioecious shrub with alternate 

 spinose leaves closely resembling the common holly 



