March 1, 1869.] ' HARDWICO'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



07 



Utricularia vulgaris.— The round, seed-like 

 terminal buds of these plants, that have been lying 

 dormant at the bottom of ponds during the winter, 

 are now about to rise to the surface to shoot out 

 into leaves'and branches. Probably, as it has been a 

 mild winter, many have resumed their vitality, and are, 

 by this time, already floating at the surface. Where 

 the Bladderwort is known to grow, the buds may 

 easily be collected by drawing a light net through 

 the water, sweeping it along the surface of the mud 

 at the bottom. The buds should be well rinsed in 

 Clearwater, when they form beautiful objects for the 

 aquarium. I have kept eight or ten buds through 

 the winter, and they are now beginning to grow. 

 One of them rose to the surface very early, and is 

 already several inches long, and has thrown out a 

 side branch. The bladders are as yet so small as to 

 be scarcely seen with the naked eye: no doubt, 

 they are large enough to support the plant in its 

 present small state ; and they will be developed 

 larger and larger as the plant increases in size and 

 weight. 1 should be greatly obliged to any cor- 

 respondent who would kindly send me a few buds 

 of either U. neglecta or U. intermedia. I think they 

 would come safely in a letter, if stuffed into a quill 

 with the ends plugged with damp moss.— Robert 0. 

 Colland. 



Scurvy-grass— The Scurvy-grass {CocJdearia 

 ■officinalis) is certainly an annual. I wish your cor- 

 respondent would just try the experiment by culti- 

 vating some plants from seeds. Sow the seeds in 

 July, in drills, and thin out the young shoots, leav- 

 ing at least six inches between every one of them. 

 He will find the leaves fit for use in the following 

 spring; and they really are not a disagreeable 

 addition to an early salad, though they give an 

 unpleasant flavour to the flesh of different 

 animals that feed on them. It is an often- 

 noticed fact that the Cochlearia officinalis is 

 found most abundant in those high altitudes 

 where the dreadful evil for the cure of which it has 

 been so justly lauded prevails. There are large 

 quantities of it in the South-Sea Islands, for ex- 

 ample, and in Iceland too. The Icelanders dress it 

 in various forms ; make a pickle of the leaves, and I 

 prepare different dishes with them ; mix them 

 with whey or bur. The old English name of 

 Spoon-wort originated in the shape of the leaves, 

 they resemble the bowl of an old-fashioned one ; ' 

 hence, too, the French name, Herbe am millers ; 

 and some writers affirm that Scurvy-grass is the 

 true Herba Britannica of the ancients.- Helen E. 

 Watney. 



Phyllactidium pulchellum.— This interesting 

 water-weed has made its appearance in water ob- 

 tained at Keston, and was exhibited at the late 

 Soiree of the North-London Naturalists' Society. 



MICROSCOPY. 



Gizzard of the Mole Cricket (Gryllotalpa mil- 

 garis).— Late numbers of your valuable periodical 

 Science-Gossip, containing descriptions of the 

 gastric teeth of insects and lingual ribbons of 

 mollusca, induced me to work in the same direction, 

 and I have been much pleased with their beauty \ 

 among others, the gastric teeth of the Mole 

 Cricket. As the insect is rather local, it may have 

 escaped the investigations of those of your nu- 

 merous readers who are microscopists. The gizzard 

 of the Mole Cricket is large, with numerous and 

 beautiful teeth, visible to the eye, and when laid 

 open and fiat, forms a fine opaque object.— J. B. 

 Spencer. 



Gudgeon Scale— The fish-scale figured in the 

 February part of Science-Gossip (page 41) is erro- 

 neously described as that of a Gudgeon (Gobio 

 fluciatilis). It appears to be that of the Pope 

 [Acerina vulgaris). — Henri/ Lee. 



Fig. 49. Scale of Gudgeon, from specimens furnished by 

 Mr. Henry Lee. 



Pleurosigma hippocampus.— Mr. Kitton (ante, 

 p. 22) states that this diatom may be found in any 

 pond or mill-stream ; inferring, of course, that it is 

 a fresh-water species. Pritchard describes it (Inf., 

 919) as marine. Is the species alluded to by both 

 of these gentlemen under this name the same, or is 

 one of them in error as to its habitat ? If not 

 too late, may I take the opportunity of pointing 

 out an inaccuracy on page 133 of the volume 

 for 1867 ? Eig. 141, as it seems to me at least, in 

 the figures of Binmdaria, appears to me to coincide 

 with the description in Pritchard of Fin. {Kav.) 

 acrospharia ; figs. 142, 144 with Bin. {Kav.) dicer- 

 gens ; and fig. 143 with Bin. stauroneiformis {Nan. 

 Brebissonii), instead of as stated in the text. The 

 error, if it be one, may have been corrected ; but, 

 if so, this has escaped my notice.— F. J. IVamer, 

 Winchester. 

 [Answer will appear next month. — Ed. S. G.] 



