July 1, 1869.] 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



151 



Fig. 116. The Pouched Lamprey, Geotria Australis. 



from the other by " the whole of the broad edge of 

 the circular lip being furnished with numerous 

 papillae forming a thickly-set fringe, and by the 

 depth and close connection of the two dorsal fins." 



There are other varieties in other parts of the 

 world ; but bearing in mind the effect of an over- 

 indulgence in the Petromyzonida upon poor King 

 Henry the Eirst, I am anxious not to overdose the 

 reader. 



" One day when he had acquired a fresh appetite 

 by chasing the deer in the woods of Lions-la-foret, 

 lie partook largely of his favourite food, consisting 

 of stewed lampreys ; and the ruler of England 

 and Normandy, the supplanter of his brother, the 

 destroyer of his nephew, the father-in-law of an 

 emperor, and ancestor of many kings, died by over- 

 eating himself at supper." 



Bury Cross, Gosport. 



CRANESBILLS. 



A S there are always those who " take their walks 

 -£*- abroad " with eyes shut to the beauties and 

 marvels so lavishly displayed around them, so it is 

 only natural to suppose that there are also those 

 who have never noticed our wild Cranesbills— to 

 whom even their] name is new. If we speak to 

 them of Geraniums, however, they will possibly un- 

 derstand a little what we mean ; and will, perhaps, 

 with the vision of scarlet " Tom Thumbs " before 

 their eyes, roundly assert that we have no wild 

 Geraniums, or that, if we have, they must be ex- 



ceedingly rare, and seldom met with. Tell them 

 that Geraniums are scattered through the length 

 and breadth of the land— by streams and roadsides, 

 in woods, hedges, and fields, and even on walls and 

 housetops — and they will haply think you slightly 

 insane, and hint solemnly at Dr. Eorbes Winslow. 



Besides this class of persons, who neither know 

 nor care to know anything about our wild flowers, 

 there is another and happily a larger class, who, if 

 ignorant, have no wish to remain so ; and as a large 

 proportion of these read Science-Gossip, we will 

 endeavour to introduce to their notice our British 

 Oerania, or Cranesbills. 



As among men there is frequently a resemblance 

 between members of the same family, so is there a 

 family likeness among the Cranesbills. "We will 

 first enumerate the points which are common to all 

 our British species. Their blossoms are composed 

 of five petals, of equal size, notched or entire, which 

 are usually of some shade of red, but occasionally 

 blue ; each blossom contains ten stamens, which 

 are united at their base ; thus placing the genus in 

 the Linnsean class Monadelphia (one-brotherhood), 

 order Decandria. 67. pusillum is the only exception 

 to this rule, having only five anther-bearing stamens. 

 Again, the flowers grow on long peduncles, each 

 peduncle, having (in all the species but one) two 

 pedicels surmounted each by one blossom. Just a 

 word in passing on these two somewhat similar 

 terms. A peduncle is a stalk branching off from the 

 main stem of a plant, and bearing two or more 

 flowers, each on a stalk of its own ; this latter, sur- 



