268 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Dec. 1, 1869. 



sharp eyes to find his two or three blighted apple- 

 trees, which are nearly buried in surrounding foliage. 



There is surely something not yet explained in 

 the sudden appearance of these friendly beetles ; not 

 explained, at least, to such amateur observers as 

 myself. 



I had just written the above when the October 

 number of Science-Gossip came to hand, with Mr. 

 Southwell's article on " Insect Visitation in Nor- 

 folk." It contains some interesting facts, but does 

 not seem to me to account for them satisfactorily. 



Leicester, Oct. 1st. Ekederick T. Mott. 



[N.B. — We hope no readers will accept the 

 challenge to enter upon a Ladybird controversy, of 

 which there has been plenty of late. We can only 

 promise, if they do, not to commit ourselves to 

 publication. — Ed. S. G.] 



SAGE. 



I THINK it was in the August number of 

 Science-Gossip that I promised, provided the 

 kind Editor would accord my notes space, to give 

 from time to time, a short account of some of our 

 most common garden herbs : so now, in fulfilment of 

 my word, I send up a description of our Sage [Sal- 

 ma officinalis). 



It has been said (with what proportion of truth I 

 know not) that the inhabitants of the Celestial 

 Empire are as partial to Sage as we are to tea, 

 and that the Dutch once upon a time carried on a 

 very profitable trade with the Chinese by exchang- 

 ing one pound of the former for three of the latter ; 

 be this as it may, sage-tea is not nice, but I do be- 

 lieve in its beneficial effects in all nervous diseases 

 depending on a bad digestion or defective circula- 

 tion, since it is a most decided stomachic, as well as 

 a powerful cordial. 



There is a small variety, the " Sage of Virtue " 

 (Salvia minor), which most herb-fanciers prefer for 

 medicinal purposes to the garden Sage, and I have 

 known it largely cultivated in cottage gardens for 

 the sake of its healing properties, the other Sage 

 being only used as a culinary herb by those who 

 grew both kinds. 



The ornamental character of some of the genus 

 must be well known to all lovers of flowers, and 

 those of my readers who have visited the Ionian 

 Islands, must surely remember the lovely blue blos- 

 soms of the Salvia pratensis, which grows wild in 

 the hay-meadows. 



The generic name is indicative of its virtues. It 

 comes from salvere (to be well), and it was known 

 in the days of the grand old Greek physician, who 

 mentions it in his treatise on " Materia Medica," a 

 work written in the second century, therefore its 

 curative reputation is of ancient date. 



The flowering tops possess greater power than the 



leaves, and they should be gathered just before the 

 expansion of the corolla, dried quickly in the shade 

 on warm days, and carefully bottled down. Sage 

 wine is very easily made ; a friend of mine. used to 

 prepare it after the following fashion : — 

 One ounce of fresh sage, 

 One pint of good sherry, and 

 One drachm of cloves ; 

 to be steeped for a fortnight, and then filtered. The 

 proper quantity to be taken twice a day fasting, is 

 one ounce of the liquid, and very excellent it has 

 proved in more than one case of nervous debility. 



I really do not believe that the exact period of the 

 introduction of Sage into this country is known. It 

 is a native of the south of Europe, but has been 

 cultivated by us for ages, and has been often made 

 the medium of various fabulous stories, such as 

 that the toad is partial to its leaves, and communi- 

 cates to them certain poisonous properties, which 

 the poor maligned animal does not in truth possess. 

 There is no doubt but that Sage-leaves are to a 

 certain extent glutinous, and therefore apt to col- 

 lect insects and dust on their surface, but this 

 gluten is not as country folk imagine, any emanation 

 from the toad, although the creature has the power 

 of secreting a sort of humour disagreeable to other 

 creatures ; still it does not afford the Sage plant the 

 means of becoming a vegetable flytrap, or " catch 

 'em alive " apparatus. 



There is always some good reason why certain 

 herbs and sauces are used with different kinds of 

 food ; for example, the bitterness and the aroma of 

 the Sage enables us to better digest rich fat meats. 

 Hence we invariably find duck, goose, and pork are 

 served with some sage accompaniment or other. 



Helen E. Watney. 



VEGETABLE HAIRS. 



11/riCROSCOPISTS generally prefer resolving 

 ■JJ-*- the indistinct markings of a few favourite 

 diatoms, or devoting hours to the mysteries of 

 Nobert's lines, to investigating the common objects 

 Avhich are scattered so profusely around them, of 

 which, confessedly, so little is known. The minute 

 anatomy of plants, the structure and functions of 

 their organs, such as the stomata, glands, hairs, 

 pollen-grains, &c, are an open field in which much 

 work could be done and honour won, by the aid of 

 less patience and perseverance than are now wasted 

 in unprofitable idiosyncrasies. It may be asked 

 whether there is any comparative uniformity of 

 type in the hairs of plants belonging to the same 

 natural order ; and if not, in what direction does the 

 variation tend ? If any visible modifications in the 

 hairs of the same species can be traced under diffe- 

 rent conditions of soil, temperature, or location? 

 If it be possible to detect genera or species of plants 

 from mere fragments of leaves, by means of their 



