March 1, 1S70.J 



HAEDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



C ( J 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



Burgeoning.— Iu answer to your correspondent 

 "R. Y. G.," I wish to state that the word "bur- 

 geon," as used by English gardeners, is only another 

 name for a gem or bud. The French botanists 

 distinguish three stages of its growth by three dif- 

 ferent names. At its first appearance in spring it 

 is an eye (aril) ; about the solstice it becomes a bud 

 (boidon), which continues to increase during the 

 autumn; and in the following spring is called a 

 burgeon (bourgeon). The term "burgeoning" 

 would therefore mean " putting forth their buds." 

 — E. Wilkins. 



Woodruff. — There may be some confusion be- 

 tween similar words :— 1. Woodroofe, or Wood- 

 rough, a common sirname, is apparently derived 

 from the officer in charge of a wood : " the reeve of 

 a wood".; A.-S. gerefa = governor ; and almost 

 equivalent to " wood-ranger." The German word 

 Wald-meister Fliigel renders " wood-ward " ; which 

 also is a common family name with us, and is ex- 

 plained by Bailey as " a forest officer," a species of 

 rural constable. 2. The herb Asperula odorata 

 has many names : ear. or., Wood-row, Wood-rowel, 

 which may reasonably be explained by a direct re- 

 ference to its scientific name, from asper = sharp ; 

 hence our word spur, and the rowel or wheel of a 

 spur. It is also called Wood-roof, Wood-ruff. The 

 word asper is also equivalent to rovgli,^ and some 

 have said that the whorled leaves of this plant re- 

 semble the ruff, an article of dress.— A. H. Gent. 



Foxglove (p. 6). — " When did reynard ever 

 wear gloves, and such gloves as these ? " asks Mrs. 

 Watney. The truth is, however, that reynard has 

 nothing to do with the word, which is a corruption 

 of Folks'-gloves, gloves delicate enough and dimi- 

 nutive enough for the use of the "good folk," the 

 fairies, I think; but I canuot now refer to any 

 authority that in ithe earlier form of glove there 

 was no division of fingers. — W. W. S. 



Woodruff.— Without wishing to deprive W. W. 

 Spicer of the pleasure in finding an origin for the 

 "grand title" of ("Lord of the Forest," given to 

 this humble plant by the Germans, I may refer him 

 to Chambers's Etymological, Dictionary, in whicli 

 he will find it defined as "a plant found in woods 

 and shady places, with its leaves in whorls like ruffs." 

 —J. W. D., Sea/um. 



Woodruff. — The general idea is, that the com- 

 mon English name of this pretty little plant refers 

 to the whorled position of the leaves : they remind 

 one of an old-fashioned ruff. Some people say the 

 whorls are like the rowel of a spur, and hence the 

 local names of "Woodrow" and "Woodrowel." 

 The generic name comes from asper (rough), many 

 of the species having rough foliage. Has Mr. 

 Spicer ever heard the Woodruff called "Stem Leber- 

 kraut " in Germany ? — Helen E. Watney. 



Burgeoning. — Burgen, to bud; to blossom. 

 Burgeon, a bud. 



" And therof sprang owt of the rote 

 A burgon that wasfeyre, and swote.'' 



Vide Halliwell, Archaic Diet., i. 220. 



The word is from A.-S. heorgan, "to protect"; 

 compare burganet, " a species of helmet," ; ha-bergeon, 

 " a coat of mail." The burgeoning of a hedge would 

 mean that it became clothed with verdure. — A. H. 

 Gent. 



Burgeoning. — In answer to your correspondent 

 " R. Y. G.," Notes and Queries, February 1, 1870. 

 I beg to refer him to the English Dictionary of 

 N. Bailey, 172S, for the following:— 



" To Burgein I [bourgeon, F., a tender sprig] 

 " To Burgeon \ to grow big about, or gross." 

 There is another English word now in everyday 

 use that is quite as difficult to be found in a modern 

 dictionary as burgeon, and that is the verb " to 

 shunt, to shove." I have looked for it in numerous 

 modern dictionaries, but always hitherto without 

 success— See N. Bailey, 1728.-7. S. B. 



Burgeoning. — " R. Y. G." is requested to look 

 at Sir Walter Scott's "Lady of the Lake," 

 Canto ii., Stanza 19, where he will find the word 

 used.—/. C. 



The Ribs of the Dun Cow. — I have read with 

 interest the correspondence in your journal witli 

 reference to the above subject. A few days ago I 

 happened to look into the second volume of" Curio- 

 sities of Natural History," by F. T. Buckland, M.A., 

 and in page 291 1 found the following lines :— "The 

 ribs of the Dun Cow at Warwick, and the gigantic 

 rib at St. Mary's, Redcliffe Church, Bristol, are the 

 bones of whales." Such a statement coming from 

 one so high in authority as Mr. Buckland, who has 

 had very great experience in the structure and 

 anatomy of whales, would, I should think, be suffi- 

 cient to prove that the bones in question are not 

 those of a cow. In the course of Mr. Buckland's 

 interesting account of whales, he mentions that he 

 found whale bones in all parts of the country; some 

 of them in very curious places. In naming some of 

 the localities, he says : — " I also saw a large scapula 

 of the whale hanging from the ceiling in the Seven 

 Dials, London." Your correspondent Ullyett says 

 he saw a scapula, which was called that of the Dun 

 Cow, at an inn in Lincolnshire ; but it seems more 

 than probable to me that it was the bone of a whale, 

 particularly as he was struck by its size. But sup- 

 posing it to be certain that all these boues are those 

 of a whale or whales, it still remains to be shown 

 why the bones were placed in churches, and also 

 why they were called those of the Dun Cow. It 

 seems to me there is some old legend connected 

 with the words Dun Cow, which I should like to see 

 cleared up.— E. G., Cardiff. 



Glowworm Light.— For what purpose has the 

 Glowworm its light? The reader perhaps will 

 answer without hesitation that the light is given it 

 for the purpose of attracting the male ; but if this 

 is a true solution of the question, how is it that the 

 light is highly developed in the larva and the pupa, 

 who know nothing of courtship or of sexes ? Still 

 more, how is it, that there are numerous species of 

 Lampyrids, both in Europe and North America, in 

 which males and females are alike winged and alike 

 furnished witli the light-producing faculty? In 

 Southern Europe, for instance, both sexes of 

 Colophotia (or Pggolampis) italica, the StelUe 

 volantcs, flying stars, of Pliny, exhibit a singularly 

 conspicuous light as they dart here and there among 

 the trees. Moreover, if this was the purpose of the 

 light, why should it have been placed on a compara- 

 tively obscure part of the body, viz., between the 

 abdominal segments, instead of on the upper 

 surface, where, one would imagine, it would be 

 more likely to catch the eye of the Leander of the 

 hour, and where in fact it does appear in some of 

 the torch-bearing beetles of tropical America. If, 

 however, a soft though bright light were to be 



