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HARDWICKE'S SCIEN CE- GO S SIP. 



[Feb. 1, 1870. 



Floral Findings. — At this dreary season of the 

 year, when, beyond a yellow jasmine, a Christmas 

 rose, and maybe a chance snowdrop or polyanthus, 

 there are scarcely any flowers to be found out of 

 doors, it is refreshing to meet in Science-Gossip 

 with Floral Findings," and though the opening of 

 the article leads us to expect that these are findings 

 of the summer, and the context shows that they 

 comprise an elm -tree, an elder-tree, a couple of crow- 

 foots, a foxglove, and an iris, these are no doubt 

 pleasant objects to think of and to gossip about. 

 But does not your fair correspondent let her imagi- 

 nation rather run away with her? She says, for 

 instance, of the elm-tree': " A whole page might be 

 filled with its uses; its bark is highly nutritious, 

 and affords a substance called by the chemists 

 ulmin" &c. Lindley does not seem to have noticed 

 any of these special virtues in the Elm. He says, 

 " The inner bark of the Elm is slightly bitter and 

 astringent, demulcent and diuretic; it has been 

 used in some skin diseases, but it does not appear 

 to possess any important quality. The substance 

 which exudes spontaneously from it is called nlmin ; 

 this is also found in the Oak, Chestnut, and other 

 trees, and, according to Berzelius, is a constituent 

 of most kinds of bark." As to this mysterious 

 ulmin, a reference to Fownes's, or other recent hand- 

 book of chemistry, will show that it is not a sub- 

 stance in any way peculiar to the Elm, nor a sub- 

 stance either of surpassing interest or economic 

 importance. The timber of the Elm is perhaps of 

 less general utility than most that we have, though 

 it has been found useful for boring to form pipes 

 for the conveyance of water ; but pipes nowa- 

 days are generally made of iron. Though as 

 a "constant reader" I am unwilling to ask for 

 space which would no doubt be occupied by more 

 valuable matter, allow me just to inquire why 

 the sambuca should be supposed to be identical 

 with the sackbut. As there is much uncertainty 

 about ancient musical instruments, I am not pre- 

 pared to assert even that the°sackbut was not a 

 bass fiddle, but the general opinion seems to be 

 that it was a wind instrument, and the sambuca a 

 large harp. — R. H. A. 



Floral Findings.— Surely Mrs. Watney must 

 have made some mistake in describing the floral 

 treasures of her basket, when she includes Ulmus 

 campestris with its "foliage and fruit in perfection." 

 I have no objection whatever to her giving to the 

 Elm the " place of honour " ; but I cannot help 

 thinking that she has been somewhat imaginative 

 in saying that the foliage and fruit were in perfection 

 at the same time. But I should not have taken so 

 much exception to this even, seeing that Mrs. Wat- 

 ney does not say at what time of the year she sat 

 under the tree arranging her basket of flowers, if 

 there were not in the paper itself internal evidence 

 that she had gathered a summer nosegay. To say 

 nothing of the " protecting branches " shielding her 

 from the sun, which shows that it must have been 

 pretty warm weather, her basket contained wild 

 Irises and Foxgloves, and neither of these were 

 likely to have been gathered before June (here they 

 both flower late in June or early in July) ; and elder- 

 flowers are also mentioned, which could not have 

 been out much earlier. Now, as late in the year as 

 June even, it would be very remarkable if elm-trees 

 had not shed their seeds ; for the membranous 

 seeds usually drop off, and strew the ground just 

 about the time that the leaves are opening, that is 

 in April or May. At this season a branch of young 



elm-leaves with the bunches of winged seeds still 

 attached would be a pretty object ; but then, how 

 could it be associated with summer Irises and Fox- 

 gloves? Mrs. Watney must certainly have mis- 

 taken some other tree for an elm, or she must have 

 discovered a new species which fruits in the summer 

 time. I have had some experience in botany during 

 the last twenty years, but I must confess that I 

 have never yet seen the fruit of Ulmus campestris 

 "in perfection." In fact, the fruit seldom, if ever, 

 does come to perfection in this country,— so seldom 

 that nurserymen, in propagating it, adopt the 

 troublesome process of grafting it into stocks of 

 Ulmus montana, the Wych Elm. Artists and poets 

 are not always very close observers of natural 

 phenomena, and a botanist sometimes shudders at 

 seeing an autumn picture, otherwise beautiful, mar- 

 red by the introduction of spring flowers ; but in a 

 scientific magazine it is a still greater pity to see 

 facts carlessly observed and loosely described, even 

 though the facts themselves may not be very impor- 

 tant ones. — Robert Holland. 



Cause or Effect. — "Kitton, of Norwich," in 

 his answer to " MacLeod, of Skye " mentions that 

 Palmella cruenta has been supposed to be the cause 

 of ague, because it is plentiful in districts where 

 ague prevails; and I think most people will agree 

 with Mr. Kitton that " fungoid growths are much 

 more likely to be the effects than the causes of 

 disease." The mistaken notion of certain plants 

 being the cause of certain diseases, is not confined 

 to the microscopic fungi. There are several plants 

 that are thus connected with the liver-rot in sheep. 

 Pinguicula vulgaris is called " Sheep-rot " and 

 "Rot-grass" in Scotland. The JDroseras also, in 

 Gerarde's time, were called " Bed-rot" in the North 

 of England, and may be so named still ; and Hydro- 

 cotyle vulgaris is called " Water-rot " ; old names 

 for the plant were "White-rot," "Penny-rot," 

 " Sheep-killing Penny-grass," and " Flowk-wort." 

 All these names have been given from the supposi- 

 tion that sheep contract the disease by feeding upon 

 the plants, and the name "Flowk-wort" has been ap- 

 plied to Hydrocotyle, because sheep affected with the 

 rot are subject to entozoic parasites upon the liver, 

 known as "flukes." It is well known that wet, 

 boggy ground is favourable to the production of 

 liver-rot in sheep, in fact causes it ; and as these 

 plants are conspicuous upon boggy places, they have 

 been associated with the disease, although I am not 

 aware that sheep are ever known to feed upon them. 

 — Robert Holland. 



"The Garden Oracle," 1870. One Shilling. 

 Edited by Shirley Hibberd, Esq., F.R.H.S.— The 

 speciality of this issue is a list of dessert fruits 

 arranged in the order of ripening for the whole year. 

 The sorts adapted for limited collections are marked, 

 and although nearly 400 fruits are enumerated, care 

 has been taken to name only such as are really 

 worth growing for the several purposes for which 

 they are recommended. A few figures of vegetable 

 monstrosities will perhaps amuse those who take 

 an interest in such matters. The lists of novelties 

 and the selections for 1870 are somewhat more 

 copious than usual. 



Sheep. — In the December number of Science- 

 Gossip, p. 283, " H. N." asks if it be true that 

 sheep and goats poison the shoots of hedges upon 

 which they have been browsing. It is quite true 

 that when a twig is broken off by the hand or 



