HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GO SSIP. 



LJan. 1, 1S70. 



often more valuable, when properly applied, than 

 the discovery of truth. The whole aspect of the 

 present phase of microscopical progress, however, 

 suggests the importance of revising our labours, 

 especially in general microscopic anatomy, of taking 

 stock, so to speak, of our facts. And here the very 

 important query presents itself : In how far are we 

 justified in reasoning to living structures from the 

 examination of tissues post modem ? It is only a 

 few months since Mr. W. S. Savory showed that 

 the blood corpuscle of the frog in its living state 

 contains no trace whatever of a nucleus. Yet if any 

 one twelve months ago had ventured to dissent from 

 the general doctrine that all coldblooded vertebrates 

 have nucleated blood disks, he would at once have 

 been pronounced either rash or ignorant. Yet, here 

 again is a microscopical landmark — one of inference 

 it is true — overturned. The microscopist, seeing a 

 nucleus in the dead corpuscle, inferred its existence 

 in the living one, and, as we see, made a serious 

 mistake. May it not, we ask, prove equally true 

 that our nuclei in cartilage, our fibrillae and striae in 

 muscle, and our connective-tissue-corpuscle in 

 tendon are equally post-mortem fallacies ? Do we 

 not, then, commence a new era ? and is it not neces- 

 sary, with the aid of immersion objectives, Reade's 

 prisms, and living tissues, to travel once more over 

 the histological field, and try to discover the extent 

 of the darkness in which our microscopists have for 

 centuries been groping ?— Scientific Opinion. 



PLANTS ATTRACTIVE TO INSECTS. 



TN this paper it is my intention briefly to notice 

 -*- a portion of the flowers and shrubs which 

 prove an attraction to insects, more especially to 

 our Lepidoptera, thinking it may be a good hint to 

 those who read this valuable periodical, and who 

 possess a garden, which, by the bye, is a great 

 desideratum to an entomologist ; and it would be 

 advantageous to set apart a portion of the same for 

 the cultivation of such plants, &c, as would prove 

 an attraction to, and bring within his reach, some of 

 the objects of his favourite study. By cultivating 

 such plants, a great many insects may be brought 

 from surrounding parts, which might, perhaps, not 

 otherwise be obtained. The plants, shrubs, &c, 

 which I shall allude to in this paper, may with little 

 trouble be cultivated, and would answer the twofold 

 purpose of a kind of trap or decoy for insects, 

 besides being ornaments to the garden. 



The first, and one of the plants which prove most 

 attractive to Lepidoptera, is the Red Valerian 

 {Valeriana rubra) ; many of the nocturnal Lepi- 

 doptera— 



" Soft moths that kiss 

 The sweet lips of the flowers and harm not " — 



may at dusk be seen quietly hovering over the 

 flowers of this plant and rifling them of their 



sweets; amongst the "silent revellers" the Small 

 Elephant Hawk-moth [Chcerocampa porcelhis), may 

 sometimes be seen hovering round the flowers, and 

 now and then stopping to sip the sweet nectar 

 which they afford. The Red Valerian is also a 

 favourite flower with the Golden Y {Plusia iota), 

 the Burnished Brass {P. elirysitis), and the Silver Y 

 (P. gamma), the latter of which may sometimes be 

 seen in great numbers hovering over the flowers, 

 and darting away at the least sound, again to revisit 

 them when silence "reigns supreme." The Currant 

 Clearwing (Sesia tipidiformis), the Bright-line 

 Brown-eye {Hadena oleracca), and the Small 

 Ranunculus {Hecatera dysodea), have also been 

 taken from this flower as well as many others. 



The Jessamine and Larkspur are amongst the 

 flowers most loved by the Humming-bird Hawk- 

 moth {Macroglossa stellatarum), from the latter of 

 which 1 have myself taken several specimens this 

 season. This elegant moth feeds by day as well as 

 in the evening, and may be observed pursuing its 

 bird-like flight in the hottest sunshine ; scarcely 

 ever alighting, it thrusts its long spiral trunk into 

 the flowers to sip the sweet nectar, and darts off at 

 thel east sound, again to return to, perhaps, the very 

 identical flower soon afterwards. The flight of a 

 Sphinx, described by Mr. Douglas in the following 

 elegant language, is a true representation of the 

 flight of this moth, and is exactly a propos. He 

 says : — 



" Did you ever see a Sphinx fly ? There is 

 nothing to compare its motion to except a flash 

 of lightning. While you are looking at a flower in 

 the twilight, between you and it glides a motion, 

 a moving haziness, which is before you and yet 

 conveys to your eye no definite image. Before you 

 have half thought what it can be, you see the flower 

 again distinctly, and rub your eyes, thinking there 

 must have been an illusion, or possibly an unsteadi- 

 ness of vision caused by the irritation of that gnat 

 that was buzzing about your head ; when, lo ! 

 the flower just beyond seems to shiver,— you move 

 to see what is there, but there is a move before you, 

 and a dim shadow flits away like a thought. Can 

 it be anything real ? Stand awhile : and now, in 

 the increasing gloom, as you bend over the Petunias, 

 holding your breath, you see a darkness visible drop 

 down before you, but its presence is better made 

 known by the humming sound caused by the rapid 

 vibration of wings. Stir not, or this aerial body 

 will float away. Now you see it deigns not to 

 alight or touch the margin of the chalice, but 

 poising itself in air, stretches out its long tubular 

 tongue and quaffs the nectar at the bottom." 



The Bladder Campion (Silene injlata) is, among 

 wild flowers, one of the chief, and possesses great 

 power of attraction to many of the Noctucc. 

 Amongst those that have been taken from this 

 common wild flower, I may mention the Turnip- 



