June 1, 1870.] 



HARDWICKE'S SCIEN CE-GOSSIP. 



127 



ON NITOPHYLLUM VERSICOLOR. 



"iy ITOPHYLLTJM Versicolor is an alga of very 

 **-^ rare local occurrence on our shores, nearly 

 allied to N. Bonnemaisonia, but from which it 

 differs, and all its congeners, in certain peculiarities 

 that seem to me worthy of the attention and inves- 

 tigation of botanists and microscopists. In old 

 plants the tips of the] fronds become hard and 

 thickened into white callous substances, which are 

 eventually fringed with tendril-like fibres. No fruc- 

 tification has ever been detected on this species; and 

 1 believe that we should rightly characterize these 

 anomalous bodies among the algae as leaf-bulbs 

 (Bulbophylla), which are fitted to survive the finer 

 portion of the frond, and by means of the cirrhous 

 fibres become affixed to algse or other surrounding 

 substances suitable for their continued existence. 

 Many other algse produce these tendril-like 

 appendages at certain stages of their growth ; none, 

 however, that 1 know of, show anything like these 

 peculiar hardened bodies. On examination under 

 the microscope they appear filled with a fine gra- 

 nular mass. Similar callosities arise at the top of the 

 stem at the commencement of the frond ; the stem 

 is stiff and woody, seemingly well fitted to survive 

 the delicate frond, which in the autumn would decay 

 away, leaving the leaf-bulb at the top of the stem 

 uninjured. 



1 have not been able to verify these suggestions 

 from observation, for the delicate texture of this 

 Nitophyllum does not admit of growing it in an 

 aquarium ; the callous tips, however, I have pre- 

 served for six months in sea-water, showing that 

 they are of a very different nature to the rest of the 

 frond. This alga is rare, and supposed to grow in 

 deep water. In this country it has only been ob- 

 tained at llfracombe ; and at Minehead and Porlock, 

 on the Somerset coast, I find it most seasons ; 

 doubtless it may be cast ashore ' on the opposite 

 shores of Wales, and in the coming months of June 

 July, and August, I trust some algaeologists will find 

 it there. It is stated to have been found in Ply- 

 mouth and Jersey, but I have never seen any plants 

 from thence. Youghal, in Ireland, is an old station 

 for it. I am not aware that it has ever been ob- 

 served on the shores of France, though, if it have 

 been obtained in the Channel Islands, we may 

 naturally look for its occurrence on the Erench 

 coast opposite. 



In studying the algre we cannot restrict ourselves 

 to the shores of our own country alone. To gain a 

 correct knowledge of any species, we must ascertain 

 its geographical distribution ; the variation to which 

 it is subject in different localities, and in the case of 

 a species which presents such peculiarities as the 

 present one, it is particularly desirable to find it 

 recorded in fresh localities ; I therefore trust these 



remarks of mine will lead to its further observation 

 during the approaching season. J. Giffokd. 



PLANT NAMES. 



TTAVING been engaged for some little time in 

 JLJ - making notes of the common names of plants 

 which occur in our earlier authors, I am glad to 

 be able to put on record, for the readers of Science 

 Gossip, some few sources of information which af- 

 ford material help in the inquiry. First, then, comes 

 " Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft of Early 

 England, being a collection of documents, for the 

 most part never before printed, illustrating the 

 History of Science in this country before the Nor- 

 man Conquest, collected and edited by the Rev. 

 Oswald Cockayne ; published by the authority of 

 the Lords Commissioners of her Majesty's Trea- 

 sury, under the direction of the Master of the Rolls." 

 Vol. i. (1864) contains, among other matter, the 

 Herbarium of Apuleius ; vol. ii. (1865) has a valu- 

 able glossary ; vol. iii. (1866) contains the Durham 

 Glossary of Names of Plants, and Saxon Names of 

 Plants with glossary. The price of each volume is 

 ten shillings. Next is a very interesting collection 

 of vocabularies, edited by Thomas Wright, F.S.A., 

 privately printed for Mr. Mayer (1857). It con- 

 tains Archbishop Olfric's Vocabulary, tenth century; 

 two Anglo-Saxon Vocabularies of the eleventh cen- 

 tury, and one of the tenth or eleventh century ; a 

 Semi-Saxon Vocabulary of the twelfth century ; a 

 Vocabulary of Names of Plants, middle of the 

 thirteenth century ; an English Vocabulary, a No- 

 mi nale, and a Pictorial Vocabulary of the fifteenth 

 century. These all have lists of Names of Plants. 

 The "Promptorium Parvulorum" (Camden Society), 

 vol. i., A— L (1813) ; vol. ii., M— R (1853) ; vol. iii., 

 completing the work (1865). This last volume has 

 a valuable preface to the whole work, at p. 67 of 

 which are many references to other works and MSS. 

 bearing upon the subject (including those I have 

 already given). There is a long list of plants, with 

 references to the "Promptorium Parvulorum," 

 on p. 556, note. "A Dictionarie, French and 

 English, published for the benefite of the studious 

 in that language, gathered and set forth by Claudius 

 Hollyband" (1593), gives curious and copious 

 details. Hollyband, whose real name was Desain- 

 liens, published other works on language, besides 

 this and "the Frenche Littelton." But I must 

 hasten to close these references with a similar in- 

 teresting work, the French - English Dictionary 

 compiled by Mr. Randle Cotgrave, with another in 

 English and French, " whereunto are newly added 

 the animadversions and supplements, &c, of James 

 Howell, Esq.," 1650 (first edition in 1611). An 

 intimate acquaintance with the works above de- 

 scribed will be a good foundation for further research 

 or be sufficient for most readers. R. T., M.A. 



