[July 1, 1870. 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



ICE 



Pre-historic Remains. — The great storm which 

 visited Ballycotton on the last day of the last year, 

 washed away a large portion of the bog- and surface 

 shore, along the north shore of the bay. An exami- 

 nation of the strata laid bare by the waves has re- 

 sulted in the discovery of numerous pre-historic 

 remains— split bones, shells, &c— in fact, a large 

 Kjoenkemocddiug. The discovery is attracting the 

 attention of the antiquaries and geologists of Cork. 

 — The Standard June 11. 



Tunnelling Bees. — Whilst, visiting at a friend's 

 residence a short time ago, I was shown what struck 

 me as a rather curious circumstance. There hap- 

 pens to be a raised bank of turf against one side of 

 the house, and this embankment was literally per- 

 forated by the tunnels of a small bee, the tunnels 

 being in no part more than a quarter of an inch 

 distant from each other, and running, as I was 

 told, about three feet from the surface under- 

 ground. The occupants might be seen issuing 

 in great numbers continually from these tunnels, 

 and as I watched them, the thought occurred 

 to me how it was possible each bee found his 

 own tunnel again, among so great a number, all 

 presenting the same appearance, and so closely 

 arranged together. After a short chase, I succeeded 

 in capturing one, but possessing, unfortunately, but 

 little knowledge of Entomology, I was unable to 

 decide as to what order they might belong. I was 

 inclined to think at first- that it might be the lapi- 

 dary bee (Bombus lapidarius), having, as well as I 

 remember, somewhat of that insect's general appear- 

 ance. Referring, however, to that excellent work, 

 "Homes without Hands," I find it does not bear 

 me out in my supposition. What astonished me 

 most was, that this spot in the garden alone seemed 

 to have been chosen by the bees ; hardly a single 

 tunnel could I discover, even as much as a few yards 

 distant from the bank. I should feel much obliged 

 if any of your correspondents could give me any in- 

 formation on the subject. — J. S. William, Durham. 



On Some Anomalies of Speech. — A Chart, or 

 sea map, is a carte — i. e., a card ; it is a relic of the 

 Greek x c '<P T) K, applied to a leaf of papyrus prepared 

 for writing, and from x a 9"-(row, "to cut by fur- 

 rows, to plough," an allied word, we have character, 

 in the sense of an inscribed mark. Literally, Chart, 

 with us, means a thick sheet of paper. A Map is 

 said to be derived from aPhceuician word, adopted by 

 the Romans as mappa, the equivalent to what we 

 call a napkin ; but it is very probably only a Semitic 

 form of the original word papyrus, the m being 

 intrusive ; as in the Celtic mab, derived from abba, 

 father—/, c, pater. Both words, it will be seen, 

 present this anomaly, that they carry us back to the 

 material used, and throw no light whatever upon the 

 mode of constructing or laying down maps andcharts, 

 or to the uses for which such things are designed. 

 In the one case, chart, from x^P Tt K, a prepared 

 sheet of papyrus, carries us back to -the material — 

 "paper"; but paper, so well known to us now, is 

 from the Greek ircnrvfjoc, the Papyrus antiqiiorum, 

 an aquatic plant of ancient Egypt, a sedge or bul- 

 rush, now extinct (?) ; but the Cy penis papyrus, an 

 allied plant, is well known. The stem of this plant 

 was cut vertically in thin slices, which adhered on 

 pressure when in a moistened state : numerous spe- 

 cimens may be seen in the British Museum, called 

 papyri, or manuscripts. In the other case, the 

 word map carries us back to the first idea of manu- 

 facturing a writing material out of textile fabrics. 



It was, apparently, the invention of Phoenicians, and 



the product, in reality, a piece of linen— in nursery 

 language, a "nap." In the present day, the most 

 durable maps for travelling use are printed on fine 

 linen ; while paper is now made of any material that 

 can be obtained cheap enough to pulp together for 

 the purpose, — such as chopped wood and metal 

 tilings, straw, old rags (the most costly of all), tow, 

 hemp, — pure cotton paper being a sreat rarity. The 

 same anomaly of substituting material in place of 

 use runs through most allied words ; as in our word 

 "Bible," from the Greek fiufiXoc, which is only 

 auother name for the papyrus; and our word 

 '"' library," from the Latin liber, " the inner bark or 

 rind of a tree," used for a similar purpose to the 

 papyrus ; and our own word " book," similarly 

 derived from the Anglo-Saxon word hoc, " a beech," 

 when used in primitive times for a like purpose. — 



A. Hall. 



Suggestion. — Our present floras are mostly too 

 cumbrous for use in the field. I have long wished 

 that the author of some one of these floras would 

 bring out two or more of the families in a detached 

 form. If this could not easily be done, then why 

 not print the floras so that students might split up 

 the volumes for themselves 'i— B. T., M.A. 



Borrago. ■ — Throughout his recently-published 

 admirable "Student's Flora," Dr. Hooker spells 

 our old friend Borac/o and its compounds with the 

 reduplicated r. I am aware that in Italian we have 

 borragine, in Spanish burraja, and in Portuguese 

 borragenis, but I have not met with the above form 

 in Latin writers, nor in other English floras. Is 

 not the root of the word the Greek pond, food ? — 



B. T., 31. A. 



Rare Plants at Torquay (p. 139).— If Mr. 

 Grattann will turn to vol. iv., p. 281, he will find 

 that Asplenivm Bitfa-muraria is (or was at the time 

 I wrote the paragraph in question, in which are two 

 or three typographical errors) to be found at Anstis 

 Cove. I also found specimens in Daddy Hole, near 

 Torquay, which I at first took to be fronds of a rarer 

 fern. I well remember, on the occasion of my first 

 expedition in search of ferns, finding, as I thought, 

 Gymnogramma leptophylla, which I had heard might 

 possibiy occur in the Isle of Wight. The fronds 

 agreed admirably with the drawings in my hand- 

 hook, but my plant was merely a seedling Lastrea. 

 It is imperative in most cases to have the fronds in 

 fruit.— B. T, 3I.A. 



CoNFERViE in Aquaria. — As a successful grower 

 for several years, I will let " C. L. C." know how I 

 kept my plants free from the disfiguring appen- 

 dage. I have sponged the jar regularly- drew 

 each leaf through the fingers, and kept snails ; but. 

 to no purpose. The only plan of any use, and 

 fortunately it keeps the plant in vigour as well as 

 beauty, is to change the water frequently. Put the 

 jar under a tap, and let the water run in for as long 

 a time and as often as convenient. Soft water is 

 the best, and if a few degrees warmer than that 

 which is already in the jar so much the better ; yet 

 I have pumped into mine for half an hour at a time 

 in summer weather, without doing any apparent 

 injury to the plauts. I may mention that although 

 J pumped pretty often, yet a colony of polyzoa 

 made their appearance. In an article which 

 appeared some time since, the writer, in describing 

 the gathering of Chondrus crispus, spoke of its being- 

 much mixed with Falisneria spiralis. Surely he 

 meant the Zostera marina. — H. J. Bacon. 



