68 



HA RD W1CKE 'S SCIENCE- G OS SIP. 



Double Primrose. — In 1881, I had an abnormal 

 primrose (P. vulgaris) brought to me ; obtained 

 at Gedling, Nottinghamshire. Its peduncle was 

 flattened (as is described at Science-Gossip, p. 20, 

 January, 1S85). The throat of the corolla was some- 

 what hour-glass shaped, the general appearance of 

 the flower giving one the impression that two flowers 

 had become joined into one ; it looked as if about 

 two-fifths of each of two plants had been sliced away, 

 and the two remaining (larger) parts had been joined 

 together along their cut edges, forming one flower. 

 Unfortunately I omitted to examine its different 

 parts. — C. T. Musson, Nottingham. 



The Defences of Plants. — Messrs. Foremy and 

 Urbain have recently drawn attention to cutose, the 

 substance which covers and protects the aerial organs 

 of plants ; and in a paper just read, it is shown to 

 approach the fatty bodies in its properties and 

 composition. Cutose resists the action of energetic 

 acids, it is insoluble in dilute alkalies ; neutral 

 solvents have no action upon it, but boiling alkaline 

 liquids modify its conditions. 



A New Flora of Oxfordshire, including the 

 Berkshire border, is announced to be published by 

 subscription under the editorship of Mr. G. C. Druce, 

 F.L.S., High Oxford, the well-known botanist, 

 author of a Flora of Northamptonshire. The new 

 work is to include also a history of local species and 

 local botanists. 



Blossoming of the Artichoke.— I am anxious 

 to know whether any correspondent has already 

 remarked upon the blossoming last autumn (1884) of 

 ITclianthus tnberosus. It has done so freely in South 

 Herefordshire, though decaying immediately, so 

 that no fructification could take place. It would be 

 interesting to know whether this was general through- 

 out England, or confined to the more southern 

 counties. The blossom is insignificant compared to 

 the size of the plant, a typical composite flower, like 

 a miniature sunflower, about one to two inches in 

 diameter. — E. A. 



A Remarkable Primula.— In December 1883, 

 my gardener sent into the house a plant of the white 

 primula, which was then in bloom. It continued in 

 bloom all through the winter, and the plant 

 continued to grow ; it went on throughout the 

 summer of 1884, and is now a strong vigorous plant 

 covered with bloom, which it has never lost. It 

 measures now \\ yard in circumference, and eight 

 inches in height. It has 5 spikelets of flowers, with 

 five to seven flowers in each cluster, and there are 

 some more coming. The flower is single-pearl white, 

 with crenated edges and a yellow centre. It has 

 generally been my companion in my bedroom when 

 in cold weather, there is a fire till about midnight, 

 but in the summer it is kept in a cool room, with 

 the window open all day. — C. P. Bree, M.D., Hill 

 House, Long Melford. 



GEOLOGY, &c. 



Dolerite and Hornblende-schist. — In a 

 paper by Mr. J. J. Harris Teall, M.A., F.G.S., on 

 "The Metamorphism of Dolerite into Hornblende- 

 schist, read at a recent meeting of the Geological 

 Society of London, the writer referred to two dykes 

 in the neighbourhood of Scourie, Sutherlandshire ; 

 of which one, the southern, is well exposed on the 

 shore on the north side of the bay, and especially at 

 the promontory called C'eag a' M'hail. The pecu- 

 liarity to be observed is the actual evidence of 

 the transition of dolerite into hornblende-schist, 

 Professor Bonney pointing out " that while others 

 had suggested the relations in certain cases between 

 igneous and metamorphic rocks, to the author 

 belonged the merit of having demonstrated this in a 

 particular instance." It was suggested that this 

 observation might not be of very wide application in 

 the question of the formation of schistose rocks, and 

 the author replied that he had not argued that all 

 hornblende-schists were metamorphosed dolerites, 

 but only that a particular hornblende-schist had been 

 produced in this way. 



Remains of Crustacea from Brick-Earth, 

 Wedford, Essex. — It may interest some readers to 

 know I have obtained specimens of Crustacea from 

 brick-earth, some of which are in a capital state of 

 preservation. The remains are principally of crabs 

 and lobsters. I have never met with them before in 

 brick-earth. I have studied brick-earth, boulder 

 clay, and drift-gravels in this part of Essex for 

 over four years, and have collected 500 specimens of 

 fossils and rocks. Can any reader inform me if they 

 are common or not ? — F. Challis. 



Fossil Insects, &c. — Only in our last number 

 we had occasion to record the discovery of a fossil 

 cockroach in the Silurian rocks of Calvados, 

 Normandy. Now we have to mention a still more 

 important " find," that of a fossil scorpion, discovered 

 in the Silurian rocks of the island of Gothland, 

 Sweden. In "Nature," for January 29, there is 

 a capital article on "Ancient Air-Breathers," by 

 Mr. B. N. Peach, in which an engraving is given, 

 from a photograph, of this oldest known "air- 

 breather." Mr. Peach suggests that it may have 

 visited the shores of the Silurian seas to feed on 

 the eggs of Parka and Eurypterids. 



The Boulder-Clay of Lincolnshire.— In a 

 paper on this subject read before the Geological 

 Society of London, Mr. A. J. Jukes-Browne describes 

 the positions of two groups of clays, the grey or 

 blue, and the red and brown, the two types being 

 rarely in contact. He considers that the " brown- 

 clay series," which includes the purple and hessle 

 clays of Mr. S. V. Wood, is of much newer date 

 than the " blue and grey series," which he considers 

 an extension of the upper or chalky boulder-clay of 

 Rutland and East Ansrlia. 



