44 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



found in Europe, but which has now been proved to 

 be merely a climatal variety of a slightly larger size, 

 but not differing in colour. — J. M. Campbell. 



Rossia MACROSOMA (Belle C///aje).— This interest- 

 ing little squid is of rare occurrence on our shores, 

 and has not, as far as I know, been observed in the 

 West of Scotland. During last summer a specimen 

 was taken in Loch Creran, Argyleshire, by Mr. W. 

 Anderson Smith, of Ledaig, and by him presented to 

 the Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow. — y. M. Campbell. 



Daubenton's Bat in Renfrewshire. — On 

 Wednesday evening, 20th August, 1884, Mr. Stewart, 

 George Street, Paisley, when insect hunting at 

 Cragienfeich, near Paisley, caught a bat in an insect- 

 net out of a flock, which on examination, proved to 

 be Daubenton's bat ( Vespertilio Daubentoni). I 

 received the bat alive from Mr. Stewart, which I 

 kept for some time, and the following are observations 

 on its habits. For food it got fragments of raw mice 

 flesh, pieces of tinned salmon (of which it was very 

 fond), and flies. Each fragment of food was seized 

 with a sudden jerk, and often with a peculiar file-like 

 cry. In masticating it moved its jaws very rapidly — 

 so much so as to produce an optical illusion. It was 

 very fond of drinking, either water or milk, which, 

 from a teaspoon, it lapped with its tongue like a cat, 

 but rather quicker. It generally suspended itself in 

 its cage by the hind feet, and the head downwards ; 

 and in that position dressed its wings with its tongue, 

 and with one of its hind feet combed its fur. After 

 the bat was kept in the cage for some days, it was 

 set at liberty in the house. It often crept on the floor 

 on " all fours," moving amazingly quickly from place 

 to place with an odd hobbling motion. From the 

 floor it often arose to wing with graceful ease. Its 

 flight was but moderately quick. During the evening 

 and forepart of the night, it spent much of its time 

 on wing, hunting house flies. It was a noble hunter, 

 only killing the flies when they were on wing. When 

 it found the flies resting on anything, it set them to 

 flight by bringing its wings close and suddenly past 

 them. At first this method set the flies to flight ; but 

 latterly they were less willing to rise, as if they knew 

 their fate. On the evening of the 27th August it 

 took a large fly, and alighted on my shoulder, where 

 it ate it all save the wings. It was seldom observed 

 to eat the wings of flies. I would recommend the use 

 • of this bat for keeping down house flies, but it has 

 somewhat of a disagreeable smell. Once or twice it 

 hid about the top of my bed, and its whereabouts 

 were unknown ; but on the return of night it came 

 out on wing. When thus hidden, it came forth about 

 3 p.m., on the 1st September, when it was nearly 

 dark, on the approach of a heavy thunder rain. On 

 the 28th August its weight was 2" 125 drams, avoird. 

 On the 7th September it was found dead, hanging in 

 its cage by the hind feet, after being eighteen days in 

 captivity. — Taylor, Sub-curator, Museum, Paisley. 



BOTANY. 



Nepeta Glechoma. — The variegation is caused 

 by an insect which burrows underneath the epi- 

 dermis, and feeds on the soft cellular tissue of the 

 plant, leaving the epidermis intact, and producing 

 beneath it cavities ; thus giving to those portions 

 lighter colour than the rest of the leaf. I do not 

 know of any work on the subject, and can therefore 

 only speak from my own observations. I have seen 

 it in other plants, but have noticed that it especially 

 affects the Nepeta glechoma. — Dunlcy Owen, B.Sc. 



A " Glastonbury Thorn." — On the 20th of 

 November last, near Ipswich, I gathered a sprig of 

 hawthorn in full bloom giving out its characteristic 

 odour. The same branch bore both flowers and 

 fruit. Being so near Christmas, I thought this was 

 not an unapt illustration of how the " Glastonbury 

 thorn " might have been developed, without the 

 aid of any other miracle than those which are taking 

 place every day around us. — y. E. Taylor. 



The Botanical Record Club has published 

 its Report for 18S3, which will be gladly welcomed 

 by all practical botanists, and prove invaluable to all 

 practical botanists. It contains, in a compact and 

 tabulated form, all the most recent "finds" in 

 phanerogamic and cryptogamic botany. 



" The Sagacity and Morality of Plants." — 

 I am not alone in holding this view, or in advocating 

 it ; nor is the subject so far-fetched as some at first 

 thought suppose. Thus at a recent meeting of the 

 Linnean Society, Mr. Alfred Tylor read a paper 

 "On the Growth of Trees and Protoplasmic Con- 

 tinuity," his chief object being to show the principles 

 that underlie the individuality of plants, and to prove 

 that plants have a certain sort of intelligence, and 

 are not merely an aggregation of tissues responsive to 

 the direct influence of light. Not only this, but that 

 the tree as a whole knows more than its branches, 

 just as the species knows more than the individual, 

 and the community than the unit. The result of 

 Mr. Tylor's experiments, which have extended over 

 many years, has been to show that many plants and 

 trees can adapt themselves to unfamiliar circum- 

 stances, such as avoiding obstacles artificially placed 

 in their way, by bending aside before touching, or by 

 altering the leaf arrangement so that, at least, as- 

 much voluntary power must be accorded to such 

 plants as to certain lowly-organised animals. Finally, 

 Mr. Tylor contends that a connecting system, by 

 means of which combined movements take place, is 

 to be found in the threads of protoplasm which unite 

 the various cells, and that this connecting system is 

 found even in the new wood of trees. He has 

 observed that most new wood points upwards, but 

 year after year it changes its position, showing great 

 mobility even in old wood. — y. E. Taylor. 



