02 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



flowered ; early frosts prevented the seed from coming 

 to maturity. It would be interesting to know why 

 this plant is so shy of flowering, more especially as 

 several other species of Helianthus from S. America 

 are noted for their free flowering habits ; H. tuberosus 

 being a native of Brazil, and not, as its name implies, 

 a native of the Holy Land. — J. W. Odell, Pinner. 



Blossoming of the Artichoke.— In answer 

 to E. A. (Science-Gossip, No. 243), I have noticed 

 the blossoms of Helianthus tuberosus during the 

 past autumn in Kent as well as here in Jersey. — 

 M. E. Fope. 



Helleborus viridis. — When examining for the 

 first time a plant of Helleborus viridis, I was struck 

 with the curious form of the stem immediately 

 beneath the flower. It has a wrinkled appearance 

 for about half an inch. Can any one give me 

 information about this phenomenon ; the nature of 

 it, and reason for it ? I have examined it under the 

 microscope, but cannot see anything remarkable, 

 excepting two lines inside the stem, which appear to 

 me to be nerves. It is the same as the pulvinus of 

 the cotyledons, described by Darwin in "Movements 

 of Plants."— If. P. FitzGerald. 



Teratological Notes. Dactylis glomerata. — I 

 recently obtained at Bramcote, near Nottingham, by 

 the roadside, near a farmhouse, two specimens of an 

 abnormal development in a grass, I take to be 

 Dactyiis glomerata, the rough cock's-foot grass, but 

 the inflorescence is slightly altered owing to the 

 malformation, the panicle being very irregular ; it is 

 well described in Maxwell T. Masters' work as 

 '■viviparous grass." I cannot do better than quote 

 his words. " The spikelets of certain grasses are 

 frequently found with some of their constituent parts 

 completely replaced by leaves, like those of the stem, 

 while the true flowers are usually entirely absent ; a 

 shoot in fact is formed in place of a series of flowers. 

 In these cases it generally happens that the outermost 

 glumes are changed, sometimes, however, even the 

 outer and inner paleae are wholly unchanged, while 

 there is no trace of squamulre or of stamens and 

 pistils within them, but in their place is a small 

 shoot with miniature leaves arranged in the ordinary 

 manner. This occurs in many species, amongst 

 others Daetylis glomerata." — C. T. Musson, 

 Nottingham. 



Pelargonium Leaf.— A short time ago a curious 

 leaf malformation was brought to me. A pelargonium 

 leaf had developed into the shape of a wineglass, 

 the bell being like a hollow cone, the leaf-stalk 

 springing from the apex, and, of course, the hollow 

 base upwards. — C. T. Musson, Nottingham. 



The Exploration of Roraima. — Information 

 has been received from Mr. im Thurn, who is at 

 present in British Guiana, to the effect that he has 

 succeeded in ascending Roraima. He found the 



plateau treeless and cold, and by no means so 

 isolated as it has been supposed. His party could 

 only explore for a short distance, but he speaks of the 

 scenery of the mountain and the vegetation on the 

 top as most wonderful, and he found several new 

 species of plants there, but no new animals. 



GEOLOGY, &C. 



Archaean Rocks of the North-West 

 Highlands. — In the October number, lately issued, 

 of the " Proceedings of the Geologists' Association," 

 is a long paper by Professor J. F. Blake, F.G.S., on 

 the stratification of the Durness and Eriboll district 

 of the North-West Highlands, where Archaean 

 gneiss is found overlying beds of later formation, 

 and the subject is also dealt with in the same number 

 by Professor Lapworth. In referring last year to the 

 work done in the Geological Survey in this region, 

 Professor Geikie stated that the prodigious displace- 

 ments of strata to be found there are without a 

 parallel in Britain. Reversed faults, with so low a 

 hade that the rocks on the up-throw side are pushed 

 almost horizontally over the others, produce disloca- 

 tions to which the name " thrust-plane " has been 

 applied, the effects being almost incredible. "In 

 Durness, for example, the overlying schists have 

 certainly been thrust westwards across all the other 

 rocks for at least ten miles." 



Drift-Coal.— The March number of the " Natura- 

 list " contains a note by Professor G. A. Lebour on 

 an Abnormal Deposit of Drift-Coal in North Durham, 

 which consists of a bed, over two feet thick, of 

 comparatively large coal fragments, which however 

 are unlike any coal-measure coal known in the 

 neighbourhood, while they do not appear to have 

 travelled far. 



The Flint Deposits on Midgeley Moor. — 

 Another vigilant search was made for flints on the now 

 well-known Midgeley Moor on Monday, March 2, 

 1S85, with very satisfactory results. Among the 

 finds may be mentioned several "chips," "cherts," 

 a "scraper," and two perfect "arrow-heads," one 

 not very well worked, but the other as sharp-pointed 

 as a needle, with a rounded base and angular sides. 

 The presence of so many chips, cores, &c, with 

 numerous arrowheads, it was thought may indicate 

 the site of an ancient flint manufactory. — S. P., 

 Mytholmroyd. 



" Schillerization." — What is it ? At a recent 

 meeting of the Geological Society of London a paper 

 by J. W. Judd, F.R.S., was read, on " The Tertiary 

 and Older Peridolites of Scotland," in which the 

 author proposed the term "schillerization," to denote 

 "the development of microscopic enclosures, in the 

 form of plates or rods, along certain planes within 



