HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



i77 



S' 



including cellulose, starch, protoplasm, &c, and the 

 spectroscopic behaviour of chlorophyll. A notable 

 feature in this chapter is the list of references to the 

 literature of the various subjects given under their 

 respective heads. Scattered throughout the work are 

 numerous good woodcuts, and at the beginning two 

 plates of test objects. The book is decidedly one to 

 be recommended. 



Year- Book of the Scientific and Learned Societies of 

 Great Britain and Ireland (London : Charles Griffin 

 & Co.). This is the second annual issue, and, to 

 quote from the preface, it aims at affording : (1) An 

 Account of Scientific Work 

 done in the various depart- 

 ments throughout the year ; 

 {2) A Record of Progress ; 

 and (3) A convenient Hand- 

 book of Reference. With 

 this view, it gives first a list 

 of Societies devoted to Sci- 

 ence generally, including 

 Literature, from the Royal 

 Society, downwards. In 

 most cases the names of 

 officers are given, and in 

 many cases lists of papers 

 read. This part extends 

 over more than fifty pages, 

 or about a quarter of the 

 whole book, and is followed 

 by the special societies ar- 

 ranged under their subjects, 

 and treated in the same way. 

 There is a good index, and 

 the Annual will doubtless 

 •be found a useful book of 

 reference. 



Celestial Motions : a Handv 

 Book of Astronomy, by 

 W. T. Lynn, B. A., F.R.A.S. 

 (London : Stanford). This 

 handy little book is now in 

 its third edition. It consists 

 of about eighty pages pretty 

 well packed with informa- Fig. iid—Nephrolcpis tubercsa (Presl). 

 tion about the earth, moon, 



.sun, planets large and small — a numbered list of the 

 latter being given, now amounting to nearly 250, with 

 names of discoverers, and date and place of discovery, 

 — comets, meteoroids, and fixed stars. The last chapter 

 consists of a short historical sketch of astronomical 

 discovery, and is followed by a brief glossary of terms 

 used. It appears to be a very useful book to keep 

 ■on hand, for reference as to the elementary facts of 

 astronomy. 



SOME FERNS OF HONG KONG. 

 By Mrs. E. L. O'M alley. 



{Continued from p. 150.] 



Gen. X. Aspidium, Sw. 



{Shield-wort or Buckler-fern.) 



O called from the indusium fastened either in 

 the centre, or on one side (like a shield or 

 buckler), and covering the sorus, or seed-heap. 



Nephrolepis, Presl, or kidney-shaped buckler-fern, 

 is a section of the genus in which the indusium is 

 very deeply indented on one side. 



Fig. 117. — Meniscium simplex lHo»k.). 



The " Geological Magazine " for May contains a 

 somewhat long review, with figures, of Professor 

 -Marsh's monograph of the Dinocerata. 



.V. tuberosa, Presl, is exceedingly abundant, and 

 is soon recognised by the short, stiff, erect pinnae, 

 growing closely together up each side of the stalk, 

 and round the inside edge of which are the kidney- 

 shaped sori, and outside a row of white chalky-looking 

 dots. This species has tubers at the root. It is also 

 found in another form, and without tubers, and the 

 pinna: much longer and more straggling. 



In N. acuta, Presl, the frond reminds us of Brainea, 

 for the pinnae are long, smooth, and not at all 

 crowded. The leaf is a bright glossy green, slightly 

 wavy at the edges, and grows to a considerable size. 

 In Glenealy it is abundant, and adds much to the 



