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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



observes that it is remarkable that so many species as 

 exist there should be able to do so in a country where 

 the temperature has been known to fall as low as 

 5o - 5° F. The absence of shells from the bare open 

 surface of the prairies he attributes to the extensive 

 fires that take place upon them, and refers to his 

 previously-expressed opinion that the absence of earth- 

 worms is due to the same cause. 



Birds of the Soiavay District. — " The 

 Naturalist " for August contains the first part of some 

 notes on the birds of the Solway district by Mr. J. J. 

 Armistead, the notes given being mostly due to his 

 own observation, together with observations made at 

 the Ross Lighthouse, 



Dryinus formicarius. — In the " Entomolo- 

 gist " for August Dr. E. Capron records the capture 

 of Dry imis formicarius, Latr., at Shiere, and in his 

 note says that it is very rare both in England and 

 other countries ; the male is unknown, and nothing is 

 known of the habits of the insect, which, although his 

 specimen is quite three lines in length, he thinks is no 

 doubt parasitic, probably finding its host in the order 

 Homoptera, 



The Periodical Cicada. — This is the title of a 

 Bulletin issued by the United States Department of 

 Agriculture, the author being Dr. C. V. Riley. The 

 Cicada septendecim is an American insect which comes 

 out in broods every seventeen years, while there is 

 also a race, with no perceptible specific difference, of 

 which the broods come out at thirteen-year intervals, 

 and which Dr. Riley has therefore named C. tredecim. 

 Moreover, in both races there are two distinct forms, 

 a larger and a smaller, the former by far the more 

 numerous. The broods come out in different years 

 in different parts of the States, and a list of many 

 broods is given with particulars of their appearances, 

 &c. Every year it is said, for the next seventeen 

 years, except 1887, 1890, and 1892, will be some- 

 where a cicada year. Speaking generally, the seven- 

 teen-year broods belong to the Northern and the 

 thirteen-year to the Southern States. 



BOTANY. 



The Preservation of our rare Native 

 Plants. — The Council of the Midland Union of 

 Natural History Societies has taken a most com- 

 mendable step in issuing a notice drawing attention 

 to the threatened extinction of rare plants, a question 

 which has arisen lately in connection also with the 

 Swiss flora. It is a subject which ought to receive 

 the serious attention of all field-botanists ; and indeed, 

 those who collect personally or by agents, in order to 

 sell, are perhaps not all of them beyond the reach of 

 an appeal. At their door much of the mischief is to be 

 laid, but they are not the only causes, in the opinion 

 of the council, who name, besides, the operations of 



exchange clubs, the careless and indiscriminate 

 gathering of plants by botanists and students, often 

 with their roots or seeds, and the reckless gathering 

 of large numbers of specimens by individual botanists. 

 Various recommendations given with a view to 

 lessening the evil are — to abstain from] countenancing 

 the purchase of native plants from professional plant- 

 hunters, either for their rarity or for their decorative 

 value ; that botanists should make but limited use of 

 exchange clubs, and exclude rare plants from their 

 operations ; that they should restrict themselves in 

 the gathering of plants, and even abstain altogether 

 in some cases ; and that tourists and amateurs be 

 urged to refrain from collecting rare plants, especially 

 when in flower or in seed, as few of those gathered 

 under such conditions can live after removal. What 

 seems to be wanted is that this matter should become 

 a point of honour among botanists, and if it were 

 widely understood that a true botanist did not pride 

 himself on the number of rare plants he had possessed 

 himself of, a feeling would probably follow that it 

 was no special credit to have such in one's collection, 

 and certainly not to make them an object of eager 

 acquisition. One other recommendation may be 

 added to those advanced by the council, viz., to 

 abstain as a rule from telling the localities where 

 rare plants may be found. The compilers of floras 

 will hardly like this, but as they have the power of 

 doing harm in this direction, it is as well to point 

 it out. Moreover, there is no credit in marching off 

 to gather rare plants whose localities have been 

 learnt from a book. Extinction of species is a thing 

 that has doubtless gone on since the world began ; 

 but botanists need not hasten it, and by consideration 

 and the practice of self-denial may do something to 

 hinder it. 



What is a Plant?— Under this title Mr. H. W. 

 S. Worsley-Benison, F.L.S., in a paper reprinted 

 from the " Journal of Microscopy and Natural 

 Science," enumerates various points which appear to 

 afford distinctions between plants and animals, viz., 

 Form, presence of cellulose, of starch, of chlorophyll, 

 function of locomotion, of digestion, of circulation, 

 presence of nitrogen, function of respiration, of 

 sensation, and lastly, the nature of the food. Under 

 these different headings he gives explanatory remarks 

 and examples, and towards the end of the paper says 

 that the case will be found to be pretty much this, 

 that while many of the points are not distinctive 

 enough, " in the presence of a cellulose coat in the plant- 

 cell, in digestion followed by absorption, and in the 

 power to manufacture protein, we find fairly constant 

 and well-marked distinctions ; the morphological 

 feature of plants being this cellulous coat ; of animals, 

 its absence ; the physiological peculiarity of plants, 

 this manufacturing power ; of animals, the want of 

 it." The paper forms a very useful summary of the 

 points bearing on this question. 



