214 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Boring in the S.E. of England. — It appears 

 from notes by Professor Judd and Mr. C. Homer- 

 sham, read to the Geological Society, that boring 

 at Richmond, Surrey, after having been carried on 

 to a total depth of 1447 feet, has had to be given 

 up. This is 145 feet deeper than any other well in 

 the London Basin, and the strata in which the boring 

 terminated consisted of red and variegated sandstones 

 and marls with a dip of about 30 , which might be 

 Poikilitic, or Carboniferous, or Old Red Sandstone. 

 Furthermore, a boring at Chatham yields confirmatory 

 evidence as to the distribution of the Jurassic rocks 

 south of the London basin, and it is considered that 

 we have now direct evidence of the existence and 

 position of Lower, Middle, and Upper Oolite Strata 

 respectively below the Cretaceous Rocks of S.E. 

 England. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



A Forest of Palms. — At Bordighera, on the Gulf 

 of Genoa, can be seen a veritable forest of palms, 

 thousands upon thousands flourishing in tropical 

 luxuriance, from the infant plant to the fully grown 

 with its leafy crown and larger clusters of fruit, which, 

 however, rarely comes to maturity, the sun not having 

 sufficient power to force the plants to secrete the 

 necessary saccharine matter. One may also see around 

 numerous aloes with their tree-like blossoms, and 

 along the water-courses in the lower grounds small 

 groves of bamboos cultivated to form supports on 

 which to train the vines on the mountain sides. Each 

 year a large quantiry of leaves are cut and despatched 

 to Rome for the decoration of St. Peter's Cathedral 

 on Palm Sunday ; this contract appears to have 

 originated from an ancestor of the present owners 

 rendering the Pope some great service, and for reward 

 he and his heirs were ordered to supply the whole of 

 the palms for that occasion for ever. — J. R. M. 



Notes on Insects.— Last September I "treacled" 

 on various walls and trees in my garden, and in the 

 daytime I several times saw V. atalanta enjoying 

 the sweets meant for nocturnal visitors. I believe it 

 is not usual to find butterflies at treacle, although I 

 have frequently seen numbers of atalanta on plums. 

 One night, on examining a treacle on the trunk of a 

 young black poplar-tree, I saw a splendid specimen 

 of C. nupta sitting on the trunk. Before I could 

 capture her, she flew away. I returned in an hour, 

 and found her on the same tree, and captured her, 

 him, or it. This would seem to show that Catocalas, 

 as well as Nymphalidse, revisit a place after being 

 disturbed and frightened away. Contrary to the usual 

 fate of "treaclers," I several times in September 

 took good catches on moonlight nights, while on one 

 dark night I lound very few moths. The weather 

 during the week had been rather rainy. I have several 

 times noticed that P. Alexis is rather fond of swampy 

 fields. Have any of your readers noticed this, or was 

 it a mere accident ? — F. II. Perry Coste. 



Notes on Blackbirds and Sparrows. — I have 

 just witnessed two incidents which illustrate the 

 scarcity of food for birds at this season of the year, 

 and the readiness with which the feathered tribe 



adjust their habits to their environment. Last even- 

 ing I saw a hen blackbird with one young one 

 hopping over the lawn in search of food. In close 

 attendance were two sparrows, and the reason of this 

 attention was soon apparent. No sooner had the hen 

 found a toothsome morsel for her chick than one or 

 other of the uninvited guests helped themselves to it 

 before it could be passed from the bill of the old 

 blackbird to that of the young one. The broad bill 

 of the sparrow is ill fitted to drag the worms from the 

 now hardened ground ; its ingenuity had found a 

 substitute. Somewhat later another blackbird, who 

 evidently had some hungry young ones in a nest at 

 hand, appeared to have some difficulty in finding 

 sufficient food for them. The ground was very hard, 

 worms were scarce, and the lawn had been carefully 

 hunted over by the previous pair. A lazy beetle is 

 droning overhead, and quick as thought he is caught 

 on the wing, killed, and taken to the nest. Again 

 and again was the feat repeated, and not even the fly- 

 catcher, who was busy at his usual avocations at a 

 little distance, could have shown greater dexterity. — 

 John I. Plummer, July 1st, 1885 



" Druid Stones " at Stanton Drew. — Can 

 you give me information respecting the "Druid 

 Stones " at Stanton Drew, about five miles from 

 Bristol. 1. Are they Druidical remains ? 2. What 

 was their geological origin or locality ? 3. How 

 were they probably transported, i.e. are^ they erratic 

 blocks, or of local origin? — Geo. Bird. 



The Pied Fly-Catcher. — With regard to the 

 query from A. C. Pass, I beg to state that the above 

 bird has been seen several times this season in the 

 Keswick district. It is not a rare bird here. — J. W. 

 Goodall, The Museum, Keswick. 



Glaucium phceniceum. — Perhaps it may interest 

 your readers to know that I found, on a waste piece 

 of ground in the vicinity of this town, July 14th, a 

 specimen of Glaucium phceniceum (Crantz) ; without 

 doubt it is an introduction. — John J. Kidd, Lynn, 

 Norfolk. 



Corolla of Lonicera periclymenum. — During 

 my botanical wanderings last week I was surprised 

 to find numerous specimens of Lonicera, the corollas 

 of which had assumed a green hue, instead of yellow. 

 What is the cause of this peculiarity ? — B. L. 



Colias. — Though south of Louth, it may interest 

 H. Wallis Kew to know my husband caught Colias 

 hyale in 1S68 ; the following year, 1869, C. edusa. In 

 1877 the edusa were very abundant in a clover field, 

 not far from this house, which is near the river Nene. 

 We did not see hyale, and have not met with a 

 Colias since. — I'. S., Wisbech. 



Nasturtium.— Having this year grown some 

 Nasturtium (order Tropceolacea:), I have noticed at the 

 bases of the blades of three of the petals, rather in- 

 clined inwards, about a dozen hairs on each. Could 

 you, or any of yours, inform me what purpose they 

 serve in the economy of the plant ? — L. Lee. 



Sand-Martins and their Nests. — A case of 

 the persistence of birds to build in one place, occurred 

 in Nottingham about six weeks ago. Nottingham is 

 built upon what geologists call the Bunter Sandstone ; 

 which is well shown in a part of the town called the 

 Park. The rock has five or six feet of soil on the 

 top of it. A road was cut through a part of it some 

 years ago, so that the soil and the sandstone were 

 exposed. The martins found the soil and for several 



