HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



221 



it is often succulent in texture and the stalk assumes a 

 pinkish hue. 



D. polypodioidcs, Don, is common in the hills. 

 It is as graceful and delicate as the preceding, but 

 larger and far more herbaceous. The pinnules are 

 rounded at the apex, and do not bear the seed, which 

 is situated in the sinus or cut between the lobes. 

 The leaf is soft and downy. 



The climate of Hong-Kong is not so well suited 

 for the growth of ferns as some countries in the same 

 latitudes further from the sea and with a damper 

 atmosphere, for the moist heat of the summer is more 

 than counteracted by the dry cold winds of winter. 



But an attractive feature in the study of ferns is, 

 that although not many representatives of a family 

 may be forthcoming anywhere, a few species of the 

 principal genera can always be found, and thus the 

 student derives a general idea of what a wider field 

 might contain. The wild flowers of China, for 

 example, are wholly different to those of England, and 

 the labour and difficulty necessary for their identifi- 



Fig. 149. — Davallia folypodioides, Don. 



cation and preservation beyond the powers of man'; 

 but a spleenwort, a shield-fern or a filmy once 

 known, there is no spot in the world where one of the 

 brotherhood at least may not be recognised. The 

 range is so limited, and the mode of collecting 

 specimens so simple and easy, that the humblest lover 

 of nature can indulge his taste in this direction. And 

 we feel sure the trouble would be rewarded of 

 making a few friends more in the fern-world by 

 those who care to improve upon perhaps but a slight 

 acquaintance. We have heard it said that enjoyment 

 in the beauty of flowers and the like is diminished or 

 even destroyed by any scientific or technical know- 

 ledge. We can only assure our readers that this is 

 indeed not the case. No, let nature claim the 

 intimacy which is so naturally hers, and we shall 

 find that in a world where faces change, and 

 friendships among our own kind are apt to cause 

 sometimes more sorrow than joy, we shall be able to 

 distract our thoughts and occupy our minds, and 

 gladden our eyes and hearts, with the companionship 

 of those silent though much loved friends ; and the 

 better we learn to know them as we wander from 

 place to place, and from country to country, the more 

 steadfast will be the love we bear them and the more 

 welcome the sight of their familiar faces. 

 Hong-Kong. 



GOSSIP ON CURRENT TOPICS. 

 By W. Mattieu Williams, F.R.A.S., F.C.S. 



THE " carbonari" (charcoal-burners) are a charac- 

 teristic and rather important element of the 

 population of Italy. In my adventure days I walked 

 alone from the Alps to Calabria, and frequently fell 

 among them. Their evil repute at first made me some- 

 what uncomfortable in their companionship, but I soon 

 learned that, like our own navvies, coal-miners, and 

 bargees, they are shamefully libelled by people who 

 imagine that rough, hard, dirty work, is more de- 

 moralising than usurious money-lending and other 

 genteel occupations of that class. Having so often 

 deplored the ignorance, while admiring the natural 

 shrewdness and geniality of these dark-faced fellows, 

 I am glad to learn from the Society of Arts' Journal 

 (August 14th) that there is an immediate prospect of 

 their rude work becoming elevated, and with it the 

 workers, by the introduction of scientific improve- 

 ments, whereby the yield of charcoal will be doubled 

 (the average hitherto has been but 15 per cent, on 

 the original wood), and valuable bye products, such 

 as gas, acetic acid, and tar, will be obtained. This 

 has long been possible by using costly plant, beyond 

 the reach of a carbonaro or an association of carbonari. 

 The " Agricoltore Piceno " describes, in a recent 

 number, a simplification of retorts and condensers 

 that are likely to become adopted, even in the most 

 primitive valleys. As charcoal is the common fuel 

 of the country, used both for cooking and warming, 

 the national importance of this is obvious. It is 

 estimated that in the new process the bye products 

 will pay the cost of labour, and .the wear and tear of 

 plant ; while the yield of charcoal is not only doubled 

 in quantity, but greatly improved in quality. 



In the early part of the year I placed a sitting of 

 ducks' eggs under a hen, but only one was hatched. 

 This was mothered and petted by all the members of 

 the family, and became amusingly dog-like in its 

 attachment. It is now full-grown, follows me about, 

 comes when called, sits by my side when I am 

 reading in the garden, and especially assists in my 

 gardening work, its share being worms, slugs, &c. 

 I have made some experiments on the food of this 

 animal, experiments that have doubtless confirmed 

 the attachment, and find that worms, snails, slugs, 

 beetles and blatta of all kinds, and in all stages, 

 spiders, wasps, bees, centipedes, and nearly every 

 other living creature that is swallowable, is swallowed. 



In the course of our co-operative agriculture we 

 have occasionally disturbed a colony of ants. Miss 

 Waddle made a dash at the first, but was sorely 

 troubled ; shook her head most violently to throw 

 them out of her mouth. Two or three subsequent 

 attacks were made with like result, but now she 

 understands them. The contrast between these and 

 wasps is curious. The inhabitants of an unearthed 



