iS 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



one species, that insects, whether in respect of time 

 or place, are frequently wont to err in oviposition. I 

 could wish that people would collect and compare 

 more examples of the like kind. Perhaps we might 

 thereby discover many a secret in the economy of 

 insects that still remains hidden from us." — J. A. 

 Osborne, M.D., Milford t Letterkenny. 



The Great Bustard in Jersey. — It may interest 

 some of your readers to know that two fine specimens 

 of the Great Bustard were shot in this island (Jersey) 

 on the 8th of December. — J. Sine!. 



Bulwer's Petrel (Tfaalassidroma Bulwerit). — A 



specimen of this very rare bird was recently dis- 

 covered about two miles from Ipswich, where it was | 

 intended to do duty as a "crow" in the used-up 

 attempt to " scarecrow " other birds. The specimen 

 has been secured for the Ipswich Museum. — J. E. 

 Taylor. 



The " Painted Lady" in Hawaii. — The Rev. 

 T. Blackburn mentioned, in the " Entomologists' 

 Monthly Magazine " for December, the occurrence of 

 the "Painted Lady" (Vanessa Cardui) in consider- 

 able abundance in various parts of the Hawaiian 

 Archipelago last summer. 



BOTANY. 



Watson's Province No. IV. — This botanical 

 province comprises Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, 

 Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Northampton- 

 shire. As little is known about the distribution of 

 mosses in this province, and as information is wanted 

 for topographical purposes, I shall be very pleased to 

 name any mosses sent to me from this province, the 

 mosses to be fair specimens, labelled with full 

 particulars as to habitat, date, and altitude in all 

 possible cases. Any doubtful specimens will be 

 submitted to the highest authorities.— JVm. West, 

 15 I lor ton Lane, Bradford. 



"Journal of Botany."— We understand that 

 Mr. James Britten, F.L.S., succeeds Dr. Trimen in 

 the editorship of this important and well-known 

 journal. 



Albino Foliage. — Professor Church has recently 

 read another paper before the Chemical Society of 

 London, in which he has shown that white foliage 

 does not possess the power, even in sunshine, of 

 decomposing carbonic acid in the air. Experiments 

 were made with leaves of maple, holly, ivy, and 

 alocasia. 



KalmiA latifolia (see query p. 282, col. 2), is 

 certainly a poisonous plant. In Rees's Cyclopaedia 

 (1819) it is stated that "The value of the first sort, 

 (latifolia) is much lessened by its noxious properties." 

 Don's "Dictionary of Dichlamydeous Plants," 1S34, 

 has, " This genus is considered poisonous and is often 



fatal to cattle." Lindley, in his "Vegetable Kingdom," 

 ( J S53) p. 454, quotes from Burnett: "The flowers 

 exude a sweet honey-like juice, which is said when 

 swallowed to bring on intoxication of a phrenitic 

 kind, which is not only formidable in its symptoms 

 but very lengthened in its duration." In vol. ii. of 

 Supplement to the Penny Cyclopaedia (1S51) is- 

 information to the same effect. On p. 517 of Mrs. 

 Hooker's translation of Le Maout and Decaisne's. 

 " General System of Botany" (1S73) I read, "The 

 genera Rhododendron, Sedum, Kalmia and Azalea 

 are narcotic ; the honey extracted from their flower 

 is extremely poisonous." In Miss Edgeworth's " To- 

 morrow" (Tales and Novels, 1832, vol. v. p. 341), a 

 story for those who are fond of "sweet procrastina- 

 tion," the hero says, " I observed in the crop of one 

 of the pheasants some bright green leaves and some 

 buds, which I suspected to be the leaves and buds of 

 the Kalmia latifolia, a poisonous shrub," &c. &c. 

 Tapton Elms, Sheffield. Bernard Hobson. 



GEOLOGY. 



The Fish Remains found in the Cannel 

 Coal in the Middle Coal-measures of the 

 West Riding of Yorkshire. — Mr. James W. 

 Davis, F.G.S., has recently read a paper on this 

 subject before the Geological Society. The remains- 

 described by the author were from a bed of cannel 

 coal about 400 feet above the base of the middle 

 coal-measures, and were chiefly obtained from this, 

 lied at the Tingley Colliery. At Tingley the fish 

 remains were stated to occur in greatest abundance 

 between the cannel coal and the " hubb ; " but they 

 are also found in both those portions of the deposit. 

 Of known species Mr. Davis has identified : — - 

 Ccelacanthus lef turns, Ctenodus elegans, Megalichthys 

 Hibberti, Rhizodopsis (sp.), Faltzoniscus (sp.), Gyrx- 

 canthus formosns, Ctcnacanthiis horridus, Diplodus 

 gibbosits, Ctenoptychius pectinatus, Jdelodus simplex, 

 teeth of Cladodus and Petalodus, scales of Rhizodus, 

 ribs and bones of Ctenodus, Pleuracanthus licvissimus, 

 and six other species, and the following which 

 are described as new forms : — (1) Compsacanthus 

 triangularis, (2) C. major, and (3) Ostracacanthus 

 dilatatus, the type of a new genus resembling Byssa- 

 canthus (Agass.). The teeth of Ccelacanthus were said 

 to be small and sharply pointed ; they have not been 

 found attached to the jaw, but in certain specimens of 

 the latter the alveolar spaces are well shown, extending 

 in a single row along the rami. The air-bladder of 

 this genus is also said to be preserved, and to present 

 some resemblance to the bony air-bladders of Siluroid 

 fish inhabiting the fresh waters of Northern India; 

 and in general the author dwelt at considerable 

 length upon the possible relationships existing 

 between the fishes whose remains he described and 

 the Teleostean Siluroids and Ostracean. 



