34 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



inner corner, which, acting on b, make it move on its 

 hinge with a, so that the apex of b is carried inwards ; 

 this motion being of course communicated to the 

 whole of this piece, the piston is moved along, while 

 at the same time it drives its barbs farther into the 

 poor victim. The plate a is restored to its former 

 position (and consequently b also) by the action of a 

 fifth pair of muscles running from the ridge in the 

 centre of c to the outer and anterior edge of a. The 

 movements can be followed by referring to fig. 25, 

 which is a sting taken from a bee in flagrante delicto. 

 In this it will be noticed that the point b has removed 

 from its former position x, that d is raised from its 

 position and depresses c\ whilst it has also raised the 

 pieces a and b ; and that e is here everted. I am 

 somewhat at a loss to understand what part e plays in 

 this marvellous mechanism, unless it be that of pro- 

 tecting the sting from any interference from a dis- 

 tended rectum, and so have it ready for use on any 

 emergency. The portions c m , figs. 20, 25, spoken of by 

 some as the palpi, appear to me to act as a kind of 

 sheath to allow the safe withdrawal of the barbed 

 shaft within the body. 



There still remain several less important points 

 which I have not mentioned, my object being to 

 draw attention to the matter generally, and I have 

 already taken up too much space. 



Kennington. 



Travers J. Briant. 



PRIMROSES AND VIOLETS. 



" T^IRSTLINGS of the year." Violets, favourite 

 J- flowers of Athens, and no less prized in 

 modern London, come, with their twin sisters the 

 primroses, to us dwellers in town as real heralds of 

 the spring. Borne along in the baskets of the flower 

 sellers, they not only remind us that the winter is 

 over and past, and that not everywhere do smoke- 

 dried houses, leaden skies, and heavy fog-laden 

 atmospheres prevail ; but, as we place them about our 

 rooms, they tell of pleasant spots in the land, where 

 the winds, with balmy breath, are whispering to the 

 trees that now safely may they trust their tender buds 

 from their scaly winter covering ; where the sun, 

 pouring down its warm rays, is kissing into new life 

 the sleeping flowers ; where the sky is clear and 

 serene, and the air is musical with the songs of birds. 

 Both our flowers are to be found in many European 

 countries, and the violet wanders still farther, and is 

 met with in Barbary, China, and Japan, whilst in the 

 south of France and Italy it is largely cultivated for 

 the sake of its perfume. In retired spots, where there 

 are shade and moisture — in woods, under hedges, and 

 on mossy banks— we may look for them. Despite 

 their cosmopolitanism, wild primroses, in parts of 

 Gloucestershire (Cotswold Hills) and Lincolnshire, 

 are not to be found, and it is said, that at Cockfield, 

 Suffolk, they will not grow when planted, the tradition 



being that the primroses became infected with the 

 plague that once raged there. 



Writing of tradition reminds me that in some 

 country places the number of the first primroses 

 brought into the house is thought to determine whether 

 few or many chickens will be hatched that season. If 

 fewer than thirteen, then there will only be as many 

 chicks reared as there are primroses. Chaucer calls 

 the primrose " primrole," and Prior gives "prim- 

 print " as an old name for it. In some parts of 

 Germany it is styled Frauenschliissel " Our lady's 

 keys," but I cannot discover why this name has been 

 given it. 



Concerning the origin of the violet there are many- 

 pretty and fanciful legends. One is, that Diana, 

 having coloured the skin of Ianthis a dusky blue, to 

 free her from the pursuit of Apollo, the nymph so 

 grieved at the loss of her perilous beauty, that she 

 drooped and died, and then became a violet at the 

 will of the goddess. Then again, we are told that 

 Jupiter caused these flowers to spring forth to serve 

 as food for Io, after her transformation into a cow. 

 Perhaps the quaintest and most far-fetched fancy is 

 that of Herrick — " How violets came blue " : — 



" Love on a day (wise poets tell) 



Some time in wrangling spent, 

 Whether the violets should excel 



Or she, in sweetest scent. 

 But Venus, having lost the day, 



Poor girls, she fell on you, 

 And beat you so (as some dare say), 



Her blows did make you blue." 



Herrick was the guilty poet who stole from Carew 



and gave to the world as his own, the beautiful lines 



on primroses, commencing 



" Ask me why I send you here, 

 This firstling of the infant year." 



Nearly all our poets have celebrated these flowers. 

 On the bank where Titania sleeps, the ' ' nodding 

 violet grows ;" the " pale primrose " is to deck the 

 grave of Imogen ; Marina hangs upon the tomb of 

 her nurse " purple violets." Kirke White compares 

 his early death to that of the primrose, and Milton 

 calls for the "rathe primrose" and "glowing violet" 

 to strew on the hearse of Lycidas. The fragrant 

 scent of the violet inspired the exquisite simile, "it 

 (a strain of music) came o'er my ear like the sweet 

 south that breathes upon a bank of violets, stealing 

 and giving odour ; " and we are all familiar with the 

 quotation, "to throw a perfume on the violet is 

 wasteful and ridiculous excess." Vet this scent, so- 

 delightful to most people, in a few cases has been 

 known to cause faintness. Some varieties are scentless, 

 and one of them, the dog violet, was formerly thought 

 to be the same plant as the sweet-smelling Viola 

 odorata, but robbed of its perfume by the sun. 



Perhaps few, except botanists, notice the peculiar 

 construction of the flower of the violet, yet this 

 peculiarity attracting the attention of an American 

 student, aroused in him an interest in flowers. In 

 Bartram the world gained a clever botanist. The 

 i divisions of the corolla of the primrose sometimes 



