2IO 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



natural life) and her majesty has departed without 

 raising a successor. In reference to the communica- 

 tion of I. F. R., on page 166, July number, I am like 

 many others— I do not read the " Times," but I have 

 not heard of deserted hives this year ; and I cannot 

 think it possible that a hive could have been found 

 during last April with " honey and no bees." I have 

 kept bees more than forty years, and never but once 

 experienced a summer so bad for bees as last year ; 

 and that was about the year 1859, when about nine- 

 tenths of the bees in the country perished from actual 

 starvation during the following autumn and winter, 

 from their being unable to collect honey for their 

 winter's food in consequence of the unfavourable 

 weather during the summer of that year ; and I much 

 question, when the population of a hive have 

 gradually dwindled away, whether "the last few" 

 could find refuge in a neighbouring colony. We 

 know a loaded bee is generally well received by any 

 hive of bees ; but I never knew a case of a starved- 

 out stock finding refuge in a neighbouring colony. I 

 have stated above, that the duration of the life of the 

 queen is about three years ; this refers only to English 

 queens. I have kept a Ligurian queen in the same 

 hive for five years ; and, as a rule, I have found the 

 Ligurian queens longer-lived, more prolific, and more 

 hardy. — Apis Ligastica, Apicultural Institute, Dover. 



Webless-footed Duck. — When in the country, 

 a short time ago, I saw what I took to be a curious 

 phenomenon, namely, a duck whose feet were entirely 

 webless. It had been born so ; the feet were other- 

 wise perfectly natural. Is this not very peculiar ? — 

 A.M. 



The Midland Union of Natural History 

 Societies. — The Council of the above Union have 

 instituted an annual prize for the paper indicating 

 most original research which may be read before any 

 of the societies included in the union. The prize is 

 to be a gold or bronze medal to be called the 

 "Darwin Medal." Dr. Darwin has signified to the 

 council his sense of the honour thus done to him 

 in connecting his name with a scheme for the en- 

 couragement of original research. 



BOTANY. 



Arrenatherum bulbosum (Lind.). — This plant, 

 mentioned in your last issue, I find about here in 

 clayey soil, with a bulbous rootstock, reminding one 

 of the bulb of Allium oleraceum. As far as I recol- 

 lect, I have not observed this bulbous form on lime- 

 stone. — IV. West, Bradford. 



"The British Moss Flora." — Part ii. of this 

 valuable work treats of the families Buxbaumiacese 

 and Georgiacese. It is fully up to the high merits of 

 the first part, and Dr. Braithwaite evidently intends 

 to make this book worthy of his reputation. 



\ Not indigenous. 



Hertfordshire Flora. — In looking through a- 

 "Flora Hertfordiensis," thirty years old, I noted 

 down the following species, then considered native 

 in Herts, but not now considered native in any part 

 of Britain : — 



1 . Delphinium consolida (extinct) . 



2. Turritis glabra ) Waifs of 



3. Silene Armoria (cultivation. 



4. Papaver somniferum "\ 



5. Medicago sativa 



6. Fragaria elatior 



7. Matricaria Parthenium 



8. Filago gallica 



9. Borago officinalis 



10. Populus nigra (alien). 



11. Scrophularia vernalis (extinct). 



— S. Dillen, Fore Street, Hertford. 



A Review of the British Charac.e. — Under 

 the above heading an article, by Henry and James 

 Grove, has been reprinted from the "Journal of 

 Botany" for 1880. The pamphlet is intended to 

 supply a want, long felt by collectors, of an authentic 

 reference book of the British Characre, and in ac- 

 cordance with that purpose, it is abundantly and 

 beautifully illustrated, the illustration showing the 

 distinctive characteristics of the various species, &c. 



Occurrence of Meadow Saxifrage. — In this 

 neighbourhood for some years past, I have found 

 the occurrence of Saxifraga granulata (Meadow 

 Saxifrage) remarkably local, confined to a few spots 

 within a radius of three or four miles, but abundant 

 where growing, and in three places found upon a 

 sloping sandy bank. This restriction may be partly 

 due to the seeds of this delicately beautiful plant 

 being comparatively heavy, and consequently not so 

 readily carried far by the wind, and also to the pecu- 

 liar roots, growing so near the surface, requiring a 

 certain condition of sandy soil for favourable develop- 

 ment— Horace Pearce, F.L.S., Stourbridge. 



Developed Primulas.— Mr. Swinton writes in 

 your issue of last month,—" They are rarely found 

 intermixed," referring (as I understand him) to either 

 two or three of our wild Primulas. I have never 

 seen the local P. elatior, Jacq., growing, but P. 

 vulgaris b. caulescens is tolerably plentiful here in 

 Yorkshire, and I have often seen it, but only where 

 P. officinalis and P. vulgaris grew intermixed. This 

 variety is not mentioned by Mr. Swinton. In speak- 

 ing of P. elatior, it should be stated whether Withering'? 

 or Jacquin's elatior is intended. The majority of 

 "beginners in botany" call this hybrid (? b. 

 caulescens) the oxlip, and label it P. elatior, Jacq. I 

 have seen large quantities of P.farinosa growing, but 

 never came across it with a sessile umbel. I should 

 like to know if this form is often seen; it must have 

 been seen, as Hooker writes, "Scape stout, 2-8 in., 

 rarely 0." Watson mentions, in " Compendium Cybele 



