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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Yorkshire Naturalists' Union.— We have 

 received parts i, 2, and 3, of the Transactions of this 

 well-known Association of the various Field Clubs 

 scattered throughout Yorkshire. A prominent feature 

 in these Transactions is that they are paged in separate 

 series, each being intended to be bound independ- 

 ently of the others, thus avoiding the heterogeneous 

 mixture of subjects which would be the result of 

 printing the papers continuously as received. The 

 societies of the Union are fortunate' in numbering 

 among their members naturalists whose names are 

 well and widely known, and whose contributions are 

 here to the front. Thus we find papers on almost 

 every department of Yorkshire natural history, from 

 Entomology and Conchology to Vertebrata, from 

 Messrs. W. D. Roebuck, W. E. Clarke, G. T. Poritt, 

 J. W. Taylor, VV. Nelson, S. D. Bairstow, S. L. 

 Moseley, &c, whilst the botany of the district is being 

 worked by Dr. Parsons and the Rev. W. Fowler. 



"Death-watches." — At page 215 of the 

 September number of Science-Gossip, in the 

 column replying to correspondents, you describe the 

 " Death-watch " as Anobium striatum J on reference 

 to Rye's " British Beetles," page 148, he gives A. tes- 

 se I latum as the " Death-watch , " again, at page 79, 

 vol. ii. of Cox's "Handbook of Coleoptera," said to 

 be the text-book on Coleoptera, he makes no mention 

 of either^, striatum or tessella turn ; whereas, at page 

 201 of Stephens's " Manual of Coleoptera" he gives 

 both. Shuckard, at plate 53, figure 6, gives an illus- 

 tration of A. striatum (Oliv.) as the "Death-watch." 

 It is strange that Cox should have omitted such a 

 common and well-known beetle ; since he gives no 

 synonyms : is one to suppose that A. striatum is de- 

 scribed under some other specific name ? — y. Bohnso. 



Birds and Fruit. — On the principle that fruit 

 owes its succulence and colouring to the agency of 

 birds, which are supposed to be attracted by these 

 qualities, it would be interesting to know if any and 

 what birds feed on the scarlet berries of "lords and 

 ladies " {Arum maculatum), now standing so 

 attractively by our lane sides. — y. E. Taylor. 



BOTANY. 



Flora of Deal. — I do not know whether there 

 exists any account of the flora of the neighbourhood 

 of Deal. I cannot at any rate trace one, and was 

 prepared on a recent visit to find from the unfavour- 

 able terms in which the district had been represented 

 to me that there was little or no work in the botanical 

 way. I have however been agreeably surprised at the 

 abundance and variety of wild flowers, even in the 

 month of August (during which my visit was made) 

 when the blossoming or most conspicuous period for 

 the most part ceased and seeding time commenced. 

 I should much have liked to come across a complete 



list of the flora, and I can only offer the following as 

 a far from exhaustive list containing such flowers 

 (other than the very commonest kinds) as I came 

 across in my rambles, and which I offer in the hope 

 that it may be of some service towards the compiling 

 of a list or to other searchers. 1. Pretty generally 

 distributed : — Ranunculus bulbosus and R. repetis ; 

 Papaver rhaas, Senecio Jacobcza, Calamintha clinopo- 

 dium, Malva sylvcstris and M. rotuiidifolia, Chrysan- 

 themum leucanthemum, Convolvulus arvensis, Caly- 

 stegia sepiutn, Anagallis arvensis, Silene maritima, 

 Knautia arvensis, Prunella vulgaris, Onopordon 

 acanthium, Anthemis nobilis, Campanula rotuiidi- 

 folia, Daucus carota, Ononis arvensis, Solatium 

 dulcamara, Lotus major. 2. The following were 

 more or less local : — (a) On or near the sandhills. — 

 Calystegia soldanella, Pastinaca saliva, Solanum 

 nigrum (very small), Lycopsis arvensis, Eryngo 

 maritima, Glaucium luteum, Cakile maritima. (b) 

 On the road to Sandwich, via. Sandhills— Dipsacus 

 sylvestris, Pulicaria dysenterica, Fccniculum vulgare, 

 Astragalus hypoglottis. (c) Fields near and about 

 Warmer Castle. — Scabiosa columbaria, Echium vul- 

 gare (in front of the castle), Thymus serpyllum, 

 Hypericum perforatum, Fumaria officinalis, Reseda 

 lu tea, Cichorium iutybus. (d) Veronica serpyllij'olia, 

 on the railway bank. Origanum vulgare, very 

 plentiful near Mongeham. Linaria vulgaris, uncom- 

 monly fine and abundant in a field on the right-hand 

 or west side of the beautiful valley at the back of 

 Walmer Castle, proceeding southwards. Plantago 

 major, ubiquitous, but specially fine near Monge- 

 ham. I gathered a spike nineteen inches in length. 

 Erythrcea centaurium, very plentiful in field at the 

 back of the Castle Inn by Sandown. The curious in 

 trees may find in Ringwould churchyard, about 

 twenty feet from the north-east corner of the church, 

 a yew with a girth of twenty feet three inches at 

 three feet from the ground.— F. H. Habben. 



Bee orchis {Ophrys apiferd). — Have any of your 

 numerous correspondents observed a scarcity of 

 Ophrys apifera this season ? It usually occurs in 

 considerable numbers at various places on the 

 Chiltern Hills, in South Beds and North Herts, and 

 last season was particularly abundant on one hillside 

 of the Lower Chalk escarpment. Having promised 

 a botanical correspondent to supply him with living 

 specimens of both O. apifera and O. muscifera, it was 

 made a special point to obtain them. The fly orchis 

 (O. muscifera) was found the third week in June in a 

 locality on the chalk escarpment where it has occurred 

 regularly in about the same number for several years 

 past. But diligent as was the search for bee orchis 

 both of myself and of friends who live near the hills, 

 not a single specimen could be found either in flower 

 or in fruit. The examinations of well-known locali- 

 ties were continued during the latter part of June, till 

 the third week in July, and as has been mentioned in 



