HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



75 



sellers to disguise it being a very common field herb 

 growing in most parts of England, would have it 

 thought, with many other plauts, to be an exotic, 

 and call it Salsify, whilst by whatever name dignified 

 or distinguished, it must be owned," says this 

 author, "to be an excellent salet root." 



Parkinson also mentions the common Goat's- 

 beard as being cultivated in his day. 



The flowers of the Salsify are purple, while those 

 of the Goat's-beard are yellow. Linnaeus, in his 

 dissertation on the " Sexes of Plants," relates that 

 he obtained a mule plant by sprinkling the stigmas 

 of T. pratensis with the pollen of T. porrifolius, and 

 the progeny of the seed had purple flowers, yellow 

 at the base, evidently of an intermediate nature 



ON THE SIRENIA, 



between the two parents; nor can anything, as 

 Linnaeus observes, more decidedly evince the gene- 

 ration of plants. The Salsify is found apparently 

 growing wild in the southern parts of England, but 

 there is no doubt that it is an escape from cultiva- 

 tion. The root, when boiled, mashed, and fried in 

 butter, has the flavour of oyster patties; indeed, I 

 have heard the plant called the "Vegetable 

 Oyster." 



Dr. Lettsom says that the roots of this plant and 

 that of the Scorzonera, when roasted, eat with a 

 pleasant flavour equal to that of chestnuts. 



Charles Bryant, of Norwich, in his "Elora 

 Dietetica," published in 1783, says that the roots of 

 the Scorzonera used to be preserved with sugar in 

 the same manner as the Eryngo, Sea Holly. 



Both the [Scorzonera and the Salsify are almost 

 invariably; attacked by Erysiphe cichoracearum, a 

 small parasitic fungus, one of the mildews, but it 

 has not the effect of injuring the growth of plants 

 much, as it is late in the summer when it makes its 

 appearance, in the form of numerous white 

 blotches on the leaves. 



The Salsify is abundantly cultivated on the Con- 

 tinent. The flowers of this and the Goat's-beard 

 close at mid-day, and therefore are known by the 

 name in many parts of the country as Go-to-bed-at- 

 noon. It is stated by Villars that the children in 

 Dauphiiie eat the stem and leaves of the young 

 plant, before the flowers appear, with great avidity, 

 and that the fresh juice of these tender herbs is a 

 good remedy for bile. 



The generic name of this plant is derived from 

 tragos, goat, and pogon, beard, from the bearded 

 appearance of the seed; the specific name from 

 porrum, the leek, on account of the resemblance 

 of the leaves to that vegetable. 



Hampden G. Glasspoole. 



Bufeonia tenuieolia.— " It is pretty well es- 

 tablished that Smith was wrong as to the intention 

 of Linnaeus in the application of this name." — 

 Alcoc/c's Botanical Names for English Readers. 



By Thomas Southwell, E.Z.S., 



Honorary Secretary to the Norfolk and Norwich Neturalists* 

 Society. 



{Continued from p. 59.) 



The Dugong. 



rpHE Dugong (Halicore dugong, Illiger) is 

 -*- closely allied to the Manatee both in habits 

 and appearance. Although confined to the tropics, 

 this species has a wide geographical range ; it is 

 found, according to Murray (Geo. Dist. of Mam.), 

 on the eastern coast of Africa, from 20° S. latitude, 

 northward to the Red Sea ; on the coast of the 

 Arabian Sea, Ceolon, Bay of Bengal, and Cochin 

 China, as far as 20° N. latitude ; also in the Indian 

 Archipelago, and the northern part of Australia. In 

 general appearance it much resembles the Manatee, 

 but may at once be distinguished by its forked tail, 

 which organ in the Manatee is rounded; in the 

 male, the tusk-like incisors are permanent, but 

 in the female these do not penetrate the gum ; the 

 canines are absent, and the grinders, three in num- 

 ber, on each side either jaw. The flippers are 

 devoid of any nail-like appendages. In length it 

 exceeds the Manatee, and is said sometimes to reach 

 20 feet, but about 10 feet appears to be the usual 

 size. The skin is smooth and thick, with a few 

 scattered hairs, brownish-black or slate-coloured, 

 lighter on the under parts, and occasionally white 

 on the breast and belly. The flesh is said by some 

 to be excellent as an article of food, by others it is 

 esteemed quite the reverse. 



The habits and food of the Dugong are very 

 similar to those of the Manatee : like it, this 

 species frequents the still, shallow waters of bays 

 and creeks, where it feeds on the submarine vege- 

 tation, which abounds in the warm waters of the 

 tropics. In such situations it was formerly very 

 abundant, and fed below the surface in large 

 flocks. When rising to breathe, it is said to have 

 been so fearless as to permit itself to be handled, 

 and that the fattest and youngest were thus 

 selected and shot, or forced on shore. (Leguat.) Sir 

 Emerson Tennent thus speaks of the Dugong in 

 Ceylon': " One of the most remarkable animals on 

 the coast is the Dugong, a phytophagous cetacean, 

 numbers of which are attracted to the inlets, from 

 the Bay of Calpentyn to Adam's Bridge, by the 

 still water, and the abundance of marine algae in 

 these parts of the gulf. The rude approach to the 

 human outline, observed in the shape of the 

 head of this creature, and the attitude of the 

 mother while.sucklinglher young, clasping it to her 

 breast with one flipper, while swimming with the 

 other, holding the heads of both above water, and 

 when disturbed, suddenly diving and displaying her 

 fish-like tail,— these, together with her habitual de- 



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