S2 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



first place, I may say that no one has been misled 

 by Dr. Carpenter's expression, " the Greensand 

 deposit of the Cretaceous epoch," which is a 

 definite term, referring not to a greensand bed, 

 but to the Greensand Formation as a whole. 

 Again, my reason,'"marked categorically as number 

 2, had no special reference to the English Green- 

 sand, nor did it so appear from the context. I referred 

 to the Greensand Formation in the same sense as 

 Dr. Carpenter. It has been pretty well established, 

 and is, indeed, admitted by Mr. Brown, that the casts 

 occurring so abundantly in the Cambridge Green- 

 sand are derived from an older bed; and whether 

 these derivative fossils retain their shells, or are 

 mere casts, seems not to have any bearing on the 

 argument. Mr. Brown must have read my com- 

 munication in a hasty manner, otherwise he would 

 not have made such an obvious mistake as to 

 imagine that I considered that the fact of the 

 absence of certain fossils from our Antrim green- 

 sands proves the non-existence of these fossils 

 in any other locality. I never met with an Irish 

 naturalist who was capable of such an assump- 

 tion, and having enjoyed the pleasure of knowing 

 some earnest and acute Cambridge naturalists, 

 I think I may venture to affirm that Mr. Brown 

 will not find any similar assumption in his own 

 district. Dr. Carpenter, however, does not hedge 

 his theory with any limitations, and, with all respect, 

 it seems to me that it is necessary for his argument 

 that all greensands should be constituted of 

 glauconitic casts of foraminifera. The statement 

 made by " authorities," that certain greensands 

 which they have examined are so constituted, has 

 been accepted by me already, as any one will see 

 who glances at the conclusion of my former note ; 

 and it is not necessary that the party making 

 such statement should be an authority in the sense 

 of Mr. Brown ; any trustworthy observer who gives 

 an intelligible account of what he sees, is entitled to 

 as much respect as an " authority." The Greensand 

 of the North of Ireland is usually quite soft, and 

 requires only washing and sifting to prepare it for 

 the microscope ; acids would not assist the in- 

 vestigation, and were not used in this case. Any 

 one who has seen the beautiful series collected by 

 Mr. Wright from our chalk flints will understand 

 that it must be an easy matter to determine whether 

 the grains of glauconite are fossil casts or amorphous 

 particles. Mr. Wright's collection, made with great 

 labour, from the chalk of this locality, numbers over 

 a hundred species and well-marked varieties of 

 foraminifera, distributed over 22 genera. The 

 types are very diverse, and the distinguishing charac- 

 ters in many cases so decided as to render their 

 detection easy, even were the test removed. While 

 the microscope will not avail to separate casts of 

 nearly-allied forms, it will, at all events, enable the 

 observer to decide on the broad question of fact, 



as to whether the grains of the material under 

 examination have been moulded in the interior of a 

 foraminifera! shell. In one respect, I must claim 

 the right to say something on this matter. I have 

 not got my views at second-hand ; before venturing 

 an opinion on the subject, I took the precaution of 

 trying to see "if these things were so"; not 

 with a view to the matter in dispute. I made an 

 offer of material to any who doubted my conclusions, 

 or who very properly wished to examine for them- 

 selves. Several gentlemen availed themselves of 

 that offer, I know not with what result, but any 

 statement of theirs should at all events be received 

 with respect. 1 am referred to papers by Mr. Sollas, 

 F.G.S., which papers I read years ago. I have also 

 read Mr. Seeley's paper on the subject,* to which I 

 am not referred; but who states conclusions that 

 seem much more in harmony with facts than those 

 of Mr. Sollas. I have been in the habit of perusing 

 the " Quarterly Journal " of the Geological Society 

 of London, also the journal of the Royal Geological 

 Society of Ireland, the " Geological Magazine," 

 "Annals of Natural History," Science- Gossip, 

 &c, and am of opinion that I could not have 

 received much information on the subject from 

 Mr. A. J. Jukes Brown, additional to what I have 

 derived from these sources. 

 Belfast. S. A. Stewart. 



HOLLY AND MISTLETOE. 



LITTLE thought of during the rest of the year, 

 at Christmas time holly and mistletoe take a 

 position of importance, denied to them all the other 

 months. The holly, as might be expected of a 

 plant of its sturdy nature, boldly asserts itself, and 

 is, at the season just passed, to be met with every- 

 where. In our churches it twines round the 

 pillars, runs along the front of the galleries, and 

 wreathes the pulpit; whilst on home and hospital 

 walls, its shining leaves and bright berries gladden 

 all, bringing to sick and well thoughts of past 

 happy Christmases and hopes of future ones as 

 blessed. Banished from churches, where, only by 

 mistake, we are told, did it ever have place, 

 Mistletoe has, in many houses even but an un- 

 certain footing, for all do not look with favour 

 on the privileges it brings in its wake. I propose 

 to give a few facts concerning mistletoe and holly, 

 taking the latter first. Holly (Ilex aquifolium) 

 is an indigenous plant, growing also in warm 

 and cold countries of Europe, Asia, and America. 

 Although of slow growth, it attains, in a few in- 

 stances, a great height, and forms, with care, after 

 some years,, handsome hedges. Evelyn had a fine 

 holly hedge at Says Court, and I have seen one 



* " On the Rock of the Cambridge Greensa d." — Geol. 

 Mag., vol. iii. p. 305, et s?q. 



