HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



89 



tliere is any other heronry in Sussex? — F. II. 

 Arnold, LL.B., Fishboarne, Chichester. 



New Entozoon from a Fish.— In regard; to 

 Mr. William Wright Wilson's interesting commu- 

 nication on a parasitic worm infesting the small 

 wrasse (Crenilabrus rupestris) sent to him by Mr. 

 Hughes, permit me to say that it is evideutly one 

 of the many sexually immature nematoids whose 

 precise generic relations must yet for a long while, 

 I fear, remain unknown. Of course, it may turn 

 out to be the juvenile state of Prosthecosacter minor, 

 but it is just as likely to belong to a totally different 

 genus. In the meanwhile it is best, perhaps, to 

 place these doubtful forms in Diesing's genus 

 Agamonema ; and thus, since Mr. Wilson's parasite 

 has not hitherto been described, we will call it, 

 provisionally, A. Wilsoni. — T. S. Cobbold, 3I.D. 



PORPHYRIO HYACINTHINUS IN SOMERSET. — I 



see a note in the February number of Science- 

 Gossip on the capture of the Purple Gallinule near 

 Weston-super-Mare, in this county, with a question 

 as to whether it is often found in this country. In 

 answer to which, I may say that Mr. Harting, in 

 his "Hand-book of British Birds," mentions only 

 two instances of its occurrence in Great Britain, 

 both of which he considers to have been escapes 

 from some ornamental water : no doubt this was 

 the case in the present instance. I am not aware 

 of any other recorded instance of the occurrence of 

 this bird besides the two mentioned by Mr. Harting. 

 In spite of the wings not being adapted to long 

 flights, as mentioned by your correspondent, it is 

 nevertheless a migratory bird. Colonel Irby, in 

 his " Ornithology of the Straits of Gibraltar," says, 

 on the authority of Earier, that it is [migratory at 

 Tangiers, arriving in Eebruary and March, and 

 returning in December and October. On the 

 Spanish side of the Straits it appears only an 

 irregular visitant, occurring in the neighbourhood 

 of Gibraltar occasionally on migration. — Cecil 

 Smith. 



BOTANY. 



Aquarian Flora. — I have the pleasure of giving 

 particulars of a pretty appendage to the aquarium, 

 namely, a floating flower-garden, which has been in 

 operation about a month. I procured a piece of 

 rough " virgin cork " (such as used for ferneries 

 rustic work, also by photographers), about 9 inches 

 long by 5 inches broad ; thicker the more buoyant. 

 Floated it to observe its position, then, from the 

 highest ground, bored two holes about an inch or 

 so in diameter, and a little distance apart, over 

 which I placed two hyacinth bulbs ; the roots soon 

 leached the water. From the present healthy 

 appearance of the leaves, I have every hope of the 



success of my scheme. The fish appear pleased 

 with the addition, and have availed themselves of 

 the shade offered by the Floating Garden. — J.J.M. 



Colours of Flowers. — Your correspondent 

 E. Edwards writes of the Scarlet Pimpernel (Ana- 

 gallis arvensis), " It is, with the exception of the 

 poppy, our only scarlet wild flower." I had always 

 thought that the Flos Adonis, the Pheasant's Eye 

 {Adonis autumnalis), was admitted to make up the 

 trio of pure red British flowers, and though some- 

 what local, it is, I believe, sufficiently well estab- 

 lished in many counties, Kent especially, to be 

 reckoned a true British native. By the way, has it 

 ever been noticed how remarkably few species or 

 even genera there are that contain varieties of all 

 the three (that we used to call) primitive colours? 

 Thus, of Hoses, we havejflenty of red and yellow, 

 but never a blue. Geraniums (not pelargoniums) 

 show red and blue, but no yellow. Tulips and 

 Dahlias red and yellow, but no blue, &c. The only 

 flowers that I can at this moment call to mind, 

 which present varieties in all three colours, red, 

 blue, and yellow, are— Balsams (and there the blue 

 is not pure), Hyacinths (none of the colours quite 

 pure), Primroses (the blue rather lilac), and the 

 Flax tribe, Linum rubrurn, TAnum flavum, and 

 Linum perenne, which appear to come the nearest 

 to pure colours of any. The Verbena once had a 

 claim to be admitted amongst the class, as there 

 was once a yellow variety (called Sulfurea), but 

 it has been allowed to die out, and, I believe, has 

 never been reproduced.— C. B. 



Amateur Gardening. — I find it a capital plan, 

 in a small Ward's case kind of greenhouse, to place 

 pots and boxes on inverted pans ; this keeps the 

 floor dry, by allowing a current of air to pass below 

 the pots, and protects the pots from being frozen to 

 the floor on cold nights. Have any of your readers 

 tried growing bulbs in pots half-full of quicklime, 

 with the usual soil at the top ? — B. H. Nisbett 

 Browne. 



Raphides in Enchanter's Nightshade. — The 

 common Enchanter's Nightshade (Circeea lutetiana) 

 is an interesting microscopical study, for its leaves, 

 stem, and root are crowded with the peculiar 

 plant-crystals called Raphides, of which Professor 

 Gulliver has from time to time given descriptions 

 in this journal. The cells of the pith of Circeea are 

 filled with small transparent globular bodies. 



Cladium Mariscus (R. Br.) in Arundel 

 Park, Sussex.— This plant certainly is not wild in 

 Arundel Park. Some years ago a not very large 

 pond was converted into Swan bourne Lake, the 

 banks and islands of which were planted with orna- 

 mental shrubs and plants. Amongst the latter were 

 several of the more showy of our native species, and 

 A t is in every sense of the word & garden. Helleborus 



