HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



21 



Geology of Colchester. — A capital ,'paper on 

 the above subject has just been read by Mr. W. H. 

 Dalton, of her Majesty's Geological Survey, before 

 the members of the Colchester Natural History 

 Society. The paper consisted of a limine sketch of 

 nearly new geological ground, including chalk, 

 Thanet beds, Reading beds, London clay, red crag, 

 glacial and post-glacial deposits. 



Middlesex Ciialk. — I beg to inform " W. H. G." 

 that there are some extensive chalk-pits in Hare- 

 field, some in use, but many are abandoned. The 

 old chalk-pits are very interesting to the botanist 

 and geologist. The nearest railway stations are 

 Uxbridge and Rickmans worth ; the latter is prefer- 

 able, as the chalk extends more in that direction.— 

 0. H. Seward. 



Guide to the Geology of Londox. — We are 

 glad to see that a second edition of this clearly- 

 written and well-arranged little manual has been so 

 soon called for. The author's large work on the 

 " Geology of the London Basin " has been laid 

 under contribution, and its most important features 

 re-appear in the present book. All the various 

 formations in the neighbourhood of the metropolis 

 are described ; the places where the best sections 

 are to be seen, and where fossils are to be obtained, 

 are also severally mentioned. The student of 

 London geology could have no better guide than 

 the author, Mr. W. Whitaker, E.G.S., who is justly 

 regarded as one of our best authorities in field 

 geology. We are further glad that the book has 

 been such an unexpected success, as it will convince 

 the Stationery Office (if that is the bureau to which 

 we should look) that the English public would 

 gladly purchase the "Memoirs of the Geological 

 Survey" if they would publish them at a more 

 reasonable price. The present Guide is published 

 at a shilling. 



Proceedings of Societies. — We are pleased 

 to notice that the Watford Natural History Society 

 bids fair to take one of the most prominent places 

 among provincial societies. The list of members 

 includes some well-known names, so that in this 

 respect the society has an advantage over many 

 others. In the second part of the Society s 

 " Transactions" the papers are devoted to natural 

 phenomena, the first part being almost exclusively 

 geological. Mr. John Hopkinson, F.G.S., has 

 one on "The Observation of Periodical Natural 

 Phenomena," and Mr. J. E. Harting, F.L.S., 

 another on his favourite topic of Ornithology. The 

 Glasgow Natural History Society have also pub- 

 lished the first part of the second volume of their 

 " Proceedings." It contains several geological 

 papers,' — "On the Mode of identifying Tertiary 

 Fossils," by Mr. D. Robertson, E.G.S. ; " On the 

 Extinct Eossil Shells Bellerophon and Porcellia," 



by John Young, F.G.S. The latter geologist also 

 contributes other papers, on " An Arctic Shell-bed 

 at Cartsdyke " ; the " Parallelism of the Irish and 

 Scotch Carboniferous Strata," &c. ; whilst Dr. John 

 Grieve has a paper on the " Fossils from the Leaf- 

 beds of Mull," and Mr. James Coutts one on the 

 " Post-tertiary Clay-beds at.Kilchattan Bay, Bute." 



The Sheffield Museum. — We are very sorry 

 to see that, owing to a difference between the 

 curator of this museum, Mr. C. Callaway, B.Sc, 

 and one of the committee, the former has tendered 

 his resignation. Mr. Callaway is perhaps better 

 known among American geologists than English, on 

 account of his knowledge of American fossil 

 brachiopoda. The main cause of difference (which 

 seems to us to have taken the form of persecution) 

 was that the member of the committee aforesaid 

 thought less of " old bones, and things of that 

 sort," than Mr. Callaway did. The question should 

 be asked by those who love science in Sheffield — 

 What right has such a man on the committee ? 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



Colours of Crocuses. — I saw lately a corre- 

 spondent (E. J. Scott) stated he had known crocus 

 flowers to change colour, a fact I can vouch for. 

 Some years back I planted a quantity of blue and 

 yellow crocus ; the first and second years they were 

 true to colour, after that time they were all yellow. 

 — Thos. Thirkel. 



Tadpoles of Newt. — Allow me to state that in 

 December's number of Science-Gossip " H. E. F." 

 contradicts himself by saying that "the tadpole 

 of the newt has gills and a tail during part of its 

 life, and develops its hind legs first." Then a little 

 further down he says that "the tadpole of the 

 newt has a tail permanently, gills during part of its 

 life, and develops its front legs first." The front 

 legs make their appearance first, and about three 

 weeks afterwards the hind legs. I draw attention 

 to this, because such a mistake in a magazine like 

 Science-Gossip would, in all probability, be likely 

 to lead amateurs in natural history astray. — A. 

 F. Maingay. 



Spawn of Frogs and Toads.— The article by 

 " G. S.," on the above subject, published in our 

 Gossip for November, will, I feel sure, be a welcome 

 addition to the knowledge of those who, like myself, 

 are just beginning the study of the interesting phe- 

 nomena of development. In the early part of last 

 year I obtained a number of tadpoles of the frog 

 {Remit temporarici) from a pond in the neighbourhood 

 of Manchester. When first caught, the legs had not 

 made their appearance on any of the specimens ; 

 but after I had kept them for about ten days, the 

 whole of them exhibited the hind legs in various 

 stages of development. During this period the tail 

 of each specimen grew shorter, and by the time 

 when the lore legs were fully developed, had almost 

 entirely disappeared. My tadpoles, however, were 

 not suffered to arrive at maturity. _ About the end 

 of June, on looking into my aquarium, I observed 

 one of them lying dead at the bottom, and covered 



