116 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSir. 



riding or walking. LLis the cover of the can closed 

 down into the socket ; m m, tin loops to pass the 

 leathern strap through ; n n, pillars to hold the under 

 plate of cover ; thej plate not to go below o.— 

 A. T. B. Sclater. 



BOTANY. 



Folk-names of Plants, &c— I fancy " R.W." 

 must be slightly mistaken in the local name he gives 

 for Bistort {Polygonum Bistorta), as it is generally 

 known here as " Easterman giants," of which Easter 

 raagianty must be a corruption, and the leaves are 

 much used in "yarb" (herb) puddings. In some 

 parts of Westmoreland, I believe it is called 

 "Easter ledger." The Earth-nut {Bunium fiex- 

 uosum) I know as " Yowe yornut " and Jacky 

 jurnal." The scientific names are from Hooker's 

 "British Flora." " Yellow yorlin" was a common 

 name among schoolboys for the Yellow-hammer 

 (Ember iza citrenella) . — W.B., Carlisle. 



The Floral Glands or Parnassia palustris. 

 — M. Heckel has recently published some remarks 

 on this interesting subject in the Comptes Bend us. 

 As is well known, these floral glands have long 

 occupied considerable attention as to their functions. 

 M. Heckel devoted two months last year to the 

 observation of these glands. He says : "The most 

 important fact which struck me at the outset, and 

 the observation of which has led me to doubt the 

 reality of the part ascribed to the floral glands when 

 they are regarded as destined to attract the insects 

 which are the agents of fecundation, is the follow- 

 ing : The product of secretion, which is always 

 limpid, and does not contain the pollen fallen from 

 the extrorse anthers, far from being comparable to 

 that of most nectaries, is not saccharine, has no 

 peculiar odour, is sticky, and shows an acid reaction 

 with litmus paper. A very simple experiment 

 showed me that these glands are not indispensable 

 to fecundation, and that, notwithstanding the de- 

 fective arrangement [of the anthers, this act is 

 accomplished normally when the floral glands have 

 been removed from the bud before arriving at their 

 full development. Lastly, a capital fact results from 

 prolonged observation : I have seen no insect 

 penetrate into the perfect flowers except a few little 

 Diptera, which, being perhaps attracted by the pro- 

 duct of the secretion of the glands forming a barrier 

 round the andrsecium, are immediately stuck fast 

 by this viscous liquid. As in the Droserte I have 

 remarked that, under the influence of the irritation 

 produced by the presence of insects, the liquid 

 became more abundant ; the animal soon died, and 

 was broken up into its constituent parts. In order 

 to appreciate better the action of this liquid, I 

 applied to the largest of these glands very small 



pieces of raw flesh, which were at last dissolved 

 and disappeared, in the same way as in the case of 

 the leaves of Pinguicula vulgaris" Would the fact 

 here indicated, and which led M. Heckel to see in 

 the floral glands of the Grass of Parnassus a car- 

 nivorous organ, be an exception in the life of the 

 plant ? M. Heckel asks whether we must see in it 

 evidence of ancient habits which at a certain epoch 

 characterized a whole series of plants which are 

 unknown to us, and of which the Parnassia palustris 

 would only be an isolated term ? 



The Potato Disease.— M. J. Berkeley writes as 

 follows to the Gardeners' Chronicle : — " Since the 

 meeting of the Linnean Society, of which a report 

 was given in the Gardeners' Chronicle, March 25, 

 1876, Mr. Smith has forwarded to me several slides 

 containing specimens of the organisms he found at 

 Chiswick in 1875. Having examined them very 

 carefully, I think it but justice to state what I have 

 observed. 1. The oogonia seated on thick, often 

 flexuous threads, with a septum beneath the 

 oogonium, which is sometimes carried far down the 

 thread. 2. Many instances in which the oogonium 

 is produced in the middle of the thread, with a sep- 

 tum at either end, calling to mind the figure of 

 Montague's Artotrogus. In several instances a 

 process terminated the oogonia, as if the thread was 

 to be produced so as to leave the oogonium in the 

 centre. 3. In one oogonium I found an echinulate 

 body, quite as strongly echinulate as in the best 

 specimens of Artotrogus. 4. The so-called anthe- 

 ridia produced on delicate threads, quite distinct 

 from those of the oogonia, and not separated by a 

 septum. The form of the antheridia is exactly 

 what Smith has figured. 5. The antheridia in con- 

 tact with the oogonia, in one instance the wall of 

 the oogonium being perforated, as if by the act of 

 impregnation. I cannot, however, speak more posi- 

 tively on this point. 6. Abundant Peronospora; 

 threads and spores mixed with the oogonia and 

 antheridia. Of course Mr. Smith's interpretation 

 of what he has seen is subject to criticism, but his 

 good faith is so far confirmed by his specimens that 

 criticism should be very guarded and gentle. If I 

 may express my own opinion, I believe that all 

 these objects belong to one category ; and if so, I 

 should be ready to receive De Bary's Phytophthora 

 (plant-pestilence) as a good genus, differing in 

 several respects from Peronospora." 



GEOLOGY. 



The Progress of Geology.— We have received 

 the sixth part of the fourth volume of the " Pro- 

 ceedings of the Geologists' Association," containing 

 a capital paper by Mr. D. C. Davies, F.G.S., on 

 " Some of the Causes which have helped to shape 



