202 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



ally becomes embodied, as it were, in the constitution 

 of the bird, a peculiarity which they transmit to 

 their descendants, who thereby exhibit a species of 

 immediate or intuitive apprehension, which their 

 progenitors required years of experience in order to 

 build up. The question is started, why does the 

 Great Black-backed Gull (a large and powerful 

 bird) exhibit such indubitable symptoms of dread 

 at the sight of mankind, while other species (such 

 as the Common and the Herring Gulls) fly and 

 hover about, with apparent unconcern, localities 

 where the congregation of human beings seems 

 most dense and formidable? The latter species, 

 indeed, do commonly, as is well known, keep at a 

 respectful distance, for they fly much lower on 

 Sundays than on week-days ; thereby manifesting a 

 degree of respectful awe in the presence of the 

 lords of the creation. Now the fact that the 

 immature Great Black-backed Gull does not exhibit 

 symptoms of trepidation in the situation now indi- 

 cated, would seem to be inconsistent with this 

 doctrine of the hereditary transmission of acquired 

 psychical aptitudes. But if we take into account 

 the well-known foolhardiness of youth, and the 

 insatiable voracity exhibited by this gull as con- 

 nected with its corporeal or mental development, 

 perhaps a sufficiently adequate and satisfactory 

 explanation of this exceptional phenomenon will be 

 furnished. 



Another peculiarity worthy of special comment 

 with regard to the bird now under review, is that it 

 associates with members of other species, thereby 

 giving rise to a hybrid brood. One consequence of 

 this proceeding is that it frequently baffles the 

 efforts of a naturalist who is trying to discover 

 the genus and species of a particular bird that has 

 just fallen under his gun. Indeed, the two gulls 

 which we have dealt with in this paper have been 

 considered to be the same species, or at least mere 

 varieties of the same species, and thus have been 

 frequently confounded together. As they are both 

 noble specimens of bird life, they may, however, 

 surely be permitted to associate with other less 

 robust, less developed individuals, in order, if pos- 

 sible, to impart to their offspring some of their 

 noble qualities. In the more diminutive or less 

 developed forms of swimming birds, we do not 

 observe such an intermixture of different species, 

 or such a confounding of fundamentally different 

 forms ; and taking this fact into consideration, we 

 may feel constrained to regard this phenomenon in 

 the case of the Great Black- backed Gull as a happy 

 provision of Nature designed to improve and elevate 

 the corporeal character of some of the nobler forms 

 of Natatores. 



Good Red Crag Fossils for Upper Siluriau 

 ditto— J. T., 192, Piccadilly, London. 



THE POTATO FUNGUS. 



Germination of the Resting -spores, 

 by worthington g. smith, p.l.s. 



THE following is Mr. Smith's account of this 

 most important discovery, communicated to 

 the Gardeners' Chronicle : — 



Before describing the germination of the resting- 

 spores of the fungus which causes the Potato 

 disease, it will be well to briefly state how these 

 resting-spores were obtained, and how preserved 

 alive in a state of hybernation for so long a period 

 as a whole year. I last July obtained the oospores 

 or resting-spores by keeping potato -leaves and 

 tubers continually moist. Por many years past 

 moisture has been well known to be capable of 

 greatly exciting the growth of Peronospora infestans, 

 and De Bary, in his recent essay, classes the Potato 

 fungus with " other water fungi." Mr. C. Edmund 

 Broome, of Batheaston, who is known as one of 

 the first cryptogamic botanists of this country, 

 repeated my experiments in the following manner: 

 He selected potato-leaves badly infected with Pero- 

 nospora, partly crushed them, and placed them in a 

 saucer of water under a bell-glass. The saucer was 

 kept in a sloping position, so that the leaves (being 

 partly submerged) were allowed to absorb the 

 water naturally. The result was that he obtained 

 an enormous number of resting-spores in all parts of 

 the leaves, many being within the spiral vessels and 

 hairs. These resting-spores were in every way 

 identical with mine, and they could only belong to 

 the Peronosporese or Saprolegniese, because similar 

 bodies are unknown in other families of fungi. The 

 first-named family has jointed threads, the second 

 bears threads without joints. Now as the threads 

 seen by me, and last year illustrated in connection 

 with the resting-spores, had jointed threads, they 

 must belong to Peronospora, and not to Saprolegnia. 

 As there is no other Peronospora than P. infestans 

 known to grow upon the Potato plant, it is clear 

 that the resting-spores cannot rationally be referred 

 to auy other than the Potato fungus. Added to 

 this I last year saw the secondary bodies clearly 

 growing from the Peronospora threads. I attach 

 great importance to the jointed threads, because 

 De Bary, when he figures Artotrogus from " Mon- 

 tagne's original specimen" (" Researches," p. 258), 

 shows the threads with many septa. From the 

 first I have said that Montague's Artotrogus and 

 the bodies discovered by me are the same. That 

 both belong to Peronospora the sequel will prove. 

 Iiwasof the highest importance that theseresting- 

 spores should be preserved alive till the time arrived 

 for their renewed activity, and with this purpose in 

 view I preserved the material in which the resting- 

 spores were present in sealed bottles, each bottle 

 containing more or less pure water or expressed 



