HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



2G7 



10 wide, and 6 or 7 high; but any size would do that 

 suited the dimensions and number of the intended 

 inmates. Having removed the lid, the front and 

 back of the box were cut down to the height of 

 about three inches. Then, having marked the 

 upper edge of each end in the centre, it was cut 

 dowu, sloping each way from this mark, to the level 

 of the reduced front and back, the resulting struc- 

 ture resembling a roofless house with two gable- 

 ends. A thiu lath, about au inch wide, was nailed 

 along the upper edge of the front and back, outside, 



Fig. 157. Diagram of Reptile Case. 



Fig. 158. End Elevation of ditto. 



projecting a quarter of an inch above it. A 

 strip of perforated zinc, two inches wide, and the 

 exact length of the box, was bent along the centre 

 like an angular gutter, and nailed from apex to 

 apex of the gables to form a roof-ridge, two small 

 squares of thin wood having been previously in- 

 serted under it at each end, to raise it au eighth of 

 an inch from the gables. Two plates of glass were 

 cut the length of the box, and slid in from the ends, 

 being just wide enough to be retained by the over- 

 lapping edge of the zinc ridge above and the lath 

 below. This completed the arrangement, which, of 

 course, might be ornamented by nailing on bark or 

 cork and fir-cones, &c. The perforated zinc affords 

 ventilation, which could be increased by holes in 

 the ends, similarly covered. The glass slides can 

 be instantly and entirely withdrawn for cleaning, 

 &c, or merely opened sufficiently to introduce a fly. 

 The view of the interior is remarkably clear and 

 distinct, the sloping roof not throwing back the 

 light of the sky into the eyes of the observer, as a 

 flat glass cover is so apt to do. If required for 

 aquatic reptiles, of course a pan or square zinc 

 trougli might be introduced. 



George Guy on. 



NOTES ON THE 

 FLORA OF BROCKENHURST, HANTS. 



TT is probable that the county of Hants possesses 

 -*- a flora as rich and varied as any other county 

 in England, at any rate it is pretty certain that the 

 New Forest and the parts immediately adjacent 

 would, if all the plants were carefully catalogued, 

 furnish a list numerically greater than any district 

 of a similar area in the United Kingdom. The 

 author of the chapter on Botany, included in the 

 recently-published second edition of the " New 

 Forest Handbook" (au excellent little guide which I 

 strongly recommend all intending visitors to obtain), 

 says : — " There 'is probably no district in England 

 where, within the same limits, so many wild flowers 

 are to be found as in the New Forest and its im- 

 mediate neighbourhood. This is owing to the 

 variety of soils. On the south, along the seashore 

 at Mudeford, in the Beaulieu estuary, and by the 

 Southampton Water, we have a greater variety 

 of maritime flora than can be found in any other 

 part of the kingdom. The Vale of the Avon is 

 rich in river herbs beyond all valleys. A few miles 

 beyond the Avon we come upon chalk, and all the 

 plants peculiar to it. On the north, and here and 

 there in the Forest, we have many of the clay 

 plants ; while the Forest itself is rich indeed with a 

 lovely assortment of flowers delighting in sand and 

 gravel, or peat and bog." A few species of flower- 

 ing plants have their sole British habitat within the 

 boundaries of the Forest, and many which are but 

 sparingly distributed over the country are here, if 

 not absolutely abundant, at least sufficiently plenti- 

 ful to dispel any fear of possible eradication at the 

 hands of ruthless and selfish collectors. And it is 

 more thau likely that some future diligent and per- 

 severing botanist, exploring the dark recesses of a 

 pathless wood .or the treacherous surface of a 

 spongy bog, may discover the habitat of some 

 floral gem, perchance " new to Britain," which till 

 that time had been " born to blush unseen," save 

 by the eyes of those unconscious of its worth. May 

 we hope that should such be the case, the fortunate 

 discoverer will not be too anxious to make the pre- 

 cise locality generally known. 



It is almost a matter of surprise, that among the 

 thousands of excellent papers and valuable con- 

 tributions which compose the twelve volumes of 

 Science-Gossip, those on the fauna and flora of the 

 New Forest should be so very few and far between. 

 In view of this, I am induced to write a few notes 

 on some of the less common wild plants which I 

 have found during the present year in the vicinity of 

 Brockenhurst ; notes which, though perhaps not of 

 much value in themselves, may have the effect of 

 eliciting communications on the subject from the 

 pens of much abler and more experienced botanists. 



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