HARDWICKE'S SCONCE-GOSSIP. 



9i 



an order by itself, rodophyllaceae, with the remark that 

 on the one hand it is nearly related to Nymphaeacere, 

 and on the other to Berberidea;. On recognising the 

 fact that the plant is monocotyledonous there will be 

 little difficulty in giving it a satisfactory place, which 

 should be near the Smilacete, or perhaps among the 

 Trilliaceae along with Paris and Medeola. P. Emodi, 

 the Asiatic species, thrives very well in this part of 

 Scotland, and produces great crops of its large bright- 

 red fruit, yielding a plentiful supply of seeds which 

 vegetate freely. I am not aware whether the podo- 

 phyllin, now so considerably employed in medicine, 

 is extracted from this or from the Canadian species, 

 P. peltatum. If from Emodi, the vigorous growth of 

 the plant appears to indicate that it might be pro- 

 fitably cultivated in this country. P. peltatum is 

 not so robust here, and dies out in six or eight years. 

 It would be very interesting if some of the readers of 

 Science-Gossip could tell whether the podophyllin 

 of commerce is obtained from P. Emodi or from 

 P. peltatum. Perhaps a third species exists. In an 

 enumeration of plants (undescribed) I notice, I, 

 P. peltatum, N. America ; 2, P. diphyllum, Virginia. 

 — -John Sang, Kirkaldy. 



Proliferous Sundew. — Mr. Step will find 

 several notes on budding leaves in Drosera. I 

 recall, now, an illustrated paper by M. Naudin, in 

 the " Annales des Science Naturelles " for 1840, 

 xiv. p. 14, and a note on a Proliferous Sundew in 

 Science-Gossip for 1S73, p. 259, by Mr. Laver. A 

 somewhat similar specimen is stated to have been 

 exhibited by Mr. Cross, at a meeting of the Chester 

 Society of Natural Science, in 1876 (" Nature," xv. 

 p. 18). I have noticed the same thing once or 

 twice in New York State. — IV. J., Madison, Wis., 

 U.S.A. 



David Douglas. — The numerous friends and cor- 

 respondents of David Douglas will hear with regret 

 of his decease, which took place at the Edinburgh 

 Royal Infirmary, on the 13th of February last. 

 Douglas was a hammerman by trade, but, in con- 

 sequence of his successful devotion to botany, some 

 friends used their influence to gain him admission 

 as an attendant to the Edinburgh Museum of Science 

 and Art. It was noticeable how quickly he assimilated 

 the biological information thus newly brought before 

 him, and whilst not abandoning the study of plants, 

 made rapid progress in comparative osteology and in the 

 British fauna. Of late he had devoted the greater 

 part of his leisure time to the study of beetles. As an 

 evidence of the thoroughness which marked his work, 

 he had begun Latin to enable him to interpret the diag- 

 noses. That he was a man of ability, gifted with a quick 

 eye, and a sound judgment ; and that he was a man of 

 character, sincere and free from bitterness, none who 

 knew him well could fail to perceive, and had he lived, 

 notwithstanding the great drawback of want of early 

 education, there can be no doubt that he would have 



made his mark in the department of study to which 

 he was devoting himself. As an attendant, he was 

 punctual and diligent, and gave to students and 

 visitors freely of the information which he had 

 acquired. His published work is almost wholly 

 contained in the pages of Science-Gossip. His 

 most interesting communication was on the discovery 

 of the male flowers of Anacharis in Britain. In 

 addition, he contributed various notices of the 

 occurrences of rare plants in fresh localities, or upon 

 new plant varieties, chiefly from the neighbourhood 

 of Edinburgh. He was an active member of the 

 Science Gossip Botanical Exchange Club, the pub- 

 lished reports of which bear testimony to his 

 discrimination and zeal. — T. S., Edinburgh. 



[It is with much regret that we hear the news of 

 the death of this singularly modest and accomplished 

 botanist. His life is an illustration of what the 

 humblest individual can accomplish in the wide 

 domains of Science. — Ed. S.-G.] 



"Botany Notes." — With this title Mr. A. 

 Johnston has written a capital little hand-book for 

 students preparing for professional examinations in 

 medicine and science. The present part deals with 

 systematic morphology, and arranges, in a very 

 compact and succinct manner, the multitudinous 

 details of this important department of botany. 



Epping Forest. — The Highbury Microscopical 

 and Scientific Society passed the following resolution 

 at their meeting held on the 8th of March : That this 

 society desires to enter its most earnest protest against 

 the proposed railway to High Beech, believing it to 

 be entirely opposed to the true interests of the great 

 bulk of the people, inasmuch as it will tend to 

 deprive the forest of that exclusively sylvan character 

 which it is most desirable to perpetuate. [We should 

 be glad if every scientific society in and about London 

 would loudly protest against the spoliation of this 

 natural history recreation ground. — Ed. S.-G.] 



GEOLOGY. 



New Form of Recent Crinoid. — Among fossil 

 invertebrates few can have played so important a part 

 in primary and secondary times as the fixed crinoids, 

 stalked radiate animals of the class Echinodermata. 

 They are very scantily represented now. When 

 Guettard, in 1755, found a live pentacrinus it was 

 quite a scientific event, and this species was the only 

 known modern representative of the group. Within 

 recent years, however, the number of living species 

 has been raised to fourteen. Among the animal 

 forms brought up with the dredge during the recent 

 cruise of the " Travailleur," off the coast of Morocco, 

 is a new fixed crinoid, making the fifteenth. It has 

 been named De?nocri?nts Parfaiti, after M. Parfait, 



