i58 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



spines are visible, and they project out of the sporo- 

 carpon wall at regular intervals, and present an 

 appearance not unlike a number of short-pronged and 

 long-handled hay forks. In tangential sections the 

 spore may be seen bristling with these long spines. 



These organisms have not yet been seen inside of 

 a sporangium, in the same manner as I discovered 

 Z. brcvipcs, but it is not improbable that such will 

 eventually be found to have been the case, as it is 

 very probable that they are the spores of some kind 

 of cryptogamic plant. 



Zygosporitcs oblonga. — This is another species of 

 spore, belonging to the same group of zygosporites. 

 It is the smallest spore of the three. It is a barrel- 

 shaped organism, about two-and-a-half times as long 

 as it is broad, hence its specific name oblougits. It is 

 thickly covered with short stumpy projections, which 

 are more numerous and much shorter even than those 

 of Z. brevipes. They are round and hollow like the 

 others, with thick rims which are broken up also into 

 segments like the others. It is about the ^h in. in 

 length, and about the 6ooth part of an inch in 

 diameter. This must be taken as about its average 

 dimensions, as, within certain limits, it is very variable 

 in size. Tangential sections of the spore shew that 

 it is thickly covered with these spinous projections, 

 and in longitudinal sections as many as thirty of them 

 may be seen projecting from the spore wall all around 

 the periphery. The spines in all the three species are 

 unicellular structures and are simply protuberances of 

 the spore wall. 



Halifax. 



MICROSCOPY. 



Botanical Mounts. — We have received from Mr. 

 B. Piffard, of Hemel Hempstead, a series of mounted 

 objects illustrating botanical structures. The sections 

 are stained and coloured, and are among the neatest 

 we have ever seen. Mr. Piffard has adopted the idea 

 of using an ordinary glass slide for mounting more 

 than one object according to size. Thus we have 

 sections of the common brake, casuarina, and 

 spruce-fir, neatly arranged on one slide ; of acacia, 

 abutilon, geranium, croton, and lemon on another ; 

 and sections of the petioles of salvia, lemon, abutilon, 

 geranium, aristolochia, croton, fuchsia, eucalpytus, 

 and spiraea (nine in number) on another. The latter 

 are most elegantly arranged in a circle, with the 

 largest in the centre, and an engraved number on 

 the glass denotes each object. These slides are a 

 true botanical multum in parvo, and their neatness 

 and high finish render them almost artistic objects. 



The Methods of Microscopical Research. 

 — Under this title has appeared Part i of a work by 

 Mr. J. E. Ady, who has proved his thorough fitness 

 for the task by the able articles he contributed to 



Coles' " Studies in Microscopical Science," nearly 

 all of which were from his pen. "The Methods of 

 Microscopical Research " is intended as a Pre- 

 liminary to Vol. ii. of " The Studies in Micro- 

 scopical Science." The first part deals with 

 "Reagents," "Methods of Preparation," "Micro- 

 scopical Art," &c. 



Pond Life in Winter. — It may be interesting 

 to some of your readers to know that, even in the 

 severe winters of Northern Michigan, an abundance 

 of microscopic life exists under the ice. I first 

 noticed it in January of this year, in cutting holes 

 through a foot or eighteen inches of ice, to water my 

 team, in the valley of the Au Sable. Having no lens 

 with me, I could not distinguish any of the species, 

 but they were easily discernible with the naked 

 eye. The winter here has been a severe one, and 

 to-day (May 21st), there has been a slight fall of 

 snow. — IT. IP. Hindshaiv, East Saginaw, Mich. 



ZOOLOGY. 



Direct Reproduction of Tape-Worms. — It is 

 well known that these creatures usually require two 

 or more hosts, in whose bodies they pass through 

 their metamorphoses. M. P. Megnin, however, gives 

 an account in the " Comptes Rendus " for May 7th of 

 one species, Tccnia serrata, which directly reproduced 

 its young in the body of a small dog. 



"The Butterflies of Europe." By H. C. 

 Lang, M.D., F.L.S. (London : L. Reeve & Co.) — 

 Part xiii. of this valuable work has just been issued ; 

 the coloured plates are in our opinion the best which 

 have appeared, including illustrations of Argynnis 

 aglaia, A. Niobe, var. Eris, A. Adippe, A. Laodicc, 

 var. Chloradippe, and Clcodoxa, A. paphia, var. 

 Valezina, A. pandora, A. Ilecatc, A. Lathonia, A. 

 Eliza, and A. Alexandra. 



Vanessa Callirhoe. — I read Mr. Swinton's 

 article in the May number of Science-Gossip with 

 great interest, especially his remarks on V. callirhoe. 

 I have found this species in Madeira, in 1879. It is 

 common in gardens in February. It flies like 

 atalanta, and is often seen settling on a path or road 

 with expanded wings, basking in the sun, in which 

 position it is easy to approach. The larva lives on 

 nettle {Urtica dioica), and resembles that of Vanessa 

 atalanta ; it lives, like atalanta, in a rolled-up leaf 

 in which it changes to a pupa. I have now an 

 empty pupa-case before me ; it resembles that of 

 atalanta, but is, perhaps, a little lighter in colour. I 

 have found the larva and pupa in April. V. atalanta 

 does not seem to occur at Madeira, but V. cardui is 

 common in the sugar-cane fields in March. The 

 Madeira specimens are rather larger and finer than 

 any I have caught in England. The larvae are 



