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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



zooid stage or during one of its " moults," and if the 

 latter, from what cause. The breadth of carapace of 

 the specimen is seven inches. — Edward Lovett, 

 Croydon. 



" Parrots in Captivity." By Dr. W. T. Greene. 

 (London : George Bell & Sons.) Dr. Greene has 

 now obtained a creditable reputation as an authority 

 on caged and acclimatised birds, and many of our 

 readers will be glad to avail themselves of this work 

 now appearing in shilling parts. It is attractively 

 got up, each part being illustrated with three full- 

 page coloured plates of the various birds described. 



Land Shells near Croydon. — The following 

 is a list cf land shells found between Croydon and 

 "Warlingham station, July 22, 1SS3 : Arion atcr, var. 

 (animal light yellowish-white, shield rather darker, 

 margins of foot orange yellow, head grey). Arion 

 hortcnsis, Umax agrestis, Vitrina pellncida, Zonitcs 

 cellarius, Z. nitidulus, Z. crystallinus (?) (I found a 

 broken shell which resembled this species) ; Helix 

 aculeata (two specimens) ; Helix pomatia, Helix 

 aspersa, H. aspersa var. exalbida (common, with the 

 type, at one place ; but most of the shells had lost 

 part of their epidermis) ; Helix nemoralis, H 

 hortensis, H hortensis, var. incarnata, roseo-labiata, 

 and lutea (for descriptions of these vars., see 

 "Journal of Conchology," * April 1SS3, p. 34). H. 

 Cantiana, H. rufeseens, H. hispida, II. virgata (and 

 bandless var.), H. ericetorum, H. rotundata, II. 

 apieida, Bulimus obscurus, Clansilia rugosa, C. 

 laminata, Cochlieopa lubrica, Cyclostoma clegans. 

 This list is, of course, a very imperfect one, as it was 

 only the result of one day's search ; but, nevertheless, 

 it shows how good a locality the Croydon neighbour- 

 hood is for land shells. I only found one fresh-water 

 s pecies, Limnca peregra, which lived in a small pond 

 on the hills near Croydon. On the same day I 

 caught, near Warlingham, a curious variety of 

 Satyrus hypera)ithus (the ringlet butterfly), which 

 had the three ocelli well developed on the under side 

 of the right upper wing, but on the under side of the 

 left upper wing the lower of the three ocelli was 

 missing, but the upper two were as well marked as on 

 the other wing. I should be glad to hear whether 

 this is a common occurrence. — S. D. A. Cockerell. 



"The Scottish Naturalist." — This well- 

 known magazine devoted to Scottish natural history 

 has now been in existence for twelve years, under the 

 able editorship of Dr. F. Buchanan White ; who, we 

 much regret to see, is now retiring from the editorial 

 chair. Although his place will be taken by a well- 

 known zoologist, Professor T. W. Trail ; the high 

 position which the " Scottish Naturalist " has 

 deservedly taken amongst scientific serials is doubt- 



* Mr. J. W. Taylor, on " Some New Varieties of British 

 Land and Freshwater Shells." 



less owing to the energy and bonhomie of Dr. 

 Buchanan White. The quarterly issue for July last 

 forms No. 1 of a new series, in which Dr. Buchanan 

 White takes editorial leave of his readers and 

 Professor Trail very genially introduces himself. 



BOTANY. 



"Taraxacum officinale." — I am glad Mr. 

 Swinton takes my criticism in the spirit I wrote it. 

 His reply is, however, wide of the mark. There are 

 verily, "sorts" of dandelions, varying according to 

 soil, &c. I entirely agree with that remark. My 

 object was to set readers right as to the four varieties. 

 Their names and characters (by which we identify 

 them) are of primary importance, and do not in any 

 way involve "synonymy." It is simply a question 

 of right or wrong nomenclature. I would urge 

 Mr. Swinton to use terms with a little more accuracy 

 and closeness. The indiscriminate use of such words 

 as "sorts," "races," and so on, is puzzling and 

 misleading; whereas the consistent use of "genus," 

 "species," " variety," can only be a help and benefit 

 to learners. No name need be "trivial "if wisely 

 selected. The nettle seen near Waverley Abbey, 

 was probably Urtica pilitlifera, the Roman 

 nettle. " Laciniated " is scarcely the term for the 

 leaves of dandelion. It is applied to finely-cut organs, 

 such as fringed involucres or stipules. The term I 

 used, " lobed," is the best for some, and "run- 

 cinate " for others. — H. IV. L. lVorsley-£e)iison. 



The Fertilisation of Asclepias. — I have 

 just made some very interesting observations on the 

 flowers of Asclepias puipurascens, kindly supplied me 

 by Mr. W. Thompson, the well-known horticultural 

 botanist of Ipswich. The structure of the flowers of 

 this plant is very curious and intricate. The pollen 

 is produced in masses, like the pollinia of the orchids, 

 and adheres to gelatinous processes developed on the 

 sides of the stigmas. I had frequently been told that 

 these flowers "caught flies," but as there are no 

 indications of any carnivorous habit on their part, I 

 concluded that the so-called fly-catching habit might 

 be connected with fertilisation, and accordingly re- 

 quested that the next time a fly was caught the flower 

 might be brought to me ; and the other day one was 

 brought, in which the legs of the common green-bottle 

 fly {Mnsca chloris) were entangled. The insect 

 struggled a great deal, and on examining it under a 

 half-inch power I found its feet were imbedded in the 

 gelatinous processes above-mentioned. After a time 

 the feet were withdrawn, and the fly got away clear, 

 but as I had imprisoned it under a wine-glass, I was 

 enabled to examine the feet, when I found two of the 

 pollen masses adhering to them, exactly in the same 

 way as the pollinia of orchids are seen attached to the 



