HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



213 



heads of butterflies. It struck me that this might be 

 the method in which Asclcpias is fertilized by insects 

 in its native habitats, and I would suggest to North 

 American botanists the advisability of examining the 

 insects which may be "caught" in the various 

 species of Asclepias peculiar to their part of the 

 world, to ascertain if pollen masses are usually ad- 

 hering to them. — J. E. Taylor. 



The Botanical Record Club. — The report for 

 the years 1881-82 of the Phanerogamic section of this 

 club has just been issued. The new county records 

 show no falling off in the number of floral novelties 

 catalogued, the general locality list being very full 

 and covering a very large space. Besides these, some 

 additions are made to special county catalogues, the 

 whole bringing to completion the second quinquennial 

 volume that the club has published. 



CEcidium Urtic.-e. — My experience differs from 

 that of Messrs. Williams and Thos. Brittain with 

 regard to the scarcity of this cluster-cup. On the 

 contrary, I have always regarded it as one of the 

 commonest species. In Norfolk and Suffolk I never 

 have had any difficulty in finding it growing upon the 

 nettle in May and June, but only when the nettles 

 grew near water, as, for instance, by some dyke side. 

 I found it growing thus abundantly this season. — 

 J. E. Taylor. 



CEcidium urtic.e and CE. tragopogonis, 

 &C. — CEcidium urtiac was found by me in this 

 district for the first time on the 23rd May last year, 

 on the river bank between Goole and Swinfleet ; later 

 in the year it became very common and conspicuous, 

 being present in almost every place where nettles 

 were growing, but most abundant on the banks of 

 the Ouse and of ditches running into it. This year 

 I have only seen one specimen gathered on the York- 

 shire Wolds above Drewton Vale, whilst in places 

 where it was so abundant last year, not a single 

 specimen is to be found. CE. tragopogonis I have 

 never met with during the five or six years that I 

 have collected fungi, although in each year I have 

 made a careful search for it. The CEcidia most 

 common here are CE. tussilaginis, on coltsfoot, and 

 CE. rubellum on dock, both these are plentiful ; CE. 

 ranunculacearum, on Ranunculus ficaria ; R. repens 

 and R. acris ; and CE. viola on Viola odorata and 

 V. sylvatica, are more sparingly distributed ; whilst 

 CE. geranii on Geranium dissectum, and CE. thalictri 

 on Thalictrum flavum, are amongst the new local 

 records for this year. The word "common" re- 

 ferring in the "handbook" &c, to the distribution, 

 seems to be of very doubtful value, many species to 

 which it is affixed being anything but "common," 

 according to the experience of most students. When 

 shall we have a "London Catalogue of British 

 Fungi" on the same lines as the second edition of 

 the "L. C. of British Mosses" 1— Thomas Birks, 

 jun.y Goole. 



"The British Moss Flora," by Dr. R. 

 Braithwaite. Part vii. of this highly important 

 work has recently been issued, dealing with the 

 Dicranacese, and describing the genera and species 

 grouped under this family. The illustrations occupy 

 six full-page pages of details of various species of 

 mosses, and are all of the usual high artistic charac- 

 ter. Twenty-seven species of the Dicranaceae are 

 thus illustratively detailed. 



"The Fruits of all Countries," by F. T. 

 Mott. This is a preliminary catalogue by a well- 

 known and capable botanist of all the so-called fruits 

 at present known, the word being used in its popular 

 sense. Mr. Mott has bestowed a great amount of 

 pains upon his work, which we regard as a valuable 

 contribution to economic botany. We should have 

 been better pleased, however, if the work had been 

 issued in a less ungainly shape. 



GEOLOGY. 



The Earthquake in Ischia. — The whole 

 scientific world, in sympathy with the larger world 

 outside, has been occupied with the subject of the 

 terrible earthquake at Ischia. It is surprising how 

 small a knowledge of the science of earthquakes 

 exists in the minds of numbers of so-called educated 

 people, especially when we remember the excellent 

 books on the subject, and that a few hours' reading 

 will put a person in possession of all the laws which 

 are known to govern their phenomena. I was in 

 Switzerland when I first heard the disastrous news, 

 and at the table d'hote nothing else was discussed 

 for a day or two. As the intelligence grew older, 

 some of the bolder spirits ventured upon an explana- 

 tion of earthquake action. It was then evident how 

 thoroughly ignorant everybody really was on the 

 modern scientific aspect of the question. I need not 

 say that scientists, and especially those who approach 

 earthquakes from the geological side, are deeply 

 interested in the origin of the present catastrophe. 

 It is only two years and a half since an earthquake 

 occurred in the same place. The loss of life attendant 

 upon that of July 29th last, is now known to be 

 much greater than was at first anticipated. The 

 shock of the earthquake was felt as far away as 

 Wiesbaden. There is a volcanic mountain on the 

 island of Ischia called Epomeo, whose last recorded 

 eruption took place in the year 1302. Earthquake 

 action usually originates in the same centres as 

 volcanic activity, and nearly always precedes the 

 latter. It may be, therefore, that these rapidly 

 recurring Ischian earthquakes are the precursors of a 

 not distant volcanic eruption. Nothing is better 

 known in physical geography than that volcanic 

 mountains have periods of infancy, mature develop- 

 ment, and old age, when their activity dies com- 



