HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



35 



autumn was below the average, while the duration 

 of bright sunshine was considerably above the 

 average. The winter season which we are now 

 experiencing is exceptionally tempestuous and was 

 due to a deep barometrical depression, which in the 

 centre reached 27.4 inches. In London the minimum 

 reaching 28.3 is the lowest recorded since 1843. 



RECENT ARTICLES AND TAPERS WORTH 

 READING. 



DR. CROOKSHANK'S "Flagellated Protozoa 

 in the Blood of Diseased and Apparently 

 Healthy Animals" (December No. "Journal Royal 

 Microscop. Society). — "Fresh-water Invertebrates of 

 the North American Jurassic," by Charles A. White 

 ("Bulletin U.S. Geological Survey," No. 29).— 

 " De l'Histoire des Lampes a. Incandescence" 

 (" LTngenieur Electricien," December 9th). — 

 "Ancient Pottery of the Mississippi Valley," by 

 W. H. Holme ("Proceed. Davenport Acad. Nat. 

 Sciences"). — "On Hydrophobia," by Dr. Tyson 

 ("Proceed. Folkestone Nat. Hist. Soc.").— " The 

 Connection in Time of Changes of Fossil Floras with 

 those of Faunas," by Professor Boulger (" Proceed. 

 Geologists' Assoc," vol. ix. no. 7). — "Report on 

 the Necessity of Preserving and Planting Forests," 

 by R. W. Phipps (Pub. by Government of Ontario). 

 — " On the Structure and Organisms in Carboni- 

 ferous Limestone," by Ed. Wethered (" Geo. Mag." 

 December). — " Strasburger on Foreign Pollina- 

 tion," by Thos. Hick ("The Naturalist," Dec.).— 

 "On some Further Evidence of Glaciation in the 

 Australian Alps," by Jas. Stirling (" Nature," 

 December 23). — " The Sympathetic Nervous 

 System," Lecture by Dr. W. H. Gastall (" Nature," 

 December 23). — "Siliceous Pig Iron" ("Engineer- 

 ing," December 24).—" The Ruby Mines of 

 Bunnah " (" Times," December 31). — "The Future 

 of Photographic Printing," by George Mansfield 

 (" Amateur Photographer," January 7). — " De la 

 Conservation des Vertebres," by M. Gaston Buchet 

 ("Feuille des Jeunes Naturalistes," January 1). — ■ 

 "On Noctiluca Miliaris," by Alfred W. Griffin 

 ,("Journal of Microscopy," January). — -"On Some 

 Spined Myriapods from the Carboniferous Series of 

 England," by Dr. Henry Woodland ("Geological 

 Magazine," Jan.). — "The River Tees, its Marshes and 

 their Fauna," by R. Lofthouse ("The Naturalist," 

 January). — "A B C, an Alphabetical Research," 

 by J. Eyre, M.A. ("The Garner," December). — 

 " Sun-Spot Observations in Hungary," by A. M. 

 Clarke ("Nature," January 6). — "Progress of Elec- 

 tric Motors" ("English Mechanic," January 7). — 

 " Notes on the Genus Lyctena," with coloured plate, 

 by Richard South ("The Entomologist," January). — 

 "On Some Darwinistic Pleresies," by Professor Carl 

 Vogt ("Annals of Natural History," January). 



T 



A WINTER'S DAY RAMBLE. 



MONTREUX, CANTON VAUD. 



HE following notes from the lake-basin oi 

 Geneva may interest some readers of Science 

 Gossip, made chiefly in the sheltered woods at the 

 more mountainous end of the lake, and in the depth 

 of winter. 



The magnificent peaks of the Valais and Vaudois 

 Alps have long since received their covering of pur 

 snow. Deep drifts have accumulated in the ac- 

 customed places — under the abrupt precipices of the 

 Tour D'ai, for example — there, in a gully partially 

 exposed to driving winds, enormous masses of snow 

 remain through winter. All the winds of heaven 

 contend furiously round the peaks above, but in the 

 sheltered woods, ravines, and silent gorges of the 

 lower mountain barriers the air is perfectly still. 

 Sharp frosts seal the ground, while overhead the sky 

 is intensely blue and the mid-day sun shines with 

 uninterrupted power. The dead leaves, twigs and 

 branches are dry as bone (the elevation is 1200- 

 1500 feet above the sea), affording a marked contrast 

 to English woods at the same season, reeking with 

 moisture and damp mould. 



Here, in the bright, clear sunshine, it is worth 

 while, standing in perfect stillness for a quarter-of- 

 an-hour to observe the variety of birds actively 

 flitting from tree to tree, busily in search of food 

 and wellnigh careless of the approach of man : the 

 most remarkable of the merry songsters is, perhaps, 

 the crested tit {Panes cristatus), commonly dis- 

 tributed over Central Europe, but a rare visitor, I 

 believe, in England. A dozen may here be seen 

 hopping about in the thick brambles, for all the 

 world like miniature owls with wise little faces ; the 

 feathers of the crest turn backwards over the head, 

 and are black tinged with white — the back and wings 

 are brown, the throat and chest pale brown or 

 fawn, rings of dark and light feathers surround the 

 eyes, which, with the speckled head, give a very 

 singular appearance to the bird. Besides this species, 

 the coletit {Parus ate?-), the titmouse (P. caruleus\ 

 the great tit {P. major), and the long-tailed tit (P. 

 caudatus), all frequent these same woods. P. ater 

 runs round the trunks and branches silently and 

 actively ; like the tree-creeper, he habitually con- 

 trives to place the thickness of the trees between 

 himself and inquisitive gazers. 



Fairly common also is the nut-hatch (Sitta 

 Europica), which by the uninitiated may easily be 

 mistaken for a small woodpecker. The slate-blue 

 of the back and wings, with dull red breast, and 

 whitish throat and patches of black behind each eye, 

 however, render the plumage quite distinct. The 

 shape of the bird is peculiar, well adapted to tree- 

 climbing in search of insects — apparently an in- 

 cessant occupation and chief vocation in life. 



