7o 



HARD WICKE'S SCIENCE- G OS SIP. 



withered, a few decaying leaves here and there only 

 remaining. I much regret I did not go earlier to 

 ascertain, as far as possible, whether the fall of the 

 seeds preceded the breaking down of the flowering- 

 stem. — II. J. Brtnvn. 



Fertilisation of Flowers. — I have been very 

 much interested in reading several notes which have 

 appeared in your paper in reference to the fertilisa- 

 tion of flowers, especially in regard to Papilionaceous 

 flowers. I have myself watched the proceedings of 

 bees in a bean field, and have noticed that, although 

 they occasionally enter the flower at the mouth of 

 the tube in the legitimate manner, they in most cases 

 drill a hole through the outside of the base of the 

 tube and suck the nectar through. The nectar is 

 constantly being secreted until the flower fades, and I 

 have noticed bees trying the already drilled holes 

 over and over again, although as your correspondent 

 "Mark Antony" says, they sometimes perforate 

 different parts o/ the tube in search of a fresh supply. 

 It has seemed to me rather remarkable that in a 

 family so highly developed, and offering so many 

 inducements for cross-fertilisation by insects, some 

 special modification has not been made to prevent 

 this wholesale robbery of nectar without any return 

 (dispersion of pollen), such for instance as an 

 inflation of the calyx as in Silena, or a mass of rough 

 hairs as in many genera. Bean flowers are visited 

 by a number of smaller insects, and I suppose cross- 

 fertilisation is due to them, as the reproductive 

 organs are accessible to all forms of flying insects, 

 being placed at the top of the entrance to the flower. 

 I may add that bees treat the garden fuchsia in the 

 same manner. — John Collins. 



GEOLOGY, &C. 



The Meteorite at Little Lever. — We in- 

 quired in our last issue for more information on this 

 subject, and are indebted to Mr. Sykes for the 

 following extract from a Manchester paper at the last 

 meeting of the Manchester Geological Society. Mr. 

 Stirrup submitted some specimens of a supposed 

 boulder which fell in the Stokes colliery, Little 

 Lever, causing the death of a collier. The proprietors 

 stated that the stone was seven feet long, four feet 

 wide, two feet four inches in the thickest part, and 

 two tons in weight. There were several in the roofs 

 of the colliery. Mr. Wild thought they were not 

 boulders but sandstone. Another member said he 

 believed they were pretty plentiful in the forest of 

 Dean, and that they were looked upon there as sand- 

 stones. It was suggested by Mr. Watts that on the 

 discovery of such stones the "tappings" of the 

 collier should not be confined to one spot, but should 

 extend some distance. The stones might be loose, 

 although they might in one place sound solid. 



The "Meteorite" at Little Lever. — We 

 have received a sample of the so-called meteorite. 

 It is a fragment of mottled sandstone shale, of the 

 ordinary kind met with in the coal measures. The 

 block must have been detached and fallen down. It 

 is very certain the stone is of terrestrial, not celestial 

 origin. — [Ed.] 



The Geological Society Awards. — The awards 

 this year are as follows : Wollaston Gold Medal, to 

 J. W. Hulke ; Murchison Medal, to Rev. P. B. 

 Brodie ; Lyell Medal, to Mr. S. Allport ; Bigsby 

 Gold Medal, to Professor Lapworth. The Wollaston 

 Fund was awarded to Mr. B. N. Peach ; Murchison 

 Fund, to Mr. R. Kidston ; and Lyell Fund to the 

 Rev. O. Fisher. 



Spenser and Geology. — In reading the " Faerie 

 Queene " of this grand old poet, I have come across one 

 or two very distinct references to the former geological 

 connection between Great Britain and the Continent 

 which may perhaps be interesting. The one occurs 

 in Book ii. canto x. st. 5, and is as follows : 



The land which warlike Britons now possesse, 

 And herein have their mighty empire raysed, 

 In antique times was salvage wildernesse, 

 Unpeopled, unmanured, unproved, unprayed ; 

 Ne was it island then, ne ivas it pay sad; 

 Amii the ocean waves, ne was it sought 

 Of merchants farre for profits therein praysd ; 

 But was all desolate, and of some thought 

 By sea to have been from the Celticke mayn-land 

 brought. 



The other occurs in Book iv. canto xi. st. 16 : 



For Albion the Sonne of Neptune was ; 

 Who, for the proofe of his great puissance, 

 Out of his Albion did on dry-foot pas 

 Into old Gall, that now is cleeped France, etc. 



-7. S. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



Fertilisation of Antirrhinum Majus. — Your 

 correspondent, Mark Antony, in referring to my note 

 respecting the large buds of Antirrhinum maj/tsbeing 

 pierced by bees, expresses a doubt regarding the 

 secretion of honey before the buds expand. I was 

 surprised that one interested in the subject of fertili- 

 sation should have overlooked the fact. If he will 

 make a section of a large bud on the next opportunity, 

 all doubt will at once be removed. In support of my 

 statement, I quote from Miiller, page 205, pp. 118, 

 where, treating of Vicia septum, he says, "In many 

 cases it is hard to find a flower which has not been 

 robbed in this manner, and often, even unopened 

 buds are robbed." Again, p. 186, " Bombus terrestris 

 bites through .'the tube of Tn 'folium \pratense,'a.n& reaches 

 the honey with some delay ; it has, however, the 

 advantage of obtaining honey even from unexpanded 

 flowers. Mark Antony need not scruple to use the 

 term honey, as applied to the sweet juice secreted by 

 flowers, as it is used throughout the English edition 

 of Miiller, and also by Sir John Lubbock on the first 

 page of his new book on flowers, fruits, and leaves. 

 I cannot agree with G. S. S., who regards the act of 

 boring through the corolla as an act of foolishness. 

 He says, " Opening the flower at the base would 

 seem to be a foolish action on the part of the bee, 



