i73 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Helix hortensis, var. lutea, ground-colour of shell 



yellow, 

 ooooo is the common form. 12345 Bedford 

 Park, Eltham, Canterbury (Miss L. Fenn), and 

 other localities ; 10345, near Bexley, W. Kent ; 

 00045, one at Chislehurst (L. M. C.) ; I0345, 

 near Chislehurst ; I03 4 5, Warlingham (S. C. C.) ; 

 0,345, Barnes ; 12345, near Chislehurst (S. C. C.) ; 

 (12)3(45), Eltham; 1(23X45), 1(2345), (12345), 

 and 1(23)45, Chislehurst, and the two last at 

 Canterbury (L. Fenn) ; (12)345, Putney. 

 Var. incarnata, ground-colour pink, ooooo, Canter- 

 bury (L. Fenn), and other localities, not unfre- 

 quently with a dark lip. 12345, Bedford Park ; 

 (123H45) and 12 34 3 , Warlingham; 1,345, Bed- 

 ford Park (D. B. C.) ; (12345), near Chislehurst 

 (S. C. C). 

 Var. baudonia, ground-colour light brown, or 



fawn. I0345, Barnes, Surrey. 

 In comparing hortcnsis with nemoralis, we notice 

 that the pink varieties are more common in the 

 latter species, and that the formula 00300 is much 

 more common in the latter than in the former. 



The fourth band probably really represents two 

 coalesced bands, so that the formula might be 

 written 123(32)1 for 12345, to show the homology of 

 the bands above and below the periphery. 



As regards geographical distribution much remains 

 to be done. 



H. hortensis, var. lutea, 10305 seems to be absent 

 in the South of England, but not uncommon in 

 Belgium and France. 



H. nemoralis with a formula 00345 is common in 

 some districts, but absent in others, and the same 

 may be said of many other varieties. The distri- 

 bution of the brownish and purplish varieties of 

 H. hortensis in the South of England is very curious. 

 In the London district and north of the North 

 Downs the lilac form (lilacina) is prevalent, but in 

 Sussex its place is taken by a very pale purplish 

 variety (pallida), while this in its turn gives place 

 to the dark olive-brown shells (olivacca) in Devon, 

 Dorset, and Somerset. In all these districts the 

 pink and yellow varieties also occur. The variety, 

 called interrupta, with the bands interrupted at 

 intervals, is more common on the continent than in 

 England, and I have never seen a British example of 

 this variety in //. hortensis. 



It seems probable that there is a rudimentary sixth 

 band below the fifth, for while examining a number 

 of If. nemoralis and //. hortensis, collected by Mr. 

 A. Belt at Chideock, near Bridport, I noted that 



(1) In a nemoralis, var. petiveria (12345) the area 

 above the bands was white, but that below fawn.* 



(2) In specimens of //. hortensis var. arenicola the 

 interfascial area was whitish, but the umbilical area 



* It appears also that Westerlund's var. viresccns was really 

 •zriridi-zo/iata, (12345) in which the white area above the bands 

 was noticeable. {Vide ' Nat. World,' Aug. 1885.) 



was greenish-yellow, a very fine whitish line following 

 the lower border of the fifth band. (3) A sixth 

 band below the fifth seemed faintly indicated in one 

 arenicola. 



The Rev. Hilderic Friend has sent me a very nice 

 specimen of //. nemoralis, var. libellula, 00300, with a 

 black band and a white lip tinged with pink. The 

 locality is Kiveton Park, Yorks. In looking over 

 some other Kiveton Park examples, I was struck by 

 the fact that the bands 1,2,4 an ^ 5 never reached the 

 lip of the shell, and that band 3 only does so in an 

 attenuated form. 



Hence, it appears, that shortly before attaining the 

 full growth the organ which produces the black 

 pigment undergoes a change, and either becomes- 

 aborted (producing a white lip), or is developed all 

 along the mantle, and so gives rise to a dark lip. 



T. D. A. COCKERELL. 



ASTRONOMY AND METEOROLOGY. 

 ? By John Browning, F.R.A.S. 



THE annual visitation of the Royal Observatory,. 

 Greenwich, took place on'the 4th of June, and 

 the Astronomer Royal has issued his report to the 

 Board. 



An important change is about to be made in the 

 buildings. The two computing-rooms are to be 

 enlarged, and above the extended portion of one of 

 the rooms a dome is to be erected 18 feet in diameter, 

 which is to contain'the 6-inch equatorial by Cooke,, 

 with the apparatus for photographing the Sun. 

 attached \o the same mounting. This telescope may 

 be used for occultations and various occasional 

 observations. 



The work for the ten-year catalogue of stars, from 

 1877 to 1886, has been completed, and the catalogue 

 will contain about 4000 stars, including as far as- 

 possible sixth magnitudes. 



The construction of the 28-inch refractor has been, 

 delayed by the difficulty of obtaining the glass discs. 

 The spectroscopic and photographic work has- 

 been carried on as usual, as well as the magnetical 

 observations. 



The report of the Paris Observatory has also been 

 issued by Admiral Mouchez. M. Cornu has de- 

 vised a new method of measuring the length of the 

 waves of light. So much work has been done, that I 

 cannot epitomise it in the space allotted to me. 

 Astronomical photography has been carried on with 

 great assiduity, and has been particularly applied to 

 the planets and their satellites. The smallest satellite 

 of Saturn which was discovered the last, Hyperion, has- 

 been photographed with an exposure of thirty-five 

 minutes. 



A new instrument, named a macro-micrometer, has- 

 been devised and used for measuring the relative 

 positions of stars on the photographic plates. 



