68 



HA RD WICKE S SCIENCE- G OS SIP. 



H. J. Johnston-Lavis ; "On the Cultivation of 

 Bacteria," by Dr. E. M. Crookshank ; " The Appear- 

 ances of Micro-organisms as exemplified by the 

 Microbe of Chicken Cholera," by Mr. G. F. Dowdes- 

 well ; "The 'Central' Light in Resolution," by 

 Mr. J. W. Stephenson ; besides which we have 

 the usual able and copious summary of current 

 biological researches. 



ZOOLOGY. 



Variations in Molluscs. — In an able article 

 published in the " Zoologist," Mr. B. B. Woodward, 

 F.G.S., enters a strong protest against the tendency 

 to " variety-mongering " and variety-naming which 

 is, unfortunately, so much, in vogue. It is quite a 

 scientific operation to observe and note the differences 

 in common species. Mr. Woodward remarks as 

 follows : " Surely the state of our knowledge is 

 sufficiently advanced to allow of certain variations 

 being admitted as normal, so to speak, to every 

 species, e.g., unusually fine specimens, dwarfed forms, 

 reversed examples, scalariform individuals, and 

 albinos, without its being necessary to distinguish 

 each one by a different varietal or ' monstral ' name. 

 It should be enough to record their existence, and 

 that of such variations as are more or less specific, 

 i.e., those of colour, markings, etc. In short, I 

 would advocate the adoption of the method followed 

 by Gray." 



New Variety of Unio tumidus. — It may 

 interest some of your conchological readers to know 

 that I have obtained, from the fish-pond at Wistow 

 Hall, near Leicester, a variety of U. tumidus, which 

 Mr. J. W. Taylor of Leeds has named for me : 

 U. tumidus, var. ponderosa, Pascal. Mr. Taylor 

 remarks, "This variety has not, I believe, been 

 published as British." — //. E. Quitter, Leicester. 



Arrenurus.— On August 3rd, 1S85, I found a 

 male Arrenurus, differing greatly from any I have 

 before described, and also differing from any of the 

 figures in Miiller or Koch. It was of a lemon colour, 

 with brownish cornu. The eyes were of a beautiful 

 crimson, and the legs transparent blue ; the central 

 projection from the tail resembles the same part in 

 A. viridis, but the colour is yellow. The mite differs 

 from this latter in size as well as in colour, and also 

 in the shape of the rest of the tail. The spur on the 

 last joint but two of the hind leg is large. After the 

 creature was killed, and prepared for mounting, it 

 was seen that the colour was entirely dependent on 

 the contents of the abdomen, the chitinous skeleton 

 being of the same blue as the legs during life. When 

 viewed as an opaque object there was a green shade 

 seen occasionally, evidently produced by the yellow 

 colour passing through this transparent blue of the 

 exoskeleton. If this creature has not been before 



described or named, I should feel disposed to call 

 it Arrenurus luteus. It will be well to remember 

 that Koch says, " A. calcaratus has the central part 

 of the tail yellow " ; his figure, however, I think, 

 differs from the mite now described. — C. F. George, 

 Kir ton -in-Lindsey. 



Bulimus obscurus. — It may be of interest to note 

 the occurrence of this shell in the Channel Isles. 

 Jeffreys, I believe, gives Devonshire as its southern- 

 most limit ; last September I took two live specimens 

 near the walls of Fort George in Guernsey. It is 

 only surprising that it has not turned up there before. 

 It does not occur in Cooke and Gwatkin's list in 

 1878. Its continental range is of course most exten- 

 sive — according to Clessin, from Sicily to St. Peters- 

 burg. On the other hand, Bulimus moutanus, Drap., 

 does not seem to cross the Alps, though it occurs as 

 far south as the neighbourhood of the Pyrenees, and, 

 I think, on the Spanish side. Another curious point 

 about it is that, while not occurring in Denmark, it 

 appears again in the north of Sweden. — Brockton 

 Tomlin. 



BOTANY. 



Cardamine pratensis, viviparous. — Mr. John 

 Taylor (Note on Floral Varieties, p. 20, Science- 

 Gossip) will find the following about C. pratensis, 

 ladies' smock, or cuckoo-flower, being reproduced 

 by buds, such as he describes, in Thome's "Botany," 

 p. 83 : "The bodies termed bulbils or gemmae, are 

 stem-buds, which detach themselves from the plant, 

 and can themselves give rise to new individuals 

 exactly like the parent. They are found, for in- 

 stance, in abundance on certain species of Allium, 

 on the leaves of Cardamine pratensis, &c." I have 

 several times found the leaves with the little plants 

 growing out of them — a peculiarity which is not 

 noted in any of the modern Floras that I am ac- 

 quainted with, while it is given in Smith's "English 

 Flora," vol. i.i. p. 190, London, 1825: "Radial 

 leaves, several, &c, sometimes viviparous." It is 

 a pity that so much of the interesting matter that 

 is only to be found in those dear old volumes of 

 Withering and Smith has been removed from recent 

 handbooks : it was attractive and most helpful to 

 those who wished not merely to classify their plants, 

 but to know all about them. I would add that the 

 seed -pods of Cardamine pratensis are seldom perfected, 

 the plan of reproduction from the leaves is provided 

 by the Creator, that it may be fruitful and multiply. 

 Another instance of a gemmiparous plant is Utii- 

 cularia, where also seed-vessels very rarely come to 

 perfection, while the perpetuation of the race is pro- 

 vided for by the terminal buds, which last throughout 

 the winter, when the old plants decay away. — // IT. 

 Lett, M.A. 



