146 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



strawberry-leaves are present. The expression, " He 

 aspires to the strawberry-leaves," has been employed 

 by the late Earl of Beaconsfield in his early novels. 

 "The reason," says Mrs. Bayle Bernard, "if any, 

 why this leaf in particular was advanced to such a 

 dignity the heralds have not vouchsafed to inform 

 us ; but the ornament is not the less prized by its 

 possessor from ignorance of its derivation ; and the 

 lower ten millions, whose ignoble heads it can never 

 wreathe, may console themselves for the deprivation 

 by the reflection, that none who can secure the fruit 

 need envy those who wear the leaves." * 



There has been much controversy as to the origin 

 of the English name of this plant. According to 

 some old authors, it was derived from the use of 

 straw to protect the plant in winter. Thus, old 

 Tusser, in his " Husbandry for December," says : — 



" The strawberries look to be covered with straw, 

 Laid evenly trim upon crotches and bows, 

 And after uncovered as the weather allows." 



But the word has nothing to do with straw, for we 

 find it spelt in various ways in old books. It was not 

 until the fifteenth century, in a pictorial vocabulary, 

 that it appeared in its present form. The word no 

 doubt is derived from the Saxon " streowberrie," a 

 straying plant that bears berries. Bishop Latimer 

 used to call the non-resident country clergy "straw- 

 berry preachers," because they strayed from their 

 parishes, to which they returned only once a year. 

 Kent is said to be the Garden of England, both as 

 regards soil and climate. In 1877 nearly 12,000 

 acres were devoted to the growing of small fruits : 

 gooseberries, currants, strawberries, and raspberries. 

 The quantities of these fruits sent annually to London 

 and other large towns are enormous. One extensive 

 grower in Kent, in 1876, sent 125 tons of strawberries 

 to the London market ; and another grower, in 1877, 

 sent in one day 2500 pecks. f The village of Bexley 

 may be regarded as the centre of the strawberry supply 

 for the London market. 



Swallows. — The storm of rain, culminating in a 

 heavy fall of snow, on Wednesday, the 12th of May, 

 1886, proved most destructive to our twittering 

 summer visitants, the swallows. About my own 

 neighbourhood they fluttered into outhouses and fell 

 dead, in some instances actually entering the cottage 

 doors and dropping lifeless on the floor ; while near 

 Lurgan, in East Armagh, I heard of six hundred 

 swallows being found dead about one house on the 

 shore of Lough Neagh, a spot where they usually 

 congregate to feed on the insects which abound over 

 the shallow waters. I have seen but very few since the 

 day named, and fear they have been all but extermi- 

 nated in the north of Ireland. Have other observers 

 noted the same mortality ?— H. IV Lett, M.A. 



* "Our Common Fruits." 

 f " The Garden,' vol. xii. 



ON THE VARIATION AND CONTINENTAL 

 DISTRIBUTION OF THE BRITISH SLUGS. 



By J. W. Williams, D.Sc, etc. 



{Continued from p. 99.] 



T IMAX A GRESTIS, Linn.— This species has 

 j£— • a very wide distribution. Besides being found 

 in the greater part of Britain, it occurs in Greenland, 

 Finland, Russia, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, 

 Corsica, Algeria, Madeira, and the Azores, even 

 extending into Siberia, Massachusetts and Canada 

 in America. 



Var. cineracea*, Moq. : animal greyish-white ; 

 mantle ashy (= type). Generally distributed. 



Var. albida *, Picard : animal greyish-white, spot- 

 less, with sometimes two lateral greyish bands 

 (scarcely obvious) on the shield. French. 



Var. filans, Hoy : animal greyish-white or ashy ; 

 mantle yellowish. French, Italian. 



Var. sylvatica *, Drap. : animal greyish, mottled. 

 ("Animal d'un violet bleuatre, ou lie de vin, ou 

 grisatre avec des taches irregulieres ; tete souvent 

 d'un brun clair." — Moquin-Tandon.) 



Subvar. clypeo-fasciata, Dumont and Mortillet : 

 animal of normal colour, with spots or bands of 

 a deeper hue on the mantle. Common in France. 

 Subvar. clypeo-concolor, Dumont and Mortil- 

 let : animal like the preceding, but without spots 

 or bands on the mantle. Less common than 

 subvar. clypeo-fasciata in France. 



Subvar. immaculata, Dumont and Mortillet : 

 animal pale-coloured, spotless, bandless. 

 Var. melanocephala, Moq. : animal greyish-white, 

 with black head. French. 



Var. punctata*', Moq. : animal greyish or white, 

 with very small black spots. French. My sister has 

 sent me several of these from Stourport. 



Var. lilacina *, Moq. : animal lilac or brown-lilac, 

 spotless. French. 



Var. ornata, Moq. : animal yellowish, spotted with 

 black ; mantle with two blackish or brown bands. 

 French. 



Var. obscura, Moq. : animal reddish with brown 

 spots. Common in the subalpine regions of France 

 (Dumont and Mortillet). 



Var. nigra *, Butterell : animal black. 

 Var. tristis *, Moq. : animal brownish, mantle with 

 two lateral brown bands, and sometimes a third 

 intermediate band. Rare in France, and found in 

 the subalpine regions. Paulucci found it in Calabria, 

 and Doderlein at Palermo. 



Var. reticulata *, Mull. : animal red or reddish-grey, 

 with irregular blackish spots. Moderately common 

 in Italy and France. 



Var. rufescens, Pini : = var. obscura, Moq. 

 Var. varians, Westerl. : animal grey, spotted and 

 variegated with black neck above and tentacles 

 fuscous. Scandinavian. 



