HA RD WICKE'S SCIENCE- G OSSIP. 



185 



and vice versa ! This certainly seems a strange idea 

 for such an entomologist as Muffet to have taken into 

 his head ; but although Swammerdam, in his great 

 work in 1669, took the trouble to disprove the state- 

 ment at some length, Muffet's theory has been copied 

 by compilers of works on Natural History from one 

 to another, without scruple, for over 200 years, and 

 I dare say many readers will remember having met 

 with it in some of the so-called popular books on 

 Natural History even at the present day— Muffet's 

 name alone having been taken as a sufficient 

 guarantee of the truth of such an assertion. 



On first reading the above statement in Muffet's 

 work, my admiration for his knowledge of his subject 

 received a severe shock. I was much interested 

 with a recent communication to the "Entomologist," 

 in which was recorded an instance where the head 

 of the imago did really appear at the tail of the 

 pupa ! A similar freak of nature must have been 

 observed by Muffet, who evidently did not however 

 .recognize in it "the exception which proves the 

 rule ; " thus his apparent inaccuracy has suddenly 

 been satisfactorily explained. 



I have above endeavoured to trace the rise and 



progress of Entomological Literature from unknown 



writers before the time of Aristotle (who was born 



nearly 400 years before the Christian era) down to 



the publication of Muffet's "Theatrum Insectorum," 



a.d. 1634 ; and therefore, although insects were by 



no means unnoticed before, Muffet's book, which 



was printed at London, was the first separate work 



on all orders of insects published to the world, and 



England can thus lay claim to having produced the 



earliest really important work on Entomology, the 



book in question. 



WlLLOUGHBY GARDNER. 



N.B. — The writer will be glad to receive any 

 additions or corrections to the above necessarily 

 somewhat imperfect notes. 



OLD ENGLISH PLANT-NAMES.— No. II. 



LIST of old English plant-names, taken from 

 Lee's " Introduction to Botany," and Berken- 

 hout's " Synopsis of Natural History," concluded : — 



Old English Names. 



Virgin's-bower. 



Dog's-rue. 



Double - tongue or 



horse-tongue. 

 Dragons. 



Starry duck's-meat. 

 Dwale. 



Ebony of the Alps. 

 Edders. 



Modern Synonyms. 

 Clematis. 

 Figwort. 

 Butcher's-broom. 



Arum maculatitm. 

 Callitriche. 

 Nightshade (Bella- 

 donna). 

 Laburnum. 

 Arum maciilatiim. 



Old English Names. 



Flybane. 

 Sicklewort. 



Fryer's-cowl. 



Gill. 



Stinking gladiole. 



Golden cup. 



Go-to-bed-at-noon. 



Hairbell. 



Burgundian hay or 

 hedgehog. 



Hep tree. 



Herb-bane. 



Herb-trinity. 



Herb-twopence. 



High-taper. 



Hindberry. 



Grass-honeysuckle. 



Blessed herb. 



Horns. 



Immortal eagle-flower. 



Jupiter's beard. 



Jupiter's distaff. 



Kermes. 



King's-spear. 



Pestilent-wort. 



False phyllyrea. 



Pick-tooth. 



Piperidge-bush. 



Piquets. 



Rocambole. 



Shepherd's-rod. 



Setterwort. 



Shave grass. 



Snail-clover. 



Bastard French spike- 

 nard. 



Celtic spijcenard. 



Stavesacre. 



Red maithes. 



Locker gowlans, B. 



Park- leaves, B. 



St. Peter's wort, B. 



Male-handed orchis, 

 B. 



Female - handed or- 

 chis, B. 



Frog satyrion, B. 



Modern Synonyms. 



Catchfly [Silene anglica). 

 Mountain bugle (AJuga 



pyramidalis). 

 Arum maculatum. 

 Blue-bugle. 

 Iris. 



Buttercup. 

 Goatsbeard. 

 Blue hyacinth. 

 Prickly medick. 



Wild rose. 



Broomrape. 



Violet. 



Loosestrife. 



Great mullein. 



Blackberry. 



Scented trefoil. 



Common avens. 



Medick. 



Touch-me-not. 



Ladies' fingers. 



Wild sage. 



Oak. 



Asphodel. 



Coltsfoot. 



Buckthorn. 



Wild carrot. 



Barberry. 



Wild pink. 



Garlic. 



Wild teasel. 



Hellebore. 



Horse-tail. 



Medick. 



Common matgrass. 



Valerian. 



Delphinium. 



Pheasant's-eye. 



Globe-flower. 



Tutsan or great St. 



John's wort 

 Hypericum, quadrangu- 



lum. 

 Orchis latifolia. 



Orchis metadata. 



Frog orchis. 



Geo. Roberts. 



Loft house. 



Mr. J. T. Campbell, in the "American Natura- 

 list," expresses his opinion, that the crow is one of 

 the most industrious of forest rjlanters and seed- 

 transporting agents. 



