HARD WICKE 'S SCIENCE- G OSS IP. 



39 



"Wanderings in South America" (1S25 edition), 

 Mr. Waterton fully explains his mode of preserving 

 birds ; the process is very tedious, but the result, as I 

 can testify, is very beautiful. Both this process and 

 that of preparing insects would be too long to give an 

 account of here. — T. S. 



Preserving Animals.— The basis of Waterton's 

 proceedings was the preservation of his specimens by 

 the use of bichloride of mercury dissolved in alcohol. 

 This hardens the skins and causes them to retain the 

 shape in which they are placed when wet for any 

 length of time : thus no wires are necessary. 

 " W. G." will find the whole process most minutely 

 described in "Waterton's Essays on Natural History," 

 new edition, F. Warne& Co., price 7s. 6d. — W. B. R. 



Preserving Animals.— The late Mr. Waterton 

 had a peculiar mode of his own of preserving animals, 

 an account of which will be found in his life by Mr. 

 Hobson. It is not, however, by any means, 

 equal to the present mode by a skilful artist of setting 

 up birds. If " W. G." wants a ready way, let him 

 eviscerate a bird, place it in the position he wants, and 

 then fill it with cotton soaked in carbolic acid 

 dilute ; and the bird will be preserved for ages. This 

 does not do, however, and is given up for the 

 skinning process. — C. R. Bree, M.D. 



Later Appearance of the Hirundinid/E. — 

 "R." will be interested to hear that I have in my 

 possession the nest and one egg of Hirundo rustice 

 {Chimney swallow), which was taken while the bird 

 was sitting ; she having been duly watched when 

 building in a cart-shed at Walton-on-the-Naze, in 

 December, 1S66. See Field, January 12th, 1867. — 

 C. R. Bree. M. D. 



Badly-blown Eggs.— Let " G. T. B." get Prof. 

 Newton's little Essay upon blowing and preserving 

 birds' eggs, which he can buy for a shilling or so, and he 

 will get all the information he wants. — C. R. Bree, 

 M.D. 



The " Midland Naturalist." — It is with much 

 pleasure we welcome this new literary labourer into 

 the field of popular science. Like the Scottish Natu- 

 ralist (which relates chiefly to the Natural History 

 of Scotland) and The Naturalist (the organ of the 

 West Riding Natural History Societies), the Midland 

 Naturalist purposes to give preference to local 

 scientific information, and to chronicle the doings 

 of the numerous energetic clubs and societies which 

 are springing up in central England. Among these 

 are the following : — Various societies in Birmingham, 

 Burton, Caradoc, Dudley, Derbyshire, Leicester, 

 Northampton, Nottingham, Rugby, Oswestry, 

 Severn Valley, Shropshire, Stroud, Tamworth, &c. 

 The first number of the Midland Naturalist appeared 

 on January 1st, and appears with an attractively 

 got-up cover designed by Worthington Smith. It con- 

 tains well-written articles on Ferns, Meteorology, 

 Zoology, and Geology. 



BOTANY, 



Further Notes on the Flora near Cader 

 Idris. — Seeing from the "Botanical Notes in the 

 Neighbourhood of Cader Idris," and also from 

 another correspondent in the September number, that 

 there are some of your readers interested in the plants 

 of that neighbourhood, I should like to mention a 

 few more to be found there, in addition to those 

 already specified : — Saxifraga stellaris ; Melittis Me- 

 lissophylhtm (bastard balm) ; Impatiens noli-me- 

 tangere (yellow balsam) ; Ranunculus Lingtta (great 

 spearwort) ; Sedum telephium ; Euonymus europaus 

 (spindle tree) ; Asperula odorata (woodruff) ; Ruscus 

 aculeatus (butcher's broom) ; Narthecium ossifragum 

 (bog asphodel) ; Myrica Gale (bog myrtle) ; Lobelia 

 Dort/nanna, found in Llynn Creigenau, and also in 

 Llynn Cyri, another lovely little tarn not far off, 

 nestling close in under the mountain. Nearer to the 

 sea I found Eryngium maritimum (sea holly) ; Aster 

 Tripolium (Michaelmas daisy)'; Statice Limonium (sea 

 lavender) ; Crithum maritimum (samphire) ; Silenc 

 maritima (sea campion) ; Rosa spinosissima (burnet- 

 leaved rose) ; Tanacetum vulgare (tansy), found at 

 Llangrwyll, a village four miles south of Arthog. 

 Aspleuiuni maritimum grows on the cliffs between 

 these two places ; and to the list of Ferns I can also 

 add, having | found Asplenium viride and Hymcno- 

 phyllum tunbridgense on the Llynn y Gader side of 

 Cader Idris. These plants were found in the month 

 of August, during a week's stay at Arthog, a village 

 on the Dolgelly side of the estuaiy, nearly opposite 

 to Barmouth ; and the district through which they 

 range is included in walks the farthest point of which 

 reaches Llynn Gader in one direction, and in another 

 stretching along the coast three or four miles south of 

 Arthog. — A. Warner. 



The Watford Natural History Society. — 

 The eighth part of the " Transactions " of this 

 vigorous society contains a capital paper by the 

 Rev. George Henslow, F. L. S., on "The Fertiliza- 

 tion of Plants," and another on "Instructions for 

 taking Meteorological Observations," by William 

 Marriott,iF.M.S. 



The Influence of Trees on Rainfall. — 

 From observations by M. Fautrat, relative to the 

 comparative influence of leafy woods and resinous 

 woods on rain and the hygrometric state of the air, 

 recently communicated to the Paris Academy, it 

 appears that pine forests have a much greater influ- 

 ence on the hygrometric state than others ; so that if 

 the vapours dissolved in the air were apparent, like 

 fogs, we should see forests shrouded in a large screen 

 of moisture, and in the case of resinous woods the 

 vapoury envelope would be more distinct than in that 

 of leafy woods. M. Fautrat also shows that pines 

 retain in their branches more than half of the water 

 which is poured upon them, whereas leafy trees allow 



