HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE -GOSSIP. 



247 



side flower, our anemone has the charm of pre- 

 serving its beauty in a vase for nearly double the 

 time of the much-prized rose ; indeed, with the 

 exception of china-asters, pyrefheums, and chrysan- 

 themums, anemones might claim a prize for this 

 property. Anemone Japonica is perfectly hardy, 

 and easily cultivated, as the roots can be separated 

 in early spring without injury to the plant ; but a 

 row of white anemones left undisturbed in front of a 

 garden-hedge becomes one of the prettiest sights in 

 an autumn garden — the masses of snowy petals are 

 brought into such bold relief by their green back- 

 ground. For scarlet to place against our white 

 blossoms perhaps Lobelia cardinalis can hardly be 

 surpassed ; except perhaps by some late blossom of 

 gladiolus. But the lobelia is rather a capricious 

 plant ; it requires a large amount of moisture in a 

 thoroughly well-drained situation. The most suc- 

 cessful bed I have ever seen was made by removing 

 about two feet of the upper soil, and placing a 

 quantity (about half a foot) of broken bricks in the 

 pit. The soil was then replaced, and the lobelias 

 grew and flourished for years. Unfortunately they 

 were removed to an adjacent bed without drainage 

 precautions being taken, and they " damped off," or 

 sent up sickly stunted shoots as long as they sur- 

 vived. A clergyman, for many years resident in 

 America, told me the beauty and brilliancy of a 

 swamp of lobelias in their native habitats is almost 

 dazzling. 



There is a rather pretty violet-coloured and also a 

 lilac lobelia, both of which blossom in autumn ; but 

 even the scarlet of the lobelia pales beside the blos- 

 soms of the ' ' velvet " Salvia, and its sister, the blue 

 salvia, is not surpassed by any autumnal flower. The 

 length of time this plant remains in blossom, if not 

 destroyed by rains or high winds, is marvellous. 

 First the "king spike," and then the side spikelets, 

 seem never weary of showing their brilliant colouring 

 to grace our autumn bouquet ; and after a trial of six 

 seasons out of doors, merely protected by a covering 

 of turf mould, my noble plant is the admiration of 

 all visitors. Sometimes in spring the early shoots of 

 both salvias are cut off by frosts, but the hardy plant, 

 like the field potato, only waits for a few congenial 

 days to send up a succession of fresh sprouts from its 

 uninjured tuberous roots. Blue salvias are easily 

 reared from seed (if these are defended from robins, 

 which seem particularly fond of them) ; they will also 

 root from small side-shoots, or slips, in summer ; but 

 until the tubers form they should not be left out in 

 winter time ; and when the plants are meant to re- 

 main out of doors they should be planted in spring 

 and left undisturbed during the summer, so that they 

 can "settle themselves," as our old gardener used to 

 call it, before winter. 



And now for yellow to set off my scarlet, white, 

 and blue favourites. I shall either take a few blos- 

 soms of Viola Intea, or twigs of Spanish broom ; 



both are perfectly hardy. Though I shall not place 

 purple beside blue, I may remark, en passant, that 

 a bed of Viola cornnta of that lovely shade is at 

 present one of the most brilliant spots in the garden, 

 whilst its yellow sisters form glowing borders to 

 several other beds, and they have now (October) 

 been in blossom for the last three months. A box oi 

 slips taken from young shoots of violas (close to 

 the ground), and stuck between the old cut-down 

 plants in spring each season, will give a beautiful 

 succession of flowers all through the summer months ; 

 and entomologists may care to know that the Viola 

 cornnta and all its purple varieties are veritable moth- 

 traps on summer evenings. The Spanish broom is a 

 beautiful shrub in autumn, with one defect, — that it 

 blossoms so late in the season that it is difficult to 

 procure ripened seed. 



And now I must look for some pretty leaves 

 wherewith to form a background for my bouquet, 

 and I shall find them in the delicate fern-like green 

 of a bed of young carrots ; they are so light as to 

 prove invaluable at this time of year for arranging 

 vases, and we may often find a leaf almost as scarlet 

 as the lobelia beside it. One shade more and our 

 group will be complete, — something dark, — and our 

 children supply it. They have been out boating, and 

 have brought home a bunch of "giant black-tufted 

 grass," as they call it, a plume of which will make 

 our autumnal vase of flowers quite artistic in effect. 



FOSSIL BOLYZOA. 



The Genus Fenestella: its History, Develop- 

 ment, and Range in Space and Time. 



By George Robert Vine. 

 I. — History of the Genus. 



SOME of the most prolific forms of animal life 

 found in the palaeozoic series of rocks are a 

 group of Polyzoa, which has passed under several 

 names. By the earliest investigators, some of these 

 Polyzoa were classified with the corals, and were 

 consequently placed by Goldfuss with the genus 

 Gorgonia* Other forms were restricted by the same 

 author, and placed with Lamarck's genus Retepora. 

 This was the status of classificatory knowledge when 

 Phillips wrote his work on the "Geology of York- 

 shire." Turning to one of the later editions of 

 Brown's "Zoologist's Text-book," published by 

 Fullarton, in 1833, I find the class Polypi placed 

 among the Radiata, in the fourth division of the 

 Animal Kingdom. The animals of this class were 

 gelatinous, with elongated contractile bodies ; and 

 provided with an alimentary sac, which had one 

 opening ; mouth terminal, surrounded by radiated 

 tentacula ; the greater number of the species con- 



* Linn»v» 



