HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Larus Atricilla v. Larus Ridibundus. — 

 T. S. in Science-Gossip for May is somewhat 

 severely down upon the authors of the mistake in 

 naming the gull killed in the neighbourhood of 

 Newmarket recently ; but in giving the Latin 

 synonyms of the Laughing Gull and the Common 

 Blackheaded Gull he makes the mistake of calling 

 the former L. atricilla, and the latter L. ridihnnJus. 

 —J.D. 



Entomological Society of the Province 

 OF Ontario. — We have received the Annual Report 

 of the above society. It contains, in addition to the 

 president's (Mr. W. Sander) annual address, many 

 valuable papers, dealing not only with entomology 

 as a general science, but chiefly in its relation to 

 agriculture. Papers treating of the chief pests, and 

 insect attacks of the last year, on the ants, migratory 

 insects, &c., are to be specially mentioned, 



A Novelty at the Zoological Gardens.— It 

 is with much pleasure we call attention to the new 

 building established by the Zoological Society for the 

 exhibition of insect life in its earlier stages, and called 

 " Insectorium."' A great variety of all orders of 

 insects in the larval and pupal form is already 

 collected for public exhibition. 



Occurrence of Capros aper (the Boar-fish) 

 AT Eastbourne. — Four specimens of this interest- 

 ing visitor have recently come under my notice, 

 having been taken on the shore here ; in three cases 

 alive. — C. F., Eastbourne, 



BOTANY. 



Teratological Notes. — I have noticed for several 

 seasons that flowers with an abnormal number of 

 organs are especially frequent in the common prim- 

 rose {P. vulgaris). The most common departure 

 from the normal form is a flower having calyx and 

 corolla six-parted. Specimens of this form I have 

 met with during each of the last four or five seasons ; 

 but in looking over, at this moment, a bunch of 

 blossoms brought from Morse's Wood, Lcith Hill, 

 I have obtained a more interesting collection. From 

 less than 50 flowers I picked out 4 distinct forms. 

 No. I possesses a 3-lobed calyx, and a 4-lobed corolla ; 

 stamens 4. No. 2, calyx 6-lobed, corolla 6-lobed. No. 3, 

 calyx 4-lobed, corolla 6-lobed, stamens 6. No. 4, calyx 

 8-lobed, corolla 7-lobed, stamens 7. No doubt a 

 careful search among the growing plants would give 

 a greater variety still. In ^larch iSSo I obtained 

 two specimens of Crocus zrrna, which have the 

 perianth 8-lobed, stamens 4, of which 2 are aborted. 

 In the following month I found a specimen of the 

 daffodil [jVarcissus pscuJo-iiarcissus), in which the 

 scape was 2-branched at the summit, each branch 

 bearing a flower. One of these was of the normal 

 size and form, and had the orthodox number of 



divisions in the perianth, but the other was smaller, 

 and had perianth-leaves 4, corona 4-segmented, 

 stamens 4, stigma bi-lobed. From these few in- 

 stances it will be seen that there is a good field for 

 the monstrosity-hunter among our common spring 

 flowering plants. — E. Step. 



" The British Moss Flora." — Dr. R. Braith- 

 waite, F.L.S., has just issued part iv. of this ad- 

 mirable work, in which the family Fissidentacea is 

 described. It is illustrated by three beautiful plates. 

 The price of the part is three shillings. 



In taking a walk some time ago near Totnes I 

 found a double primrose [Primula vcris). The calyx 

 was lo-toothed, the limb of the corolla xo-lobed, the 

 tube not quite round ; ten anthers, all perfect ; two 

 ovaries, two styles and stigmas. The flower was 

 rather large, the peduncle was somewhat flattened 

 at the top, I should be glad to know if any readers 

 of Science-Gossip have met with it. — E. Bally, 

 Totnes, South Devon, 



A Dictionary of English Folklore,— Our 

 old correspondent Mr, James Britten is engaged, 

 with Mr. G. L. Gomme, upon a work which will 

 bear the above title. He will be very grateful to 

 any of our readers for assistance in this, or in the 

 Dictionaries of Plant and Animal names upon which 

 he is engaged for the English Dialect Society. His 

 address is 3, Gumley Row, Isleworth, Middlesex. 



GEOLOGY. 



The Microscopic Structure op Devitrified 

 rocks from Beddgelert, Snowdon, and 

 Skomer Island. — A paper on this subject has 

 just been read by Mr. F, Rutley, F.G.S. The first 

 specimen described was found about a quarter 

 of a mile from Beddgelert, on the Capel Curig 

 road. Examined microscopically, it showed traces 

 of perlitic structure, with small spherulites, both 

 isolated and in bands, not exhibiting radial structure, 

 but apparently composed of very minute chlorite and 

 a garnet, probably spessartine. Hence the rock 

 must be a devitrified obsidian or pitchstone. The 

 second specimen is a banded greenish-gray "fel- 

 stone," at Clogwyn du'r Arddu, of Bala age, which 

 also has probably been vitreous. The third speci- 

 men, from near Pont y Cromlech, is a schistose 

 felsitic rock. This was compared microscopically 

 with an obsidian from Hungary and a rhyolite from 

 Gardiner's River (N. America), and was shown to 

 have been probably once a glassy rock. In conclusion 

 the author discussed the limits of the terms felstone, 

 rhyolite, trachyte, and obsidian. An appendix was 

 added upon the microscopic characters of some rocks 

 from Skomer Island, off the coast of Pembrokeshire. 

 These were shown to be devitrified obsidians, some 

 of them exhibiting spherulitic and perlitic structures. 



