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HARD WICKE'S SCIENCE- G OSSIF. 



Science-Gossip for June, there is a Flora limited to 

 the higher Alps, in German " Botanischer Taschen- 

 begleiter des Alpenclubisten : eine Hochalpenflora 

 der Schweiz und des alpinen Deutschlands," von Dr. 

 R. Theodor Simler ; Zurich, 1871, (Schabelitz'sche 

 Buchhandlung), pp. 167, 5J X 3I inches (measuring 

 the type only). The work is cheap, about two francs, 

 if I remember rightly, and seems well done. There 

 is a similar small book by the same author on Swiss 

 mineralogy, called "Petraea," by Simler, 1866 ; Muri 

 (Keller) and Aarau (Sauerlander). — G. M. C. 



Objects of Sex, and of Odour in Flowers. — 

 A paper on this subject was read by Mr. Thomas 

 Meehan, before the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science, at Saratoga. Mr. Meehan 

 is of opinion that sex in nature is not primarily for 

 reproduction, but to ensure variation. 



Orchids. — We have received a "Catalogue of 

 Orchids " grown by Mr. Erastus Corning, near 

 Albany, U.S.A., containing thirty-two pages of lists 

 of all of these beautiful flowers, which have been 

 successfully grown by him. 



Ferns Propagated by Cuttings. — Mr. Adam- 

 son does not mention the name of the fern he 

 succeeded in propagating. Many ferns may be pro- 

 pagated by laying portions of fronds in damp mould, 

 and maintaining a proper amount of light without 

 sun, heat, and moisture. Examples of ferns which 

 may be so treated are Lastrca angularis, var. pro- 

 lifera, Scolopendrium vulgai-e (base of stalk here 

 produces bulbils), Campylopus flexiiosifs (plantlet 

 from tip of frond), Asplcniiim biilbiffniin and 

 A. vivipanun (buds on pinnce and pinnules), &c. 

 This list is -capable of great extension. — PPeiiry J. 

 Ryder, L.R.P.C.E., a-c. 



Peridermium Pini. — If Mr, C. B. Plowright 

 will refer to the July number of Science-Gossip, 

 1879, page 168, he will find I offered this fungus for 

 exchange at that time, having found it in large 

 quantities in the spring of that year. But few 

 availed themselves of the chance of possessing speci- 

 mens of this rare fungus, though any one can still 

 have specimens, by sending a stamped addressed 

 envelope to me. — Charles F. JV. y. Williams. 



Gaelic Names of Plants.— Mr. J. Cameron is 

 continuing his papers in the "Scottish Naturalist" 

 on this subject. They are very interesting, and im- 

 portant from the fact that in a few years a task of 

 this kind will be next to impossible. 



Orchids on the North Downs. — Mr. H, F. 

 Turner in Science-Gossip for July mentions Plabe- 

 naria albida and Cephalanthera ensifolia as found by 

 him near Knockholt Beeches, Kent. The first of 

 these is extremely rare in the south of England, only 

 certainly known to occur in Sussex, and there in a 



single locality on the Weald. The Cephalanthera 

 was not known for certain to Mr. H. C. Watson in 

 his "Topographical Botany," but I possess a specimen 

 from North Kent. If Mr. Turner would send to 

 Mr. J. G. Baker, at the Kew Herbarium, specimens 

 of the two plants he gives, I am sure Mr. Baker 

 would tell him if they were rightly named. Perhaps 

 Mr. Turner intended to write H. viridis ? If it is 

 albida it is a most interesting find. He may well 

 write with enthusiasm of these Downs, and I give 

 a few additions to his list. Orchis ustttlata occurs in 

 great quantity on Betchworth Hill, with Ophrys apifera 

 and Aceras. Hermininni inoiwrchis near Caterham 

 and Box Hill, and many years ago Orchis viilitaris 

 was found near Mickleham. Epipactis violacca, Den 

 Dug, grows on Box Hill. Ophrys arachnites may be 

 found in Surrey (the plant so called in the " Flora " is 

 only a form of apifera). Ophrys aranifera may also 

 be refound, as both occur in plenty in Kent. On the 

 Oxfordshire Downs, a few years ago, I was delighted 

 with the sight of twenty-three specimens of the rare 

 Orchis simia in full flower on the bushy borders of a 

 wood.— ^. B., Croydon. 



GEOLOGY. 



"The Scientific Roll." — No. 3 of this learned 

 and industrious compilation has appeared (conducted 

 by Mr. Alexander Ramsay, F.G.S.). This part deals 

 with "Climate," and contains an elaborate biblio- 

 graphy of all books, papers, &c., on this subject smce 

 the year 1855. 



The Iron Ores of Antrim. — We have received 

 a copy of a paper on this subject by Mr. J. D. Ken- 

 dall, F.G.S. (reprinted from the " Proceedings of the 

 North of England Mining Engineers "), in which the 

 mode of occurrence of the ore, origin of the deposits, 

 and age of the deposits, are briefly but effectively 

 treated upon. 



" The Geological Distribution of Endemic 

 Goitre." — Professor G. A, Lebour has recently 

 published a paper on this important subject, in 

 which he notices the distribution of "goitre oh the 

 different rocks of France and England, showing 

 where it is present and where absent. He concludes 

 there is a striking sameness in the geological dis- 

 tribution of the disease in the two countries ; and 

 quotes the words of Dr. de St. Lager, " that endemic 

 goitre coincides with metalliferous deposits," &c. 



Remains of Plants at the base of the 

 Denbighshire Grits, near Corwen. — This is 

 the title of a paper recently read before the Geo- 

 logical Society by Henry Hicks, M.D., F.G.S. 

 Traces of vegetable remains were first observed in 

 1875 by the author in Pen-y-glog quarry, about two 

 miles E. of Corwen. Further research has resulted 



