HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



= 35 



have only heard of one other nest in the neighbour- 

 hood. I think the heavy rains we have had during 

 spring and summer will have had a deal to do with this 

 scarcity. I am sure, I shall be the last to grumble at 

 the non-appearance of these troublesome pests, for 

 last year they were a perfect nuisance, both amongst 

 the fruit and in the house, for every " meal-time " we 

 had a regular battle with them for our food. Five 

 years ago wasps were unusually abundant with us, 

 and I destroyed over thirty nests within a radius of 

 three hundred yards from the house, without making 

 any very marked dimininution in the numbers which 

 came into the house whenever doors or windows 

 were opened. This puzzled me until a lady friend 

 accidentally discovered an enormous nest suspended 

 amongst the topmost branches of a large yew-tree 

 near the house. Little time was lost in fetching out 

 my gun, and a couple of discharges of small shot 

 speedily brought the nest tumbling to the ground — 

 and then we had peace. — R. S/aiidc-n, GoosiiargJi, 

 Preston, LancasJiij-c. 



"The Butterflies of Europe." — By H. C. 

 Lang, M.D., F.R.S. London : L. Reeve & Co. We 

 have received Part III. of this beautifully got up 

 work, which we regard as the best of its kind yet 

 brought before the notice of entomologists. 



"Garden Pests and their Eradication." — 

 Under this title a shilling brochure has just been 

 published by L. Upcott Gill, 170 Strand. We cor- 

 dially reccommend it as dealing ably with all kinds 

 of insects, &c. The numerous illustrations render 

 the identification of garden pests all the easier. 



The Work of Local Societies. — The Norfolk 

 and Norwich Naturalists' Society. — Part II. vol. iii. 

 of the Transactions of this well-known society is pub- 

 lished, containing the address of the President (Mr. 

 J. H. Gurney, jun.), and a paper by the same on " The 

 Spring Migration of Birds at St. Leonards ; " others 

 on "The Extinction of Species by the indirect acts 

 of Man," by Mr. Thos. Southwell, F.Z.S., ; on " The 

 Fungoid Diseases of Cereals," by the Rev. J. M. 

 Du Port ; on "Norfolk Names derived from those of 

 Animals, Birds, and Plants," by W. H. Bidwell, 

 &c. The ninth annual report of the Lambeth Field 

 Club has been issued, showing that eighteen papers 

 on subjects connected with botany, geology, &c., 

 were read last year, and giving a list of those to come 

 in during the ensuing winter. The Report and Transac- 

 tions of the Penzance Natural Histoiy and Antiquarian 

 Society for 1880-81 contains a well-written account 

 of the excursions; a valuable paper on "Cornish 

 Antiquities viewed in the light of Modern Research," 

 by W. C. Borlase, M.A. ; another on " The Fungi of 

 West Cornwall," by John Ralfs ; a careful paper 

 (with lists of species) on "The Thysanura and 

 Coleoptera of the Land's End District," by E. D. 

 Marquand, &c. The Croydon Microscopical and 



Natural History Club have also published their Pro- 

 ceedings and Transactions down to January 19th, 1S81. 

 The contents are varied, and include papers by Mr. 

 John Flower, E. Lovett, Dr. A. Carpenter, a very ably 

 drawn up "Botanical Report," &c., all of which 

 indicates healthy scientific activity. Part III. vol. iv. 

 of the Proceedings of the Liverpool Geological 

 Society is to hand, containing the address of the 

 President (Mr. William Semmons) ; papers on 

 "Spht and other Boulders," by Dr. C. Ricketts ; 

 the " Carboniferous Limestone of Gower compared 

 with that of North Wales," by G. H. Morton, F.G.S. ; 

 " Worked Flints of the Raised Beaches on the north- 

 east Coast of Ireland," by F. Archer; "On the 

 Southern Drift of England," by T. M. Reade, 

 F.G.S., &c. The Proceedings of Bristol Naturalists' 

 Society, Vol. III. Part I. includes the following 

 papers : " Some New Optical Illusions," by Professor 

 S. P. Thompson ; " Underground Temperature," by 

 E. Wethered ; "Life History of a Sponge," by Pro- 

 fessor SoUas ; " ProHficationin Cyclamen Fersicnrn,^^ 

 by Adolph Leipner ; " Catalogue of the Lepidoptera 

 of the Bristol District," by A. E. Hudd, &c. &c. 



Norwich Naturalists' Science Club.— Under 

 this name a number of young men have banded 

 themselves together for mutual help and encourage- 

 ment in natural science. We heartily wish them 

 success. 



BOTANY. 



" Ramble on the Leckhampton Hill."— In his 

 interesting note of a ramble on Leckhampton Hill, 

 Mr. Harris speaks (Sept. No.) of finding Gentiaiia, 

 Sec, with Campamcla rapitncidus. I have myself 

 found the plants he names growing on the hill in 

 company with Campamda glomcrata. It occurred to 

 me he might have mistaken this for rapunculus, 

 but I should be glad to know if he really found the 

 latter there, as I do not know of any locality for it in 

 this district. I quite sympathise, as all botanists 

 must, with his complaint of extermination of rare 

 plants by mercenary collectors. Perhaps the best 

 remedy would be to induce the landed proprietor 

 (if he takes any interest in the matter) to prosecute a 

 few of these spoliators. A wholesome fine or two 

 would do much to stop them.— ^. D. Melvin. 



Varieties of Mountain Ash. — Can any botanist 

 inform me how many varieties there are of the moun- 

 tain ash or rowan-tree {Fyrus or Sorbus auciiparia) 1 

 as there are three distinct varieties growing in 

 this locality. Hooker and Arnott's " British Flora " 

 only mentions one. — Ret: S. A. Brenan. 



The Colours of Spring Flowers.— Dr. A. W, 

 Bennett, in a paper on this subject read before the 

 British Association, said every one must have noticed 



