COREESPONDENCE. 255 



together at the top of the stem, farther apart lower down, and not 

 opposite one another ; the flower-branches do not grow near the leaves, 

 but are quite 3ft. above them. There were thirty-two branches, and taking 

 each truss to average eighty blossoms, there were about 2,700 flowers on one 

 plant. The flower buds look a pale greenish white, tipped with bright 

 yellow ; the flower lasts from three to four days. The scent is most 

 disagreeable; an immense qiiantity of honey drops frora the flower. 

 The thickness of each leaf next the stem is from Gin. to Sin. ; the vvddth 

 of leaf at the base is over a foot ; length about 6ft. The leaves ai-e dark 

 green, with stripes of yellow round the edge. These plants are said to 

 have been in the conservatoiy nearly eighty years. As soon as the 

 flowers expand, the leaves begin to di'oop, and the plants gradually die 

 away. The dry stem of a plant, that flowered about eight years since, is 

 preserved in two pieces in the conservatory ; and although nearly '27ft. 

 long, can be easily carried about by a lady or child, being as light as 

 a piece of cork. — E. M. S. 



Geology of Sheopshire. — Dr. Callaway having referred, in " The 

 Midland Naturalist " for August, (p. 206,) to some criticisms of mine on 

 his paper in the "Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society" for 

 November, 1877, I may be allowed to say that these were founded on a 

 misapprehension of his words as reported in the discussion on his paper. 

 I find him saying there that " the shales are one homogeneous formation 

 marked throughout by the same fossils, the younger types occurring in 

 the same beds with the older forms, and mixed indiscriminately with 

 them. In the lower part of the iipper series also, there are no signs of 

 transition into an older fauna, the species being common Caradoc forms." 

 At a recent excursion of the Caradoc Field Club to Pedwardine, Dr. 

 Callaway explained that he here referred to two distinct strata, in the 

 lower of which Tremadoc forms are found without intermixture with those 

 of Caradoc age. — J.D. La Touche, Stokesay, Craven Ai-ms, Aug. 6th, 1878. 



^Icaniiiqi 



The Reindeer in the Midlands. — An antler of the Reindeer 

 (Cervus taraiulus) has lately been found in the gravels of the Soar, near 

 Leicester. The perfect portion is 2^ft. long, and 5iu. in circumference at 

 the beam. It is now in the Leicester Museum, which possesses another 

 antler, and also a fine tusk of the Mammoth from the same deposits. 

 These large bones seem always to occur at or near the base of the river- 

 gravel, (here 10ft. to 17ft. thick,) resting upon the Keuper Red Marls. 



Pond Life Collector's " Condensing " Bottle. — Mr. T. Bolton, of 

 17, Ann Street, Birmingham, has showed us a good form of " con- 

 densing" bottle, (price 3s.,) which collectors of pond life will find a most 

 convenient addition to their apparatus. The water as taken from a pond 

 is poured through a long - necked funnel into a bottle, of which the 

 exit pipe is terminated inside by a wire cage covered with fine muslin. 

 By help of this apparatus the living animalcules in a considerable 

 quantity of water can be rapidly condensed into a small bulk, and so 

 conveniently carried home. 



Rev. W. B. Clarke, born 1798, (Suffolk,) died 1878 (Sydney, N.S.W.) 

 Mr. Clarke was the "Father of Australian Geology." He went out in 

 1839, and was among the first, if not the first, to recognise the existence 

 of gold in the Australian Contiuent. He was also the discoverer of 

 diamonds and of tin there. An idea of his work may be gained from the 

 fact that he is said to have ofticially reported on no less than 108,000 

 square miles of territory. 



