232 



giving off branches generally dichotomous. They varied in diameter from '01 to '02 

 of a millimetre, and appeared to spring without any root from an amorphous, soft, 

 finely gmnular mass. They gave off at their extremities numerous oval, round or ob- 

 long corpuscules, arranged in bead-like rows, which were considered reproductive spo- 

 rules. The same appearances were found in the soft cheesy matter lining some of the 

 tubercular cavities after death." — From the '■Annals and Magazine of Natural Histo- 

 ry,' March, 1842,;). 66. 



154. Note upon the Fungus parasitical on fishes. Having seen that Mr. Goodsir of 

 Edinburgh has described the parasite which infests the bodies of gold carp and other 

 fishes, I imagined that the following incident concerning it might not prove uninte- 

 resting to your readers. About a month since I placed six newts in a tank of water in 

 which there were some aquatic plants, and three small fish commonly called stickle- 

 backs. One of these, the largest of the three, had the hinder part of its body covered 

 with the plant. The newts had not long been in the tank, when my brother, Mr. Ed- 

 win Quekett, and myself, saw one of them in the act of nibbling away at the parasite, 

 whilst the fish remained perfectly quiet : on disturbing them the same thing was re- 

 peated by another newt ; the fish appeared much pleased, and even moved its tail fre- 

 quently towards the newt, as though it were anxious to get rid of the parasitic growth. 

 Whether the act of the newt were dictated by kindness I cannot say ; probably these 

 animals perforai (as tench are said to do) the office of physicians to the diseased por- 

 tion of the finny race. — John Quekett ; 50, Wellclose Square, May 23, 1842. 



155. Note on the Oxlips from Bardfield, Sfc. The oxlips kindly sent to me by Mr. H. 

 Doubleday from Bardfield (Phytol. 204), and concerning which you enquire, appear to 

 me to be the species intended by the figure in ' English Botany ' (513), and also to be 

 identical with Swiss and German specimens in my herbarium, which were sent to me 

 under the name of " Primula elatior, Jacq." The Bardfield specimens differ slightly 

 from the figure in ' English Botany,' but not importantly, except in having the calyx 

 decidedly shorter than the tube of the corolla. They are unlike any other English 

 oxlips in my herbarium (all of which may be gradually traced either to the primrose 

 or to the cowslip, by intermediate links), and, as appears to me, they may be safely 

 pronounced the real representatives of Primula elatior. The dubious oxlip, gathered 

 last year at Claygate, and mentioned in your first number (Phytol. 9), has this 

 year flowered in my garden. It there grows in a much drier and a less shaded situ- 

 ation than that in which the wild root was found. In the form of the calyx, corolla, 

 and leaf, it is now decidedly a primrose, although the umbel is elongated on a stout 

 scape of five inches in height. In the deep colour of the corolla and the tint of the 

 leaves, it has more nearly the cowslip hues : the pubescence is intermediate, but nearer 

 that of the primrose. I consider the plant to be an umbelled primrose, but cannot 

 account for the cowslip colours. Preparations for a botanical tour to the Azores (for 

 which I expect to sail in two or three days) have prevented my giving attention to the 

 subject of the oxlips this spring ; and sundry experiments bearing upon the question 

 of their relations to the cowslips and primroses that had been commenced will be inter- 

 fered with by my absence, which I anticipate will continue for the whole summer and 

 autumn. As far as my observations go, there is not any one point in the specific 

 characters ordinarily given for the primrose and cowslip, which is constant in either. 

 Each characteristic of the primrose may be seen in specimens that otherwise would be 

 called cowslips, and vice versL The least variable, perhaps, are the very short and 

 close pubescence of the cowslip, and the long weak hairs of the primrose. I have 



