March 29, 1883 | 
highly esteemed by the Romans, as we know from | 
Juvenal; but there are no grounds for imagining that 
it was in those times imported into Rome from Britain. 
The facility of transport was not then so great as it is at 
present; and a gamy flavour was probably not so much 
relished by the Romans as it is said to have been by 
our King George the First, who preferred oysters a week 
old at Hanover to those which he afterwards got in 
England. 
Within the last few years the “ periwinkle ”’ (z¢/orina 
litorea, L.), which is a favourite delicacy of our poorer 
classes, has spread with unusual rapidity along the eastern 
shores of the North American continent. Mr. Arthur F. 
Gray, in Science News for April, 1879, attributed its 
origin to Europe. It certainly does not seem to have 
been observed in America by Gould or any other concho- 
logist before 1870. 
Preeminent among land shells, as a dainty article of 
food in France, is Helix pomatia, L. We are more 
fastidious or more conservative in our gastronomic 
notions. It is a mistake to suppose that the Romans, 
when they possessed and inhabited Great Britain, brought 
this snail with them to indulge their luxurious tastes. In 
all probability it was not even known to them, because 
another species (#7. /ucorum, Miiller) takes its place in 
Central Italy. AH. fomatia has not been found at 
Wroxeter or York, or in any other part of England or 
Wales where the Romans built cities or had important 
military stations. Among the debris of an extensive 
Roman villa discovered in Northamptonshire, in which 
the shells of cockles, oysters, mussels, and whelks 
abounded, not one of H. fomatia occurred, although at 
Woodford, a few miles distant, that species is plentiful in 
a living state. J. GWYN JEFFREYS 
THE ALFIANELLO METEORITE 
IGNOR DENZA, Director-General of the Italian 
Meteorological Association, sends us an account of 
the remarkable aerolite which fell in the province of 
Brescia on February 16, and to which we referred last 
week. On that date, at 2.43 p.m. local time, a strong 
detonation was heard in many places of the province of 
Brescia and even in the neighbouring provinces of 
Cremona, Verona, Mantua, Placenza, and Parma. The 
detonation was quite awful in the commune of Alfianello, 
in the district of Verolanuova, Brescia. This was found 
to be caused by a meteorite which exploded a few hundred 
yards above Alfianello. A peasant saw it fall in the 
direction of N.E. to S.W., or, more exactly, N.N.E. to 
S.S.W., at a distance of about 150 yards. When the 
meteoric mass fell to the earth, it produced on the 
ground, in consequence of the transmission of the shock, 
a movement similar to that of an earthquake, which was 
felt in the surrounding districts; the telegraph wires 
oscillated and window frames shook. Before the meteorite 
fell a confused commotion was seen in the sky, and im- 
mediately after a prolonged noise was heard similar to 
that of a tram moving rapidly along the rails. No light 
was seen ; but the meteor must have been accompanied, 
as usual, by a light vapour, produced by the volatilisation 
of the substance melted at the surface ; for some of those 
who saw it fall compared it to a chimney falling from the 
sky, and surmounted bya wreath of smoke. The meteorite 
fell in a field about 300 yards south-west of Alfianello. 
It penetrated the ground obliquely, nearly in the same 
direction as it was seen moving in the air, from east to 
west, sinking to the depth of about a yard, deducting the 
height of the meteoric mass. The peasants who saw it 
fall and who were the first to touch it, found it somewhat 
hot. The meteorite fell entire, but unfortunately was 
soon broken to pieces and carried away by the crowd who 
gathered to see the strange sight. The form was ovoid, 
but a little flattened at the centre; the under part was 
NATURE 
51f 
broad and convex, presenting the 1urm of a cauldron ; 
the upper part was truncated. The surface was covered 
with the usual blackish crust, and studded with small 
concavities, partly separate, partly grouped together. 
As to the dimensions and weight of the aerolite, the 
estimates differ. According to the evidence of some, its 
height was about 75 centimetres, greatest breadth 60 
centimetres, and its volume about 25 cubic decimetres. 
Its weight has been variously estimated at 50, 100, 200, 
and 250 kilograms. Its real weight was probably not 
much under 200 kilograms. It is certain that Prof. 
Bombicci carried more than 25 kilograms to Bologna, to 
add to the rich collection of meteorites in the Mineralogi- 
cal Museum of the University ; that a specimen weighinz 
13} kilograms was taken possession of by MM. Ferrari, 
the owners of the field in which the meteorite fell ; that 
about 4o kilograms remained in possession of other 
persons; that the municipality of Alfianello sent a speci- 
men of 5 kilograms to the Athenaeum of Brescia; and 
that two pieces weighing 12 kilograms each were thrown 
into a stream and lost; without speaking of a consider- 
able quantity of small fragments, distributed here and 
there, of which Signor Denza possesses four, of a total 
weight of 39 grammes. 
By its structure the Alfianello meteorite belongs, ac- 
cording to Prof. Bombicci, to the sporasiderite-oligo- 
siderite group, being almost identical with the New 
Concord (Ohio) meteorite. The substance is finely 
granulated, of an ashy grey; the bright glossy sur- 
face has elements showing varied gradations of colour. 
Metallic particles abound; they are found scattered 
like small nuclei, in which are iron and perhaps one of 
its alloys, in brilliant crystalline aggregations, of a 
yellowish or bronze white. Circles of rust of a yel- 
lowish brown rapidly form around the particles of iron 
In the places where there are no metalliferous nuclei, the 
grains of iron are attached to the stony portion in the 
proportion of 68 per 1000 of weight. The blackish crust 
is rough, and to some extent rugged in some parts of the 
surface, and rather smooth and uniform in others; in 
general it is somewhat lustrous. The total specific weight 
of the stone is from 3°47 to 3°50. The chemical analysis 
of the meteorite is being made in two different labora- 
tories at Bologna. Signor Denza’s information has been 
obtained from Prof. Bombicci of Bologna University, 
and from Professors Briosi, Ragazzoni, and Casali of 
Brescia. 
THE SHAPES OF LEAVES? 
1V.—Special Types in Special Environments 
no the previous papers it will be clear that degree 
of subordination to the stem accounts in large 
measure for the extent to which leaves vary from the 
primitive ovate-lanceolate type. Where they are still so 
most subordinated, there will be a strong tendency 
towards the long pointed ribbon-like form, and also a 
marked inclination towards decurrence. This combina- 
tion of peculiarities is well seen in several thistles, and in 
comfrey, as also to a less extent in many epilobes and stel- 
larias. Compare Verbascum thapsus, and other mulleins. 
From these extreme cases, in which leaf and stem are not 
fully differentiated from one another, one can trace several 
gradations, through square stems with sessile leaves (as 
in certain St. John’s worts) up to merely sessile stem- 
leaves, or leaves that clasp the stem with pointed or 
rounded auricles. Wherever lines exist along the stem, 
they may be observed in pairs up to the point where a 
leaf is given off, and they are undoubtedly surviving 
marks of the primitive unity of stem and leaf. The same 
may be said of rows of hairs, like those of S/e//aria media 
and of Veronica chamedrys. There can be little doubt 
* Concluded from p. 495. 
