SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



123 



i 





The cement, or "stopping," as it is called, for 



fastening the glass, is made from ordinary white 



lead as sold at the paint shops, and red lead which 



is sold in powder. As much of this should be 



worked up with the white lead as is possible 



without making it too stiff, about the consistency 



of putty or dough is 



right. A few drops 



of gold-size or 



varnish added will 



make it work more 



easily and dry better. 



Some of this should 



be spread round the 



turned -up edges of 



the zinc frame, and 



the front and back 



glasses be put in, 



just as a glazier puts 



a square in a window, 



taking care to bring 



the glass as close to 



the frame as possible . 



Next spread some of the stopping evenly all over 



one side of the end-pieces, for which purpose it 



should be made rather softer, and then squeeze 



them close to the zinc ends. In the same way 



spread the glass for the bottom, and squeeze it 



into its place. Any stopping that is pressed out 



CL- 



\ 



h- 



Section of one End of Aquarium. 



should be scraped off, and the joints be neatly 

 smoothed. 



I have drawn a sectional plan of one end of the 

 finished aquarium, which shows how the glass at 

 the end makes a kind of double joint with the sides 

 (the bottom piece does the same in its place) which 



very effectually pre- 

 vents the water get- 

 ting through, a a is 

 the zinc frame ; b b 

 the back and front 

 glasses, forming the 

 sides of the vessel ; e e 

 the end-piece fitting 

 between them, and 

 the black line shows 

 the cement. 



The aquarium, 



when finished, should 



be left about a week 



. for the stopping to 



harden, and then it 



should be ready for 



use. A piece of wood eight and a half inches 



long and five inches wide, fastened by two screws 



under the stand, as already described, improves the 



appearance, and makes it firmer. The wood and 



zinc ends may be painted any desired colour, for 



which purpose enamel paint is very suitable. 



West Hampstead; June, 1895. 



I 



RAMBLES ON A HIGHLAND PEAK. 



By C. H. Blakiston. 



HpHERE are few places where the distinctly 

 alpine flora of Great Britain is more easily 

 attainable than in the neighbourhood of Pitlochry, 

 in Perthshire. Ben-y-Vrackie, one of the offshoots 

 of the Grampian range, rises almost immediately 

 behind the village, to a height of 2,787 feet. The 

 record of what we were able to accomplish in the 

 course of two separate afternoon walks, may prove 

 of interest to others, who, like ourselves, as residents 

 in the South of England, have but few opportunities 

 of examining in their native habitat, the plants of 

 the higher latitudes. The following notes include 

 only those species which are not to be found in 

 more southerly districts. 



The first mile out of Pitlochry, up to the little 

 village of Moulin, did not produce anything worthy 

 of remark, excepting that any lover of flowers could 

 not fail to be attracted by the beauty of the festoons 

 of the scarlet-flowered Tvopceohtm speciosum, which 

 climbed in abundance up every cottage-wall. This 

 plant, so capricious in most places, was growing 

 here like a weed. After passing the last house, the 

 path leads through a gate into a narrow ravine, 



where the evidences of the storm of November, 

 1893, were shown by the numerous uprooted fir- 

 trees. Emerging from this glen, we entered upon 

 some wet fields, and here we lighted on our first find, 

 Saxifi'dga dlzoides, which we afterwards found most 

 plentifully, whenever a certain elevation was 

 reached. Here also, on a bank, Gentiana campestris 

 and Habeiuirid viridis were growing in profusion, the 

 latter mostly gone to seed, as it was late in August ; 

 Pinguiciild vulgaris was abundant everywhere. A 

 little further onward the open moor was reached, 

 from which we could look back on Pitlochry and 

 the Tummel Valley, with the crests of Farragon 

 beyond. The track (which was as often as not a 

 watercourse) led up a long heath}' slope, and 

 amongst the stones, we found, amongst other mosses, 

 Bryuin filiforme and Bartramia ithyphylla. On 

 reaching the crest of the ridge, we saw the cone- 

 shaped top of Ben-y-Vrackie in front of us, on the 

 further side of a swampy depression. The several 

 boggy pools, though looking likely spots, did not 

 give us anything beyond the ordinary bog-plants of 

 lower levels. The final ascent was first a steep 



