SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



139 



Museum, who kindly identified the above for me, 

 says that Pirula ncxilis has not been previously 

 recorded as British. Can any correspondent throw 

 any light upon the origin of these Oldhaven 

 blocks ? — J. E. Cooper, 93, South-wood Lane, Highgate, 

 N. ; May, 1895. 



Growth of Rats' Teeth. — In Buckland's 

 " Curiosities of Natural History " there is a 

 description of a rat's tooth which had grown into 

 a perfect circle, and, no doubt, caused the animal's 

 death. Similar deformities are occasionally met 

 with. I send you a photograph of each side of the 

 skull of a rat, showing that the right upper incisor 

 has grown into a spiral of one turn and a half, 

 whilst the left has grown into part of a circle and 

 has perforated the roof of the mouth, being broken 

 about its centre, probably by the efforts of the rat 

 to masticate. The nasal bones are twisted to the 

 right, showing that the teeth had been growing in 

 this position for a considerable length of time. 



Right Upper Inctkor of Rat. 



The left lower incisor has grown to three or four 

 times its normal length, evidently in consequence 

 of the upper tooth having curved out of its way, so 

 that they do not antagonise. The rat was a tame 

 white one, and the deformity was no doubt due to 

 the absence of hard substances in the food by 

 which the natural rapid growth of the teeth would 

 be worn away as fast as it was produced, the 

 growth of the teeth in the rodents being very rapid. 

 In this instance the animal was starved to death 

 from mere inability to masticate, although it was 



Left Lower Incisor of Rat. 



well taken care of. Even in the human subject 

 those teeth which have lost their antagonists 

 gradually rise above the level of the neighbouring 

 teeth, partly because they are not worn away by 

 attrition. In man the rate of growth is so slow 

 that no serious results ensue, whilst in those 

 animals whose teeth grow rapidly the breaking of 

 a tooth may cause death by permitting the 

 opposing tooth to grow until mastication is no. 



longer possible D. Bradley, L.R.C.P., S.E., The 



Wren's Nest, West m-super-Mare ; June is/, 1S95. 



Royal Meteorological Society. — The last 

 meeting of this Society for the present session was 

 held on June 19th, at the Surveyors' Institution, 

 Westminster, Mr. R. Inwards, F.R.A.S., President, 

 in the chair. Mr. R. H. Curtis, F.R.Met.Soc, 

 read a paper on the " Hourly Variation of Sunshine 

 at Seven Stations in the British Isles," which was 

 based upon the records for the ten years, 18S1-90. 

 Falmouth is decidedly the most sunny station of 

 the seven, having a daily average amount of sun- 

 shine of 4J hours. This amount is half an hour 

 more than that recorded at Valencia, and three 

 quarters of an hour more than at Kew. Of the 

 other four stations, Aberdeen, the most northern, 

 but at the same time a coast station, with 3 # 64 

 hours, has more than either Stonyhurst or 

 Armagh, both inland stations, whilst Glasgow, with 

 only 3 hours, or about a quarter of its possible 

 amount, has the smallest record of the seven, a 

 result to some extent due to the nearness of the 

 observatory to the large manufacturing works with 

 which the city of Glasgow abounds. At Valencia, 

 Kew, Stonyhurst and Armagh, the maximum dur- 

 ation is reached in May, the daily mean amount 

 varying in the order named from 6| to 6 hours. 

 At Falmouth and at the Scotch stations the 

 increase goes on to June, when the mean duration 

 at Falmouth reaches 7^ hours ; at Aberdeen, &J 

 hours ; and at Glasgow 56 hours. January and 

 December are the most sunless months of the year. 

 The most prominent feature brought out at all the 

 stations is the rapid increase in the mean hourly 

 amount of sunshine recorded during the first few 

 hours following sunrise, and the even more rapid 

 falling off again just before sunset. Mr. H. Harries, 

 F.R.Met.Soc, read a paper on "The Frequency, 

 Size and Distribution of Hail at Sea." The author 

 has examined a large number of ships' logs in the 

 Meteorological Office, and finds that hail has been 

 observed in all latitudes as far as ships go north 

 and south of the equator, and that seamen meet 

 with it over wide belts on the polar side of the 35th 

 parallel. 



Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' Society. 

 — A meeting was held at the Castle Museum, on 

 May 27th, the President (Mr. H. D. Geldart) in 

 the chair. Mr. G. H. Harris read his " Notes on 

 the Flora of the Yarmouth District. ' The 

 principal object of the paper was an attempt to 

 estimate the gains and losses to the flora of 

 Yarmouth and district since Sir James Paget's time 

 — an interval of about fifty years. Of the gains, 

 Claytoniaperfoliata, an introduction from America; 

 Ranunculus auricontus (goldilocks), on the confines of 

 the district ; Adoxa moschatellina (the moschatel), a 

 woodland plant : an orchid, Spiranthes autumnalis 

 (ladies' tresses), were the chief. A willow herb, 

 F.pUobium roseum, the seeds of which were contained 

 in sand brought from the Thames ; one of the 

 snowdrop tribe, Lencojum aestivum ; and thrift, 

 Armeria maritima, all of which had recently 

 occurred, were probably only casuals or escapes. 

 Amongst those plants whose increase was 



