184 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



noticed the upright pipe-like stems of the great 

 spearwort (Ranunculus lingua), with their elongated 

 seed-receptacles, together with the ivy-leaved 

 lettuce (Lactuca muralis) and creeping-jenny 

 (Lysimachia nummularia), whilst straight ahead were 

 tall hedges on each side of the road, bright with 

 the clusters of dogwood blossom (Cornus sanguinea), 

 with a foreground of tall white bedstraw. Here 

 and there the white bryony was climbing over the 

 hedge. Beneath all, like a brigade of skeletons of 

 bye-gone days, were the upright stems and turned- 

 down leaves, stricken red by a midsummer sun, of 

 the white hedge-garlic (Alliaria officinalis). The 

 willow-herb (Epilobium montanum) was occasionally 

 met. Many of the small pale-crimson blossoms 

 had dropped, but the long thin seed-pods were 

 still complete, not at present showing the rows of 

 seeds, covered with curls of cotton, which will be 

 seen when ripe. The hair}- willow-herb (Epilobium 

 hirsutum) had almost grown to its full height, but 

 was not in blossom. 



Just opposite the village church at Ruislip we 

 saw a cluster of one of the calamints in the hedge, 

 and the refreshing odour of the sweet-briar 

 attracted our notice as we passed out of the village 

 There is a pretty homestead a little way out of 

 Ruislip, where we knew we could obtain refresh- 

 ment. An hour was spent over tea, and the 

 mutual examination and comparison of our 

 specimens. 



Perhaps the pleasantest part of an afternoon 

 ramble is that which takes place in the cool of the 

 evening, when all nature seems so restful, when the 

 birds are calling to their mates, and the may-flies 

 are dancing in the slanting rays of the sun. We 

 had ample time to wander around the reservoir 

 before making our way to Northwood Railway 

 Station. This reservoir has nothing artificial 

 about it. It seems to lie in a perfectly natural 

 hollow. All around it are the usual associa- 

 tions of pond life. As we look across the water, 

 a thick wood appears to bound it on the one 

 hand. From near the reed-beds a peewit arose, 

 disturbed by the unwonted company. As it 

 screamed and was faintly answered afar off, a 

 young member of our party mimicked its call 

 Whirling round and round over our heads, it 

 endeavoured to ascertain whence the call came. 



Little frogs, with very broad and high shoulders, 

 covering a surface not more than half an inch 

 square, their missing links not long lost, were 

 skurrying into the ditches. The grass seems full 

 of them. A solitary,- specimen of lesser red-rattle 

 was plucked, whilst on each little mound was a 

 handful of wild thyme, and around many plants of 

 the delicate needle-whin. We crossed a stile and 

 were among the hedge-rows again. There is a 

 solitary specimen of yarrow (Achillea millefolia) 

 well out in blossom, and two or three of ragwort 



(Senecio jacobcia), solemn warnings that Autumn 

 will soon be upon us. 



On a bank we saw the gaunt stems of the cuckoo- 

 pint (Arum maculatum) ; the beautiful spathe has 

 gone ; all that remains is the lengthened rod, 

 bearing at its end a cluster of green-pea-like seeds, 

 which will soon change to a beautiful red as they 

 ripen. We skirted a ditch by the side of the path 

 into which a sparrow-hawk had fallen, a prey to 

 the ignorance of the possessor of the gun which 

 laid it low. Away in the fields we heard the harsh 

 grating of the corncrake. 



Night had set in rapidly. Nimbus had gained 

 possession of the sky 7 , and as Northwood was 

 reached the rain, which had commenced to threaten 

 as the sun set, shed its welcome fragrance on the 

 thirsty earth. Edward A. Martin. 



62. Beniiiam Manor Road, Thornton Heath; July, 1895. 



On July 13th, the Field Club of the Selborne 

 Society met at Merstham, in Surrey, for a ramble 

 to Coulsdon, under the guidance of Professor 

 Boulger. The number of botanical specimens 

 collected this time was not so large as in a 

 corresponding ramble last year. The most interest- 

 ing specimens were as follows : Listera ovata, 

 Epipactis latifolia (var. media), Campanula rotundifolia 

 and C. trachelium, Lactuca muralis, Tanacetum vulgare, 

 Silcne cucubahts, Lathy rus sylvestris, Asperula odorafa 

 and A. cynanchica, Carduus acaulis, Centaurea scabiosa, 

 Circa'a lutetiana, Orobus tuberosus, Crepis virens, 

 Galium verum and G . mollugo, Calamintha clinopodium, 

 Origanum vulgare, Epilobium montanum, Bartsia 

 odontites, and Sonchus arvensis. Herb Paris was 

 searched for in a wooded valley in the beginning of 

 the ramble, but could not be found. Tea w ? as 

 provided at Smitham's Bottom. After the meal 

 Professor Boulger gave an interesting account of 

 the herb Paris. This is a plant not easily forgotten 

 if once seen and studied. Its most striking feature 

 is the four foliage leaves in a whorl ; hence its 

 scientific trivial name of quadrifolia. It is truly 

 European, being found over nearly the whole 

 of Europe, Iceland and Siberia. Curiously enough 

 it is not found in the North of Scotland, nor 

 in America ; some specimens have been found 

 at the foot of the Himalayas. There is only- 

 one species in Europe. The English name for 

 herb Paris is herb true-love, from the fanciful 

 resemblance of the four-whorled leaves to a true 

 lover's knot. Professor Boulger had seen some 

 particularly fine specimens in the Oakley Woods, 

 near the Cotswold Hills. Here, under the beeches, 

 the herb Paris was so abundant that it was nearly 

 ousting the dog's mercury. It is a noticeable fact 

 that the number of parts in the flower was more 

 varied there than elsewhere. E. J. Temple. 



Hon. Sec. Fi:ld Club, Selborne Society, 

 50, Clovelly Mansions. W.C. 



