2«5 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



this appearance is due to compression by the 

 cover -glass. Antennal rudiments are visible just 

 above the compound eyes, which are as large as 

 in the creature some stages further onward. 



In the next stage, when a change of skin has 

 been undergone, the creature seems altogether 

 different, the lumpishness has given place to a 

 slender and tapering contour, and the entire body 

 is fairly well garnished with fine hairs and has 

 acquired the swimming branchiae to the number 

 of seven or eight pairs, which are apparently so 

 necessarv to the larval well-being and which add 

 so much to its gracefulness. Other and more 

 curious structural changes have taken place, the 

 mandibles are much larger and have now the outer 

 tooth longer than the inner, the antennae are well 

 developed, the body has become clearly segmented 

 ar.d the :hcrax i:nTrrr.::a:ei :hrre:r::r. :h- :a:'_ : = 



a striking character, and last, but not least, the 

 blood corpuscle is no longer situated in the thoracic 

 region but has taken up a position midway between 

 the two extremities. A circulation is faintly visible. 

 The larva in this stage is well shown by fig. 3. 



The succeeding larval stages are but repetitions 

 of the second plus the process of skin shedding 

 and consequent increase of size. Indeed, the only 

 actual difference between the second and third 

 stages is the position of the pulsating corpuscle, 

 which has in this later stage retired still more 

 towards the tail extremity. 



The emergence of the perfect fly in April and 

 May, after the acquirement bj- the larva of wing- 

 sheaths as a sign of pupal existence, brings to a 

 close this "strange, eventful history " and the 

 whole cycle undergoes repetition. 

 Bloomsbury ; _Y; z ; m l r, 1895. 



A GARDEN IX SI AM. 



By Mrs. K Grindrod. 



(Continued from page 206.) 



T N a small enclosed portion of this garden in 

 Siam, surrounded on all sides by creeks, and 

 the creeks by hedges of sweet-scented heliotrope, 

 the Malay gardeners, in leisurely fashion, try to 

 rear such of the most attractive tropical flowering 

 plants as the disadvantages of the spot will allow. 

 Unfortunately, the trees have all disappeared long 

 since from the little enclosure, for it was once a 

 paddy field — witness the stalks of rice which still 

 rear their graceful plumes in the shallow creeks. 

 For lack of shade the clayey soil becomes in the 

 hot season as iron for hardness, and cracks into 

 great fissures all over its surface. Unfortunately, 

 too, the gardeners waste much of their small store 

 of energy and of ground-space in the vain attempt 

 to grow roses. The result is rotten-heartedness 

 for the roses, and disappointment for the spectator. 

 But there are compensations. The hedge of 

 heliotrope is itself a perpetual delight, with its 

 delicate odours, its starry blossoms of white and 

 gold, or orange and brown, or ruby and gold — 

 never the dowdy purple of the hot-house heliotrope 

 at home. The glossy, dark-green drupelets of the 

 multiple fruits are scarcely less beautiful than the 

 flowers themselves. Where the heliotrope comes 

 to an end a mass of purple verbena clothes one 

 side of the little bridge spanning the creek, 

 and to the other rail of the bridge clings the 

 passion-flower, beloved of mystic and botanist 

 alike. Scattered at random over the enclo- 

 sure are many varieties of the red-starred Ixora 

 and still more numerous forms of the gorgeous 

 Hibiscus tribe. Cool arcades of the ,; Hibiscus of 



the Ragged Petals'" invite from glaring sunlight 

 into refreshing shade, and the long-drooping 

 stamina! tube of the wonderful flower brushes 

 one's cheek as one passes along the cool yet flaming 

 avenue. Beyond, the rose-plumbago tries to out- 

 shine its delicate pale-blue cousin from the Cape ; 

 and Nerium oleander, with rose-pink flowers and 

 glistening ruby buds, and leaves of exquisitely 

 beautiful venation, displays its charms close to 

 those of a double gardenia. But is there a^'thing 

 in nature or in art which can outvie the gardenia in 

 its native tropics ? Never elsewhere are the thick 

 creamy whorls of petals so perfect in waxen beauty, 

 nor the leaves so deep in tone, so glossy in surface ; 

 and never, certainly, is the delicate aroma of the 

 flower so penetrating, even to ecstasy, as in a 

 tropical garden during the brief twilight. Other 

 sweet-scented flowers are here in profusion, with 

 perfumes often too strong for any but Oriental 

 tastes. Here is the pretty white " mali " of the 

 Siamese, a simple oleaceous flower which they 

 twine into garlands and top-knot wreaths ; here are 

 Magnolias, yellow and white; Anonas, with green 

 trimerous flowers, which fill the night-air with heavy 

 fragrance. "White flowers are many and beautiful ; 

 besides the gardenia, ,: mali" and magnolia, there 

 are tuberoses, jasmine, stephanotis, many forms of 

 white-flowered Apocynacea and the magnificent 

 flowers of Crinum asiaticum. Curiously interesting, 

 too, are the Jairophas, especially Jatropha multifida, 

 the coral-plant, whose flower-buds in cluster in- 

 stantly suggest a branch of red coral. The 

 amateur can name but a few of the other glories of 



