SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



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Popular Collecting-Grounds. — It is proposed 

 to commence a series of articles in Science- 

 Gossip upon the opportunities offered to visitors 

 for studying nature near some of the chief holiday 

 resorts in Britain. The object of these articles 

 will be to direct visitors, who know something of 

 one or other of the subjects, how and where to 

 find material for study in the larger branches of 

 natural history — the words being used in their 

 widest sense, as embracing the earth and its 

 inhabitants. The first locality selected is the Isle 

 of Man, one of the most popular of all the play- 

 grounds. From its central position, it is accessible 

 from all parts of the kingdom, and one of the most 

 prolific in every branch of natural science. The 

 series of articles commences this month with the 

 first half of a description of the rocks of the island, 

 by Mr. Frederick J. Gray. Other writers who are 

 familiar with the Isle of Man are invited to con- 

 tribute articles on the fossils ; the plants ; the 

 birds; the insects; the shells ; the seaweeds; marine 

 zoology, etc. The plan of the articles should be 

 to give a short general account of the subject treated 

 with reference to the island ; then a series of excur- 

 sions to the more important collecting-grounds, with 

 some particulars of them, and what may be found 

 there. — Ed. S.-G. 



Botanical Plates. — A correspondent writes : 

 " I have some botanical plates about 8i inches by 

 5i inches, signed at the left ' E. R. Lankester, del.' 

 and on the right 'J. E. Sowerby, Sc' Could any 

 one tell me to what work these belong, as the 

 names have in some cases been removed and I 

 wish to correct this ? " 



Phe.solooical Notes. — On October 18th, in 

 walking from Falmer to Offam, near Lewes, the 

 following were seen in flower ; poppy (Papaver 

 rhaeas). field scabious (Knautia arvensts), common 

 avens (Geum urbanum), yarrow (Achillea millefolium), 

 saw-wort (Serratula tinctoria), sheep's scabious 

 -. montana), ragwort (Scnecio jacobca), white 

 campion (Lychnii vcsperlma), white dead-nettle 

 (Lamium album), yellow bedstraw (Galium vcrum), 

 speed-. J buxbaumii), sow-thistle (Sonchus 



oltTaeeu:), bell flower (Campanula trachelium) red 

 campion (Lychnis diurna). A large dragon-fly was 

 also seen during the same walk. — E. A. Martin. 



Uite. On October 17th, 

 while handling a couple of recently caught adders 

 1. my attention was drawn away from 

 the reptilev and I received a bite on the third finger 

 of the right hand I sucked the wound and had a 

 ery tightly round the finger, but as the 

 . black I loosened and after a few 

 minutes remove! the ligature After wall 

 half an hour II feel ill, my body !>■ 



cramped a- hing became d 



and 1 could only .peak in a thin 



• 

 i both 

 ■ mall quantity of wbl 

 volatile. The hand and arm had meanwhil': 

 become much swollen. I felt very prostrate and 



was unable to lie in a comfortable position. About 

 live hours after the bite I began to recover rapidly 

 and was able to get up and go for a walk within 

 two days. The hand and arm subsided to their 

 normal size within four days, leaving me perfectly 

 well again. The viper which bit me is a rather 

 large one, being about twenty inches long and in 

 fat condition. I was bitten on the left hand by an 

 adder in August last, but only one fang entered the 

 flesh, and the sole effects were a swollen hand and 

 arm, lasting three days. On that occasion I rubbed 

 salad oil into the wound and drank some, but as a 

 medical friend ridiculed the idea that this treat- 

 ment was beneficial, and called it an antiquated 

 remedy, I did not adopt it in the case of the second 

 bite. Gilbert White recommends salad oil as a 

 " sovereign remedy for the bite of a viper." — Hugh 

 Bromley, 52, Elsham Road, Kensington, W. 



Habits of Sparrows. — In considering the 

 onslaught that has recently been made upon the 

 sparrow, it is as well perhaps to remember that 

 sparrows, whatever harm they may do to crops, 

 are also insect-devourers. This may be proved in 

 the summer months to one's satisfaction by 

 walking through St. James's Park, where they will 

 be seen hawking after insects. Gilbert White 

 speaks, in one of his letters, of the sparrows as 

 great dust-washers, and all lovers of birds have 

 doubtless watched the operation of dust-washing 

 with great interest. This habit is not confined, 

 however, to sparrows. In June last, as I was 

 resting on a green bank just outside Heme Bay, 

 a skylark swooped suddenly down to the road near 

 me, and went diligently through the process, being 

 watched by a party of my friends. — Edward A. 

 Mai tin. 



Rare Fungi near Croydon. — The pine woods 

 at Addington, south-east of Croydon, have pro- 

 duced a wealth of fungi this year. Among others 

 obtained_ during a ramble, on November 7th, were 

 two specially deserving of remark, The first is 

 the large and handsome Sparassia crispa, which, 

 growing on the ground in a great mass nearly 

 a foot in diameter, looks not at all unlike a 

 fine cauliflower. The spore-bearing surface, or 

 hymenium, is spread over a series of whitish 

 fleshy branches, spreading from a short thick 

 stem which is quite hidden by their profuse ramifi- 

 cations. This fungus is known to be a delicious 

 esculent. It is the only species of its genus, and 

 is closely allied to the genus Clavaria. The second 

 rarity is Trcmellodon gclatinosum, a small and 

 inconspicuous, but really beautiful, member of the 

 Hydnei, and formerly included in the genus Ilydnum, 

 from which it differs in the wholly gelatinous and 

 tremulous nature of its substance, Three or four 

 specimens were found growing on the flat surface 

 of a pine-stump. The largest measured nearly 

 two inches across its irregular pileus, which is fan- 

 shaped, and from above lias the appearance of a 

 paw, with its brown velvety-looking cuticle. 

 Underneath the cap are arranged the numerous 

 liltii'.h-whitc spines or teeth on which the hymenium 

 is spread, all directed towards the stem, which is 

 short and lateral. At the end of nine days the 

 plant Btill remains fresh in the tin in which 1 have 

 eping it Stevenson gives the time of Its 

 cecum im ! eptembi 1 toOi tobei (" 1 ; i Iti ih 



ol 11 . i> 1 17) I may 

 nal this fungu 1 is recorded by 1 lei keley 

 hili Spara la tri pa 1 have 

 iott. /■ P, Ptrl . 4 ', St Martin's 

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