24 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



White Variety of Common Cextuary. — With 

 reference to Mr. Gardiner's note (Science-Gossip, 

 vol. ii., X.S., p. 272) I have often found Erythyaa 

 centaurium, with pure white flowers, in the 

 neighbourhood of Cushendall, co. Antrim ; this is 

 a sea-side locahty. — H. W. Lett, M.A., AgJiaderg 

 Glebe, Loughbrickland, co. Donm. 



Gyromitra esculexta at Staixes. — During 

 an excursion of the Lambeth Field Club to Staines, 

 on Easter Mondaj-, April 6th, a fungus, which was 

 at first thought to be a morel [Morchella escidenta), 

 was picked up on a grassy island in the middle of 

 a stream flowing into the Thames. Since then it 

 has been identified as a specimen of Gyromitra 

 escidenta, a closeh- allied form, but of very rare 

 occurrence in Britain. In this species the pileus is 

 lobed and irregular, v.-ith a hollow interior, and 

 the stem is short, %\idening at the base, and haxdng 

 a whitish downy (\-illous) covering. Some doubt 

 exists as to the desirability of treating this species 

 as an esculent, in spite of its specific name. — F. P. 

 Perks, 41, St. Martin's Lane, Charing Cross, W.C. 



Fruiting of Auracaria. — A fine specimen of 

 Auracaria imbricata, twenty feet in height, well 

 furnished ^^"ith branches down to the ground, in a 

 cottage garden on the north road from NewTj^, 

 CO. Down, produced fine fruit-cones in 1S94. As 

 they were a noveltj- to me I was interested in 

 observing them as I drove that way from time to 

 time. I hoped they would have come to perfection, 

 but though the locality is only a hundred feet above 

 sea-level and v.ell sheltered, the prolonged frost of 

 1S95 aflected this tree so severeh" as to kill all the 

 branches except a few at the verj- top ; in fact, the 

 tree is now a most unsightly object and as good as 

 dead. Other Auracaria trees of which I know, and 

 in more elevated and exposed situations, are still 

 flotirishing ; so, perhaps, the effort to perfect its 

 fruit made this XewTy tree more susceptible to the 

 effects of the cold of last year.— i?. II'. Lett, M.A., 

 Aghaderg Glebe, Loughbrichland, co. Doxin. 



Atrophy of Tree-branches. — ^Ir. Carrington 

 in his article on "Atrophy of Tree-branches" (vol. 

 ii., N.S., p. 2S1), desires that exceptional cases may 

 be recorded. Frequently when threading my w-ay 

 through the pine-wcod at Esher, in Surrey, for a 

 few hours' work in the Black Pond, I pass a case of 

 fasciculation in Pinus sylvestris where this growth is 

 ver\- noteworthy. It occurs near the tree-top, and 

 is not, I am afraid, verj' accessible for stud}-, unless 

 with the aid of climbing-irons. It is, however, 

 worthj- the careful observation of any person 

 interested, who may find himself in the neighbour- 

 hood of the pond. The tree is situate a short 

 distance from the round-house, and can scarcely be 

 missed. — George T. Harris, London, S. W. 



Atrophy of Tree-branches. — As you in\ite 

 discussion on your paper on " Atrophy of Tree- 

 branches " (Science-Gossip, vol. ii., X. S., p. 2S1), 

 I should like to make a few comments. After 

 mentioning a remarkable mass of tvAg growth on a 

 Scotch fir vou sav that " these abnormal bunch-like 



growths are caused by a condition of atrophy in 

 the growth of the branch." Surely this kind of 

 growth would be more truly termed hypertrophy, as 

 there is really no want of life, nourishment or 

 growth in the branch, onh' that the latter is 

 changed in form. These abnormal growths are 

 usually caused by gall-mites or fungi. " The bird- 

 nest-like masses,"' often known as witches' brooms, 

 so common on birch trees, are caused by one of 

 these gall-mites {Phytoptus spec.) which infest the 

 buds and feed on the j-oung leaves within them, 

 stopping their growth to a certain extent and also 

 that of the shoots. In consequence, the buds break 

 into much shorter shoots than usual. The buds on 

 these also being attacked, a dense mass of twigs is 

 soon formed. The witches' brooms on fir-trees of 

 various kinds are the result of the tissues of the 

 trees being infested by certain fungi, see Kimer 

 and Oliver's " Xatural Historj' of Plants." — Geo. S. 

 Saunders, 20, Dents Road, Wandsworth Common. 



Chickweed Wintergreen. — Among other things 

 which came under my notice in 1895, as being above 

 average, was the large number of seed-producing 

 plants of that interesting representative of our 

 indigenous flora, Trientalis europcea. Although 

 there might not have been more plants in flower 

 than in other seasons, more of them succeeded in 

 ripening their fruit. It has been customary for me 

 to find man}- of the seed-vessels of this plant falling 

 to the ground when the flowers fade, but there has 

 always been some portion which has produced 

 fruit. Being one of the most beautiful of our native 

 flowers, and a comparative^ provincial one here, 

 not appearing in the v.armer parts of Britain, the 

 matter of its bearing fruit may be worth}' of being 

 noticed, as I have certainly seen mention in some 

 standard work that it does not readily or abundantly 

 produce seeds. This, doubtless, is governed in 

 general by the area \\-ithin which obser^-ations are 

 taken of plants, the nature of one season from 

 another being also a factor in this direction, the 

 variations of the seasons causing variations in the 

 development of plants. Some, of course, are more 

 easily acted upon than others, and it would be 

 interesting to know where in course of its range and 

 in what proportion it produces seed. — W. Wilson, 

 Alford, Aberdeenshire. 



Prussic Acid in Vegetable Physiology. — Of 

 the various substances which enter into the compo- 

 sition of the plant body, the proteids are beyond 

 doubt the most important. They are the charac- 

 teristic constituents of the protoplasm \\-\th which 

 life itself is so closely associated. The problem of 

 how these complex bodies are elaborated from the 

 simple food stuffs available to the plant has long 

 been a riddle to physiologists and still is one of the 

 darkest processes we ha\a to deal with. A step 

 forward, however, is marked by the valuable contri- 

 bution which Dr. M. Treub has recently made to 

 the subject. He has investigated the formation 

 and distribution of hydrocyanic acid in the tissues 

 of one plant (Pangium edv.Ie), and although, with 

 scientific caution, he refrains from drawing gene- 

 ralisations from this one case, thoroughly though 

 he has examined it, he has yet succeeded in laying 

 a firm and sure foundation for future work in a 

 subject which may be said to have as its final 

 reward the explanation of the secret of life. For 

 who can deny that in the chemistry of protoplasm 

 lies hidden the mystery of life? Proteids are 

 compounds of such simple elements as carbon, 

 oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and sulphur, which, 



