SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



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In reference to the meteor of November 29th, I 

 may say that I saw one about the time mentioned. 

 It began in the constellation Taurus, travelled 

 through Perseus and disappeared in the zenith. It 

 was visible for about four seconds, leaving a 

 yellowish-white tail for two seconds. I did not 

 note its path at the time, so I am afraid that this 

 account is not so accurate as desirable. — -/. A . Lloyd, 

 Peveril Drive, The Park, Nottingham. 



A Choked Kingfisher. — On December 23rd 

 last I was shown a kingfisher which had met its 

 death in rather a curious manner. Having caught 

 a roach which proved a trifle too large for it, 

 in attempting to swallow the fish the bird had 

 apparently been choked. The bird, which was in 

 the hands of Mr. A. Richardson for preservation, 

 was in the flesh when I saw it, with the roach 

 firmly fastened in its throat. — Charles J. Marten, 

 30, Lojuion Road, Horsham, Sussex. 



Fossil Fern at Giant's Causeway. — In reply 

 to Mr. Martin's wish for further information on this 

 peculiar fern remains, I am sorry to say that at the 

 time I saw it I was interested in something else and 

 quite forgot to make a fuller examination of it ; but 

 it struck me as being something like Polypodiutn 

 vulgare. However, the impression was so well 

 marked, and the water so often washes over the 

 spot that I cannot think any wind-blown specimen 

 would find a permanent resting-place there. It was 

 the very fact that basalt does not contain fossil 

 remains which made me take notice of this instance. 

 I will endeavour to procure a photograph of the 

 rock later in the year, and if I can obtain any 

 other information about this I will let him know 

 through these columns what it is. His note of the 

 big mushroom found at Upper Norwood is most 

 interesting, but we are both far behind the one 

 recorded recently, weight 22 lbs. 6 ozs.^ohn H. 

 Barbour, Bangor, Co. Doit'ii. 



Paternal Affection in Wild Birds. — Mr. 

 F. W. Halfpenny has a paragraph with this heading 

 on page 225 of your January number, and I fancy 

 he will like to read the following extract from my 

 note-book. I may say that Mr. Charman is a 

 member of the Horsham Museum, and the 

 " countryman " is a gardener at Nuthurst, Horsham. 

 "Horsham, April 29th, 1S95. — I have come across 

 a curious idea with regard to the rearing of young 

 birds. The countryman mentioned in the last 

 note showed Mr. Charman a nest of young song- 

 thrushes. These, he said, he was going to rear 

 for himself. In a short time he would put them in 

 a cage, which he would hang up in a tree. The 

 parents, he declared, would bring food to the cage, 

 which, however, he would not leave in the tree 

 more than a week, for if he did the old birds 

 would be sure to bring poison and kill the fledg- 

 lings ! Putting the infanticide out of the question, 

 was the fellow deliberately inventing, or would the 

 parents really tend their offspring under such 

 conditions?" I never e.xpected to meet with this 

 poison idea again. — Charles J. Marten. 



Seeds of Yccca. — Yucca plants at Nice not 

 infrequently bear the large seed-pods in winter- 

 time. In America the 'fertilization of the flowers 

 depends on a special species of moth, Pronuba 

 yuccasclla. Does anyone know what insect takes 

 its place in Southern Europe ? — JoJin T. Carrington, 

 Nice; January, 1897. 



Bacteria in Coal. — In a note entitled " Les 

 Bacteriacees de la Houille," M. B. Renault an- 

 nounces the discovery of bacteria in coal. The 

 baccillus has been known to science for some 200 

 years ; we now learn that it has existed since the 

 far past of the Carboniferous system. In examining 

 thin sections of coal under the microscope, M. 

 Renault saw characteristic chains and colonies of 

 micrococci and baccilli. He has named them 

 provisionally Micrococcus carbo and Baccillus carbo. 

 The existence of bacteria in the Carboniferous 

 epoch is not merely in itself an interesting fact, but 

 it also raises an important question as regards the 

 origin of coal. Did these organisms, we must 

 enquire, simply exist with the vegetation and 

 become carbonized with it, or are they the agents 

 by which it was changed into coal ? The question 

 cannot yet be answered with certainty. On the 

 one hand, M. Renault points out they are much 

 more numerous in coal than in vegetation preserved 

 by silica or carbonate of lime, and of fewer species ; 

 they are not coloured like the coal, but appear as 

 clear bands. This favours the latter view. On the 

 other hand, the work of bacteria leads, when not 

 arrested, to the complete disappearance of vegetable 

 tissues. Thus if coal is due to bacterial action we 

 must suppose this to have been arrested at different 

 stages in the different sorts of coal. — G. W. Bulman, 

 Coalbridge-on-Tyne, December 2.6th, 1896. 



Marine Natural History. — As a diligent and 

 appreciative reader of Science-Gossip I have 

 frequently been dismayed by the almost total 

 absence in recent years of communications in your 

 columns with reference to the life-history of the 

 flora and fauna of the sea. I cannot believe that 

 this is due to any flagging of interest in these 

 engrossing studies on the part of earnest naturalists 

 who have the necessary facilities for their prosecu- 

 tion. It would rather seem that those who have 

 taken the trouble to master the necessary prelimin- 

 aries find in these studies themselves and in 

 watching the development of the many beautiful 

 forms, either in their rock-pool homes or in 

 captivity, sufficient occupation for leisure moments, 

 without publishing descriptions of their experience 

 for the edification of others. Those, however, who 

 like myself, are debarred from more than a rare 

 visit to the sea-side would gratefully welcome an 

 occasional paragraph in your columns giving an 

 account of some fresh "find," or of some new 

 locality where the more interesting forms of marine 

 life may be found, or of other matters of instruction 

 to those whose interest in marine natural history has 

 to be sustained solely by daily watchings of the 

 aquarium. In the event of my suggestion meeting 

 with your approval, and of your consenting to offer 

 the necessary facilities in forthcoming issues, I 

 should be glad if you would insert this note amongst 

 the "Notes and Queries" in your columns. We 

 should then, doubtless, ascertain whether other 

 students of marine biology entertain views similar 

 to the above, and whether or not any considerable 

 number of them would feel disposed to assist in 

 encouraging further interchange of experience in 

 one of the most fascinating branches of natural 

 science.— John Tatham, M.D., The Avenue, Surbiton; 

 January i6th, 1897. 



