3o6 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Hydra viridis and Hydra vulgaris in a small tube. 

 This time they arrived quite safely, and the tube 

 was emptied into a small glass jam-jar, with a 

 little duckweed and Anacharsis. Hydra viridis is 

 evidently the hardiest, as they are at the moment 

 I write (March 5th) extremely flourishing, but 

 Hydra vulgaris are evident!}' bad travellers, as 

 they have from the beginning decreased much 

 in numbers, and those I have present a frail 

 appearance, quite unlike the viridis. One, however, 

 of H. vulgaris, on February 25th, showed two 

 circular brown spots in centre of body, which else 

 was semi-transparent, and which I conclude must 

 have been eggs. Unfortunately, the next day this 

 Hydra had hidden itself. I have often witnessed 

 generation by gemmation, but never by eggs. The 

 Hydra are so like the rootlets of the duckweed it is 

 sometimes a matter of difficulty to discern them. 

 I am still inclined to think that they draw sus- 

 tenance from the chlorophyll in the Anacharsis, or 

 else poison it, as all the leaves they have been 

 fastened on become brown and transparent, and I 

 have four more glass jars in my drawing-room 

 window with other creatures living amongst 

 Anacharsis, the weed in which neither loses its 

 colour nor is arrested in growth. 



A'egetation is forward for this date. We have a 

 number of Crown Imperials in a border here ; they 

 are only in leaf at present, but on sunny days smell 

 just like the scent of a fox. This fact also applies 

 to the flowers for the first day or two, and then 

 wears off. Can this be to attract insects for fer- 

 tilization ? 



At Shiplake, at a height of 30S feet above the 

 sea, lies a terrace of plateau gravel drift ; lower 

 down, on the site of our house and church, 

 stretching on either side, is another gravel terrace 

 hing over the chalk, some 202 feet above the sea- 

 level. In this gravel, in the year 1890, the first 

 paleolithic implements, of a more or less oval form, 

 were found. Since then a great many have been 

 discovered at different times, and in the first week 

 in February this year, on this lower terrace, IMr. 

 F. O. Warner, who has made quite a small collec- 

 tion of worked stones here, found a remarkably 

 fine specimen, which was picked off the surface of 

 the ground of a field called Heath Hill. The actual 

 size is 4^ inches by 3 J inches. One side is more 

 highly polished than the other ; two most cleverly 

 chipped-out hollows are left on one side for grasp- 

 ing, fitting the thumb and middle finger very 

 exactly. It is in brown chertstone. Besides 

 flint and stone implements, some fine specimens of 

 banded flint, chalcedonite or mammal flint, fossil 

 sea-urchins, locally called "shepherds' crowns," a 

 cast of an ammonite, fine specimens of flint 

 sponges, and neolithic stone arrow-heads, give an 

 interest to every pile of flints dug out or dredged, 

 or scattered over the fields. So frequent are the 



flints and stones in this country that they are 

 nicknamed " Oxfordshire weeds," and in some 

 cases of high lands away from the river a too 

 careful picking off of them is to be avoided, as in 

 such a dry soil flints actually protect the moisture, 

 caused by rain or dew, beneath them. In this 

 county the uplands on the Chiltern range away 

 from the river are particularly aflected in dry 

 seasons by water famine. 



I have started a vivarium, and have a water - 

 tortoise (Emys orbicularis), a toad, two Triton 

 christatus and some smaller Triton punctatus living in 

 amit}-. It is curious how, whether winter or summer, 

 high wind afiects my tortoise, which I purchased 

 last August. In a gale he is extraordinarily livelj', 

 and moves his head in an agitated way. 

 Shiplake, Oxon., March ~,th. 



BOTANICAL TEACHING. 



TD EFORE the Royal Botanic Society of London, 

 ^ on Februarj^ 27th, Mr. John Bhrkett, F.L.S., 

 in the chair, a paper was read b}' ]Mr. Martindale, 

 calling attention to the desirability of establishing 

 in London an institution for the purpose of teaching 

 botany. He suggested that such a botanical school 

 should be similar to those in existence on the 

 Continent, and proposed that the Council should 

 take charge of the scheme and utilise a portion of 

 their ground for the erection of the necessary 

 buildings. From its central position and the fact 

 of all the requisite material for stud)- being at hand 

 in a living condition, no other site in or near 

 London would be so suitable for the purpose. The 

 great fault of the present system of botanical 

 teaching in England outside the medical schools 

 and universities was that too much attention was 

 given to botanj- solely with the object of enabling 

 students to pass examinations, while economic and 

 physiological botany was scarcely touched upon. 

 If a young German was desirous of emigrating, 

 previous to doing so he could attend a short course 

 at one of the institutions at home, and learn all that 

 would be of most use to him about the grasses, 

 fruits and vegetable products of the country he 

 proposed to settle in. In England there was no 

 such means of acquiring knowledge of this kind, 

 and it was for the purpose of supplying such a 

 deficiency that the establishment of the institute 

 was proposed. Among those present who gave the 

 scheme their heajty support were Professor 

 Oliver (of University College), Mr. D. H. Scott 

 (of Kew), Professor Henslow, Professor Greenish, 

 Mr. M. Carteighe, Mr. E. M. Holmes (of the 

 Pharmaceutical Society), and many^ other eminent 

 and scientific botanists. We feel sure that such an 

 admirable proposal will not be allowed to drop, and 

 hope those of our readers who can will use their 

 influence in its favour. 



