140 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Growth of Helix pomatia. — I have received 

 a very interesting letter from Miss F. M. Hele, 

 fully endorsing my views expressed on page 99. 

 Miss Hele has an extensive experience in the 

 rearing of these molluscs from the eggs. — E. Step. 



We have received from Felix L. Dames, of 

 3, Koch-Strasse, Berlin, No. 26 " Bibliotheca Ento- 

 mologica," price is., (1894). This priced list of 

 entomological books contains about 3,200 titles of 

 works on some half-dozen orders of insects as well 

 as on general entomology. 



Scarcity of Butterflies. — We have received 

 several notes from wide-apart localities, mentioning 

 the great scarcity of butterflies this season. Is this 

 only a local circumstance or does it apply to the 

 country generally ? Possibly the hot dry summer 

 of last year may have had some influence on those 

 which completed their earlier stages in 1S93. 



Hatching of Helix pomatia. — On June 9th, I 

 was a member of the party at Reigate when the ova 

 of Helix pomatia were obtained in some numbers, 

 (ante p. 99). The clutches I found numbered from 

 eleven to thirty-one eggs. None of the snails 

 which I brought back have deposited more eggs, 

 though kept under most favourable circumstances. 

 The eggs which I brought home were placed under 

 damp earth in a glass jar, where it was easy to 

 watch the changes of the ova as they came nearer 

 hatching. This jar was exposed to the rain, but 

 not so as to get swamped in a shower. On July 

 6th, the eggs began to get whiter and more opaque, 

 and on the following day the shells began to break 

 and the young snails appear as perfect little 

 molluscs with beautiful horn-like shells. On the 

 fourth day they attached themselves to young 

 lettuce leaves and commenced feeding.- — Mark 

 H. Winkley, 9, Glen Eldon Road, Streatham. 



Growth of Shells of Helices. — Many of 

 our Helices burrow partially in the ground for the 

 purpose of depositing their eggs (ante p. 99), though 

 some of the smaller species deposit ova among layers 

 of damp leaves in woods ; that any species retires 

 in this manner during the process of shell-growth 

 is doubtful. I have watched the habits of many 

 species in confinement, and in all cases have found 

 that the growth of the shell takes place above 

 ground. After having eaten greedily for a day or 

 two the Helix crawls to a suitable position — this may 

 be on the upper or under side of a lettuce or other 

 leaf supplied for food, on the side of its domicile, 

 or suspended shell -down from the roof. Here 

 the Helix fixes itself, and commences by producing 

 the epidermis to the full extent to which the growth 

 is to proceed. This appears as a transparent 

 membrane stretching from the mouth of the shell 

 to the surface selected ; after the epidermis has 

 been formed, the shelly material is deposited, the 

 process requiring some days for its completion, 

 after which the animal is ready for another meal. — 

 W . A. Gain, Tuxford, Newark; July xith, 1894. 



January 15th, 1895, will be the final day for 

 receiving the manuscripts competing for the 

 De Candolle Prize of next year. Its value is 500 

 francs, which sum will be awarded for the best 

 unpublished monograph of any genus or family of 

 plants. These manuscripts will be received if 

 written in English, French, Italian, German or 

 Latin. 



Fungus-hunting on the Ceiling. — The roof 

 over a built-out window recently sprung a leak, 

 with the result that a minute blood-red Peziza 

 appeared abundantly on the ceiling. Mr. William 

 Phillips, the authority on Discomycetes, has kindly 

 identified this for me as Peziza hamastigma (Hedw.), 

 "a species not often found." — E. Step, Epsom; 

 July igth, 1894. 



Broom-rape Growing on Geranium. — I have 

 just had brought under my notice an ordinary 

 cultivated geranium in a pot, upon which is growing 

 a luxuriant specimen of Orobanche minor. I believe 

 this is somewhat remarkable, as the species 

 mentioned is generally found parasitical upon 

 clover. — A. B . Jackson, 2, Park Villas, London Road, 

 Neicbury ; June 20th, 1894. 



Fasciated Dandelion. — I have noticed the 

 singularity mentioned by Mr. Cooper as occurring 

 in a thistle (ante p. 117) to occur also in common 

 dandelions growing on Lansdown, near Bath. I 

 did not actually measure the specimens, but the 

 largest must have had an inflorescence quite three 

 inches in length. The plants on which they were 

 borne seemed quite normal, and had at the same 

 time normal flowers on them. — George H. Pethybridge, 

 Kingswood School, Bath ; July, 1894. 



Fasciated Sweet-pea. — I send a remarkable 

 case of fasciation in sweet-pea. Inside the hollow 

 of the large tubular stem, which, if I understand the 

 case correctly, has been formed by the coalescence 

 of several ordinary stems, there is a single stem, 

 partly [free and partly adherent. The specimen, 

 with another precisely similar but smaller, was 

 found by a friend in a parcel of flowers received 

 from a garden at Addlestone. — C. P. Quelch, 8, 

 Eccleston Road, Ealing Dean, W. ; July 12th, 1894. 



Abnormal Violet Leaf. — I have had given me 

 a leaf of the sweet violet, the petiole of which is 

 much swollen and flattened at the base. On 

 cutting it across a number of black patches can be 

 seen, and on examining a thin transverse section 

 with a microscope, the spots seem to be due to 

 dark roundish bodies, which themselves are 

 composed of four or more smaller spore-like bodies, 

 whilst filamentous hyphas can be made out in the 

 adjoining cells. Can anyone enlighten me as to this 

 fungus. — George H. Pethybridge, Kingswood School, 

 Bath ; July, 1894. 



[This, no doubt, is a specimen of Urocystis viola, 

 B. and Br., the violet smut. It is of frequent 

 occurrence. — Eds. S.-G.] 



