SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



i 4 r 



Natur und Haus (Berlin, 1894). Herr Max 

 Hesdorffer in a well-written article gives some very 

 useful hints on furnishing vivariums. In a former 

 contribution the author has dealt with those 

 intended for the reception of tropical and sub- 

 tropical reptiles and amphibia ; in the present note 

 he only gives instructions for those destined to 

 receive temperate animals. The following plants 

 are recommended : various Cactacea, especially 

 Mamillarias ; Sempevvivums, Echeverias, Mesembry- 

 anthemums, Aloes, Agaves, Euphorbias ; all these being 

 succulents, they are of course only fit to be planted 

 where their animal companions are lovers of a dry 

 atmosphere, such as snakes, lizards, etc. Ferns and 

 moss, which give such a neat appearance to these 

 miniature menageries, are of course unfit to associate 

 with these succulents, and in their stead the author 

 recommends a neat dwarf-growing plant, Nertera 

 deprcssa, which resembles a selaginella in habit, 

 and is covered in summer with coral-red fruits of 

 the size of peas. For planting receptacles intended 

 for moisture-loving animals the author recommends 

 several plants which, however, are either somewhat 

 difficult to obtain, or are, in our opinion, not quite 

 adapted for the purpose, and we would suggest 

 that the following plants should be substituted : 

 foremost of all, Aspidistras ; then Curculigo sumatrana, 

 Dracana rubra and D. congesta, Selaginella apoda and 

 S. denticulata, and the following ferns : Cyrtomium 

 falcatum, Lastrea aristata and Scolopendrium vulgar e. 

 The author further recommends Isolepis gracilis, 

 Tradescantias and Oph iopogon, all of which are specially 

 adapted for the filling up of the interstices 

 of the rockery. Dr. Ludwig Staby contributes a 

 short article on the beautiful Bell-bird of Brazil, 

 accompanied by a faithful representation. Herr 

 T. Seelman has an article entitled The Forest in the 

 Struggle for Existence, well worth a perusal, but 

 space forbids us to quote from it. Herr Hermann 

 Lachmann gives his experiences of keeping live 

 reptiles, and in mentioning his difficulties in keep- 

 ing the smaller of his pets supplied with insects, 

 he recommends others who have experienced 

 similar difficulties the use of an ordinary glass fly- 

 trap, but instead of filling the base with water or 

 beer, to bait it with sugar. This vessel once being 

 filled with flies, it is easy enough to connect the 

 top, after removing the cork, with the vivarium by 

 means of a bent glass tube. 



Feuilles des Jeunes Naturalistes (Paris, 

 July, 1894). M. E. Fournier concludes his series of 

 articles on the stratigraphy of the littoral of the 

 Departement " Bouches du Rhone." Dr. Geneau de 

 Lamarliere continues his Synoptical Tables of the 

 Pcronosporce, reaching Solanacese. M. Gaston 

 Dupuy has an article on the Molluscan Fauna of 

 New Caledonia, in which three new species of Heli- 

 cidae are described and figured. We much regret 

 to learn that the news of the author's death reached 

 Paris as his article went to press. He had devoted 

 many years to the study of the New Caledonian fauna, 

 to the elucidation of which he has contributed a 

 considerable share. M. Maurice Pie describes two 



new Coleoptera, one from Algeria, the other from 

 Portugal. 



Maandblad voor Natuurwetenschappen 

 (Amsterdam, July, 1S94). On the 8th May, 1894, 

 The Society for the Promotion of Physics, 

 Medicine and Surgery, held a special meeting in 

 commemoration of ' the hundredth anniversary 

 of Lavoisier's death, at which meeting between 

 400 and 500 members and their friends were 

 present. At the ordinary sectional meeting of 

 April 18th, Mr. H. W. Heinsius gave a lecture 

 on the relations between plants and ants, 

 which in some instances are detrimental, and in 

 others beneficial, to plants ; in the latter case it 

 is based on mutual service, approaching even 

 symbiosis in some of its phases. It is a well- 

 known fact that ants are apt to establish colonies 

 of Aphides (plant-lice), which are very injurious to 

 vegetable life ; that others, by robbing the flowers 

 of their nectar, frequently prevent the regular 

 pollination. According to the observations of 

 Burck, at Buitenzorg, the sugariferous flowers of 

 Memecylon ramiflorum are actually eaten by ants ; 

 but the most notorious injury inflicted on plants by 

 these insects is by the leaf-cutting ants of South 

 America (CEcodoma cephalotes and others), who cut 

 circular pieces from the leaves, which they carry 

 to their nests. Thomas Belt, in " The Naturalist 

 in Nicaragua," had already expressed his opinion 

 that these leaves were utilised for cultivating a 

 fungus. Alfred Moller has investigated this 

 phenomenon during his stay in Brazil, and not 

 only proved that this is actually so, but he has also 

 observed the complicated life-history of the fungus.. 

 It appears to be the mycelium of Rozites gongylo- 

 phora, which, under influence of the ants, produces 

 little tubers, containing much oil and albumen. 

 These insects devote much care and attention upon 

 their cultivation, promptly weeding out all traces of 

 other fungi. Cases of mutual benefit have long 

 been known. The formation of honey-glands in 

 other places than the flowers, called extra-nuptial 

 nectaries, by attracting ants gives the plants, 

 probably, a certain amount of protection against 

 caterpillars and other injurious insects. In the 

 fore-mentioned Memecylon ramiflorum Burck has 

 discovered that the calyx produces nectar, and 

 thereby attracts numerous little ants, which 

 effectually protect the plant against the larger 

 flower-eating ants. Many flowers are liable to have 

 their nectar taken by illegitimate means. A bee 

 (Xylocopa), whose proboscis is too short to reach 

 the nectaries in the ordinary way, finds means to 

 get at them by biting a hole in the corolla ; Burck 

 informs us that several plants which are subject to 

 this procedure of bees have developed nectar-glands 

 near the threatened parts, which attract numerous 

 ants, who, being mortal enemies of the bees, 

 invariably put them to flight as soon as they 

 approach. Yet more remarkable is the South 

 American Imbauba tree (Cecropia), which furnishes 

 the ants with a residence in its hollow stems or 

 stalks, as well as food in the shape of oily and 

 albuminous matter produced at the leaf-stalks ; the 

 host plant is completely protected against the 

 ravages of the leaf-cutters by these little insects. 

 Acacia comiga, another South-American tree, carries 

 what has been called myrmecophely still further. Its 

 stipules, which are transformed into strong hollow 

 thorns, provide a residence for the ants, while at the 

 top of the leaflets oily and albuminous matter is 

 produced, and in addition nectar secreted by a 

 gland on the leaf-stalk. 



