144 



SCIEXCE-GOSSIP. 



reference to the day's ramble. In summarising the 

 Professor's remarks, it is chiefly needful to say that 

 he dwelt mainly on those plants which are thought 

 to be characteristic of chalky soil, yet are to be 

 truly recognised as growing, and even flourishing, 

 in other soils. He described the thin soil of chalky 

 slopes and the argillaceous soils of down summits 

 where the clay-with-flints occupies small areas to a 

 depth ranging from a few inches to several feet. 

 He instanced Paris quadrifolia. the quaint four- 

 leaved Herb Paris, as growing in the Upper 

 Greensand line of country, in half clayey, half sandy 

 soil intermixed with lime, washed down from the 

 chalk above, and the foxglove (Diqitalis) on patches 

 of pebbles and gravel. " In the well-drained soil 

 of the Caterham district," said he, "the drainage 

 is subterranean, for the ' bourne ' only flows after 

 winter floods. The chalk flora is after all that of other 

 limestones in many instances. Perfoliate yellowwort 

 (Blackstoniaperfoliata), though supposed to character- 

 ise the chalk, is found on sandstone at Balcombe, in 

 a warm but siliceous soil. There is all the difference, 

 it must be noted, between a plant merely growing 

 in a soil and actually flourishing. Cowslips grow 

 here (Caterham) occasionally, they are of stunted 

 growth about Epsom ; along the line of clay country 

 where the Gault crops out, they are luxuriant in 

 growth. Succor}-, a chalk plant, extends with many 

 another beyond the range of cretaceous outcrop." — 

 T. Alfred 'Byrnes, Hon. Sec, 16, Lancaster Road, 

 Kensington Park, TT*. 



Wolverhampton Naturalists' Field Club. 

 — Somerford, near Brewood, was visited by the 

 above Society last Saturday. In front of the old 

 hall is a noble park with a stream and lake, wherein 

 were found ivy-leaved toad-flax (Linaria cymbalaria) , 

 burnet (Sangiiisorba officinalis), branched bur-reed 

 (Sparganium ramosum), wood sanicle (Sanicula 

 europea), agrimony {Agrimonia eupatoria), bistort 

 (Polygonum listeria), and valerian [Valeriana 

 officinalis). In the lake were discovered various 

 rotifers CSIelicerta ringens, etc.) . In the neighbourhood 

 is the noted old oak cross erected in the sixteenth 

 centurv to record the spot where the first Lord of 

 Chillington shot a panther with his cross-bow. — 

 John Darby, Hon. Secretary ; July 1.6th, 1894. 



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CORRESPONDENCE. 



Thomas Edwards (Leicester). — You should have filled the 

 bottle with bran or sand before sending it. Your shell, 

 having no packing, got broken on the way. It is a specimen 

 of Tapes pullastra, a common species. It got into the bottle 

 when young, and stayed until it had grown too large to pass 

 the neck again. Your Helix mmoralis is the var. lutea. The 

 other shell is a species of Fi . 



R. T. Bord (Loutht. — The insect mounted on your slide is 

 Hj drometra stagiwrum, which may be found commonly 

 on the surface of ponds. It is a member of the order 

 Hemiptera. 



E. Wheeler (Bristol). — Of the nine slugs sent, one is a 

 specimen of the common field-slug [Limax agrestis) ; the 

 remaining eight are all half-grown specimens of Arion sub- 

 fuscus. Of this second species, four represent a reddish 

 unhanded form, and four are of a darker and more usual 

 variety. 



W. Falconer (Leeds). — Your moss is Pottia truncata, a 

 common species. 



W. S. Clarke (Slinfold, Horsham). — The spider you 

 observed in the flower was probably a species of Thomisus, 

 several of which are well known to have this habit. 



Gordon Wormald (New Maiden, Surrey).— Hooker's 

 " Students' Flora of the British Isles," published by Mac- 

 millan and Co., price 10 6. 



EXCHANGES. 



Some back years of Science-Gossip in exchange for tran- 

 sactions and reports of archaeological and kindred societies, 

 or any works relating to those subjects. — T. Sladen, Cank 

 Street. Leicester 



Science-Gossip, voL 4, part vol. 5, unbound, clean, halt 

 uncut; " Science and Art," vols 1 to 3. and part of 4. Cash 

 or exchange. — H. Clark. Kinnoull, Angmering, Worthing. 



Wanted, a book on the spectroscope and its application, 

 by J. Norman Lockyer. F.R.S. ; will send in exchange good 

 micro.-slides. — J. J. Hirst, Hughenden, Harrogate, Yorkshire. 



Wanted, eggs — hobby, buzzard, raven, chough, nightin- 

 gale, grasshopper, Dartford and wood warblers, cuckoo with 

 clutches, wryneck, others ; good eggs, Lepidoptera, well- 

 stuffed birds offered. — E. G. Potter, 19. Price Street, York 



Isocardia cor, Fusus islandica, F. turtonae. F. Norwegi- 

 cus, Buccinum pelagica, Aclis unica. A. supra-nitida. Loripes 

 lacteus, Solen pellucidus, Mytilus pallida. Xylophaga dorsalis. 

 What offers ? — T. Sclater, 43. Strand, Teignmouth. 



Neolithic implements, flakes, cores " potboilers " ham- 

 mer-stones, Pleistocene mollusca and various fossils offered 

 in exchange for good specimens of common minerals not in 

 collection. Mocha stones, pearl-bearers or pearls. — Lewis 

 Abbott. Seale House, Sevenoaks, Kent. 



For exchange, 2,500 species of marine shells, including 

 many rare species of Mitra, Cypraea, Conus, Marginella. 

 Neritina. Pecten. Aspergillum, Unio. etc. Wanted, foreign 

 land shells. — Miss Linter, Arragon Close, Twickenham. 



Wanted, a fret-saw machine in exchange for Messrs. 

 Tuck's .set of door panels (quite new), " Autumn Leaves," 

 cost 15s. — M. A. Oldroyd, S2, Abbey Street. Faversham. 



Wanted, good anatomical or medical microscopic slides 

 in exchange for case ot chemicals and apparatus. — List of 

 contents on application to H. H. Beale, Branksome, London 

 Road, Reading. 



Wanted, offers for 300 specimens, cemprising Helix 

 arbustorum, H. honensis, vais. incarnata, lilacina and 

 arenicola, H. nemoralis, var. castanea. Cyclostoma elegans, 

 whole or part ; desiderata, marine specimens. — W. Domaille, 

 Temple Street. Bristol. 



Wanted, for purposes of identification, named specimens 

 of the various rocks found in the glacial deposits of the 

 north-western counties. — J. Laing, Victoria Street. Crewe. 



What cash offers ? Newman's " Butterflies and Moths ; " 

 '• Entomologist," 1887, 18SS, 1S89, bound ; one store box each 

 13 x 183. 8 x 10. 9 x 12 ; Bignell beating tray. etc. — J. H. 

 Mansfield, Rowton House, Yauxhall. 



Offered, two first vols, of "Strand Magazine," unbound, 

 good, clean condition; shells or fossils preferred. — Thos. 

 Edwards. Waterloo House, Coventry Street, Leicester. 



Wanted, British Coleoptera in exchange for micro-slides. 

 — T. Midgley, 9, Ducie Avenue, Gilnow Park, Bolton. 



Duplicates. Lubricepeda var. radiata, ami, instabilis, 

 Munda. populeti ; accepted offers answered in three days. — 

 J. N. Young. 85, Fitzwilliam Road, Rotherham. 



., 



