i6o 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Dr. Wernicke says that the cholera bacillus 

 speedily perishes on tobacco leaves, even when 

 moist, and that therefore any danger of the spread 

 of cholera from tobacco or cigars is but slight. 



M. Marcel Bertrand has published in the 

 bulletins of the Soc. Geol. France a full account of 

 his investigations of the geological structure of the 

 Western Alps, illustrated by maps and sections. 



Ferns of Jamaica.— In the March — April part 

 of the " Bulletin of the Botanical Department of 

 Jamaica," just received, is continued the descriptive 

 list of ferns and fern-allies inhabiting the island. 



In " Good Words," for August, there are 

 illustrations, by Chas. Whymper, of skuas, 

 comorants and peregrines, accompanying a sketch 

 by " Shirley," entitled "Across the Moor." The 

 same number contains an article on "Land Crabs," 

 by Edward Step, illustrated by Walter A. Pearce, 

 who supplies capital representations of Gecarcimis, 

 Gelasimus, Ocypode and Birgits. 



In the" Entomologist" for August, Mr.C.W. Dale, 

 of Glanvilles Wootton, Dorset, records the capture 

 of a single specimen of a clear-winged moth new 

 to the British fauna, viz., Sesia conopiformis. It is not 

 unlike the common currant clearwing, and differs 

 from the rare S. allantiformis in having three 

 yellow rings round the body. It is known to occur 

 in France, Belgium and Germany. 



The " Flora of Kaffraria," by Thomas R. Sim, 

 F.L.S., which is a check-list of plants occurring in 

 an oblong tract of South Eastern Africa some 200 

 miles long by about 150 miles broad, between the 

 Karoo and Natal, and sloping eastward from a 

 high mountain range down to the sea, is preceded 

 by an introduction of much interest. This new 

 flora has just been published by the Argus Com- 

 pany, of Capetown. 



Dr. Dana, whose text-books of Geology and 

 Mineralogy have such world-wide reputation, 

 resigned his professorship, so long held in Yale 

 University, owing to his advanced age and feeble 

 health some short time ago. He is in his eighty- 

 second year. Professor Dana is also well known 

 as an authority on corals and Crustacea. He is 

 succeeded by Professor H. S. Williams, formerly 

 of Cornell University. 



Four-horned Sheep. — On page 38 of the present 

 volume, in reviewing Mr. Bateson's work on 

 Variation, we gave an illustration of a roebuck 

 with horns springing from a compound trunk. 

 Apropos of that we are informed by a corre- 

 spondent, writing on August 18th, that there was 

 then to be seen at the London and Provincial Meat 

 Stores, Clarence Street, Kingston-on-Thames, a 

 living sheep with four horns. The animal is 

 described as a dark-blue and white sheep, which 

 was purchased in London, but had come from 

 Peterborough, where it had been reared by a cattle- 

 dealer named Sikes. The horns were large, the 

 shortest being sixteen inches loner. 



Her Majesty the Queen has given her consent 

 to the addition of "Royal" to the title of the 

 Photographic Society of Great Britain. 



The late Professor Pouchet has been succeeded 

 in the Chair of Comparative Anatomy in the Paris 

 Museum d'Histoire Naturelle by Dr. M. Filhol. 



For some years, in spite of great financial diffi- 

 culties, the Cornwall Royal Polytechnic Society 

 has maintained a magnetic observatory at Falmouth. 

 The results of the observations have hitherto been 

 printed in the journal of the Society only, but the 

 Royal Society has now consented to publish them 

 in its " Proceedings." 



Messrs. Reeve and Co. announce the publi- 

 cation of a work on " Foreign Finches in Captivity," 

 by Dr. Arthur G. Butler, consisting of between 

 three and four hundred pages, with sixty plates 

 drawn by Mr. F. W. Frohawk, and coloured by 

 hand. The mode of issue will be in ten parts, 

 appearing at intervals of about six weeks, and the 

 edition is limited to three hundred copies. 



In " Natural Science " for August (No. 30) is a 

 useful, though not very complete, compilation by 

 C. Davies Sherborn, of books of reference in the 

 Natural Sciences. He states that he has made no 

 distinction between good and bad books of reference, 

 which is unfortunate, for although the task of 

 selection may be invidious, it would be invaluable. 

 Cannot the Editor of " Natural Science " take the 

 opinions of specialists in each subject, and give us 

 their views on what are the best books ? 



"Harper's Monthly," for August, contains an 

 article on " A Few Edible Toadstools and Mush- 

 rooms," by W. Hamilton Gibson. It is on the 

 whole a good popular article, but we strongly 

 object to the author teaching, with all the 

 impressiveness of italics, that the sub-genus 

 Amanita is to be avoided. He says, " Any mush- 

 room or toadstool whose stem is thus set in a 

 socket, or which has any suggestion of such a 

 socket, should be labelled ' poison.' " Mr. Gibson 

 shows that he is quite aware of the wholesomeness 

 of some of the Amanitse, but his advice will make 

 it hard to persuade any of his readers that Amanita 

 rjibescens, A. vaginatus and A. str obit if or mis are 

 desirable additions to the menu. The article is 

 illustrated by the author with a delicacy and grace 

 that has rarely, if ever before, been applied to 

 black and white representations of fungi. 



The following interesting note on " The Life 

 History of the Mistletoe " appears in " The Journal 

 of the Royal Microscopical Society," for August : — 

 " According to M. C. Guerin, the slime of the 

 mistletoe berry serves no purpose in glueing the 

 berry to the branch, its function being the absorp- 

 tion of water ; propagation is effected almost 

 entirely by insectivorous birds, and especially by 

 the missel-thrush, Tardus viscivonts, on which it has 

 a purgative effect. Freezing does not destroy the 

 germinating power of the berries. The seeds 

 germinate only in the light ; the branches are at 

 first negatively geotropic, but afterwards grow 

 straight. The majority of the seeds contain more 

 than one embryo. The author was able to make 

 the mistletoe grow parasitically on itself, although 

 this does not occur in nature. Even in winter the 

 parasite, and especially the male plant, absorbs a 

 considerable amount of moisture from the host. 

 The structure of the bark of the host is an 

 important condition in the germination of the 

 mistletoe, and this may account for its comparative 

 rarity on the pear. 



