SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



173 



Never omit to write the locality and date in 

 pencil on a piece of paper and to put it in the 

 bottle with the specimen. On no account trust to 

 your memory. Specimens without a record are 

 practically of no value. Don't gum labels outside 

 bottles or tubes unless you like to supplement the 

 labels inside. 



V.— IDENTIFYING SPECIMENS. 



It is no easy matter to discover the names of all 

 your captures, and though helps are afforded by the 

 numerous monographs and revisions of the several 

 groups, a set of these is too expensive for the 

 ordinary naturalist to purchase. 



The most serviceable book is that by P. H. Gosse, 

 in two small volumes, "A Manual of Marine 

 Zoology for the British Isles." By its means 

 genera can be named with comparative ease, but 

 no descriptions are given of species. It should 

 also be remembered that many new forms have 

 been discovered to be British since that book was 

 written, and not a few of the names have been 

 altered ; but, even so, this valuable work has not 



yet been superseded. Prof. Herdman, of Liverpool, 

 is bringing out a book on British Marine Zoology, 

 which promises to be just the very hand-book that 

 is so urgently required, and I would advise every 

 marine zoologist to secure it as soon as it is 

 published. 



The other sea-side books by Gosse, such as "A 

 Naturalist's Rambles on the Devonshire Coast," 

 " A Year at the Shore," etc., will be found to be 

 interesting and helpful to the beginner. As I have 

 already exceeded the space allotted to me I cannot 

 give a list of the various monographs which students 

 have to consult if they desire to identify their 

 captures. It will also be necessary to take a 

 zoological text-book to the sea-side. I consider 

 Mr. J. A. Thomson's " Outlines of Zoology " to be 

 the best book for this purpose. 



Lastly, I would urge on every observer to make 

 sketches and coloured drawings of as many living 

 animals as possible. A little work well and 

 thoroughly done is better than a large amount of 

 general collecting or a number of desultory 

 observations. 



ROTIFER-HUNTING IN MINSTER MARSHES, THANET. 



By Geo. M. Pittock, F.R.M.S. 



'THE readers of Science-Gossip who are 

 working at the rotifera and fresh-water 

 polyzoa will be interested to know that this locality 

 is a splendid hunting-ground for rotifers and many 

 other microscopic forms of life. Some of the 

 streams dividing these marshes are tributaries of 

 the River Stour, and most of them are rich in 

 aquatic vegetation, such as Anacharis, Hydvochavis, 

 Hottonia, Callitriche, Utricularia, Ranunculus aquatilis, 

 Ceratopliyllum, Cham, N itella, Myriopliyllum , Nymphaa, 

 Nuphay, Zannichellia, several species of Potamogeton 

 and Lemna, with many parasitic and other fresh- 

 water algae, and mosses. 



In summer and autumn many of these submerged 

 plants are beset with the tubes of Melicerta ringens, 

 many fioscules and other rotifera. This spring 

 I found on Utricularia seme very fine specimens of 

 Floscularia, trilobata, a species which Mr. Rousselet, 

 a very good authority, tells me is rare in the 

 neighbourhood of London. This large and hand- 

 some floscule is found chiefly in the axils of the 

 branches, and is one of the most striking of 

 all the genus. Dr. Hudson, in his great work, 

 says: "The first thing that strikes the observer 

 is the great size of this floscule (I have found it 

 one-sixteenth of an inch high). The lobes of the 

 corona present a curious shrivelled appearance as 

 they emerge. As they gently swell out, the folds 

 and creases disappear, till at length the eye is 

 gratified with the sight of a lovely transparent 



tulip of three petals, their edges fringed with 

 delicate motionless hairs. It is a creature of 

 exquisite beauty." 



For those of our readers who have not the 



Fig. 1. — Floscularia trilobata (young form). 



