SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



53 



oozy soil the watercress {Nasturtium officinale) has a 

 precarious foothold and is showing its little white 

 blossoms, whilst where the brook has gathered 

 strength, a little lower down, the brooklime 

 {Veronica beccabunga) marks its otherwise hidden 

 course. But the most attractive feature of this 

 beautiful spot is the quantity of common comfrey 

 (Symphytum officinale) which grows in the marly 

 mud. In white and purple there hang the 

 drooping bell-like flowers in plenty ; there is no 

 lack of them, and they are growing to a height of 

 four feet or more, every plant the bearer of dozens 

 of blossoms, and each cluster being seemingly 

 veiled by a leaf running concurrently with the 

 stem. The comfrey is not alone, for crowding it 

 for possession of the fertile mud, is a small forest 

 of young horsetails (Equisetum), a degenerate 

 descendant of the ancient carboniferous calamite. 

 On the banks at both sides of the stream, which 

 has here broadened out, the wood has been 

 considerably thinned. In this undergrowth at 

 the foot of the Dyke Hill, I counted upwards of 

 fifty specimens of the t way blade {Listeva ovata), 

 all in the space of about half an acre. A similar 

 profusion I found a day or two later in respect 

 to the same species at Clayton. The only other 

 orchidaceous plant which I met with was the 

 fly-orchis (Ophyris muscifera), of which I found two 

 specimens. As, however, I went westward towards 

 the vertical railway, I came across two specimens 

 of the spotted o/chis {Orchis maculata), but neither 

 of these were yet fully developed. Many plants 

 seem later than usual this year. The common 

 bush-vetch {Vicia septum) is seen in quantities in 

 the hedges, whilst already in blossom is the white 

 bryony {Bryonia dioica) scaling the hedges by means 

 of its tendrils. Black bryony (Tamils communis) 

 is there too, perhaps in greater profusion, its shiny 

 leaves all turned outward as it twines in and out 

 amongst the brambles and the sloe bushes. 



Although I put pen to paper to call attention to 

 this lovely little spot, I would just refer to the 

 profusion of yeliow rattle {Rhinanthus crista-galli) 

 which I noticed above the Dyke Railway Station, 

 two miles away. The upper petal is peculiarly 

 marked with two spots of violet. Some of the 

 calyces were already inflated with seeds. 



Edward A. Martin. 



The proprietors of "The Times" have done a 

 good work in reissuing the last edition of "Ency- 

 clopaedia Britannica" on such exceedingly favour- 

 able terms. By paying down one guinea the 

 twenty-five volumes are delivered, the balance 

 being at a guinea a month afterwards. This 

 valuable book of reference may now thus be 

 obtained for fourteen guineas. It was originally 

 issued at thirty-seven pounds. There are numbers 

 of articles on scientific subjects, written by men of 

 known experience and special knowledge in their 

 various departments. 



NEW WORK ON LEPIDOPTERA. 



TV/TR. J. W. TUTT, F.E.S., is passing through 

 the press a new work on Lepidoptera. It 

 is to be devoted to a critical examination of the 

 order, especially as represented in Europe, and 

 will include the divisions of Macro-lepidoptera 

 and Micro-lepidoptera. It is expected to appear 

 early in the autumn. The author is publishing it 

 by subscription at 15s. the volume before issue, 

 and one guinea afterwards. The chief feature of 

 this work will be a new scheme of classification 

 based entirely on recent research by Drs. Dyar 

 and Chapman. This is well-known to advanced 

 entomologists, and is of great scientific importance. 

 We may therefore expect some remarkable changes 

 in the direction of the study of the order. The 

 preliminary chapters of the book will consist of 

 (i) The Origin of Lepidoptera, (2) The Lepidop- 

 terous Egg and its Evolution, (3) Parthenogenesis, 



(4) The Embryology of a Lepidopterous Insect, 



(5) The External Structure of the Lepidopterous 

 Larva, (6) The Internal Structure of the Lepidop- 

 terous Larva, (7) The Variation of the Imagines of 

 Lepidoptera, (8) Defensive Structures and Protective 

 Coloration of Larvae, (9) Classification of Lepidop- 

 tera. These chapters occupy about 112 pages of 

 the work. The second part of this work will con- 

 sist of a monograph of the Sphingo-Micropterygid 

 Stirps, of the Micropterygid and Nepticulid moths, 

 the Eucleides, the Anthrocerides, the Psychides, 

 the Lasiocampides, the Saturniides, Endromides 

 and Sphingides. This part is well forward, in fact 

 nearly completed. Mr. Tutt has received im- 

 portant assistance from several of the leading 

 British lepidopterists who study the order from the 

 point of view of an exact science. The volume is 

 expected to occupy upwards of 400 pages ; each 

 volume will be complete in itself. Intending sub- 

 scribers should apply direct to Mr. Tutt, Rayleigh 

 Villa, Westcombe Hill, London, S.E. 



rin consequence of an oversight the above notice, 

 which appeared in Science-Gossip last month on 

 page 17, was inserted without correction. This 

 having been done, we reprint it, rather than give 

 the numerous alterations without the context. — 

 Ed. Science-Gossip.] 



Henry Lewis. — This well-known student of 

 early civilization of man and expert in prehistoric 

 flint implements was born sixty-four years ago at 

 Walworth, and died at Wandsworth on April loth 

 last. He was brought up to be a shoemaker, but 

 soon developed a taste for the study of natural 

 history. This led him to searching gravel pits in 

 the Thames Valley and elsewhere, especially in 

 many parts of eastern England, where he found 

 large numbers of the worked-flint remains of our 

 ancestors, not only as flakes but also as finished 

 implements. Aylesford formed his latter base of 

 investigation, where he obtained much interesting 

 material. He wrote little, but has left a large mass 

 of examples to be worked out and described. 



