SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



75 



ment " ; hence such names as " Bridget's spoon," 

 " Brink spoon or scale," etc. Potamogeton natans. 

 ponclweecl. 



CONIFERAE. 



Aitiol. aitin, " fire." Iubar talman. Iubar 

 beinne. earth or hill yew. Iurcreige. Ubar 

 CRAIGE. rock yew. Jiiniperus communis, juniper. 



GlUBAS. PlNCRAN. PlON CRAN. CRAN PHEINGE. 



Abies excelsa. spruce. 



Ioda. Iubar. letter I. Iur. Sinsioc. Taxus 

 baccata. yew. 



Con. Coxa. Pimis sylvestris. Scotch fir. 



Cupar. Cuprog. Ctqyressus sempervivens. 

 cypress. 



CRYPTOGAMS. 



FlLICES. 



Lusan corrain. Lus na seilge. corran, 

 " hook " ; seilge, " hunting, venison." Asplenmm 

 trichomanes. spleenwort. 



Raitne. Raitneac. brake. Pteris aaiiilina. 

 bracken, and Athyrium Jilix-foemina. female 

 fern. 



Raitneac madra or muire. dog or virgin's 

 fern. Lastraea filix-mas. male fern. 



Sgeam, Sgeam na cloc. Sgeam croin. 

 Sgeam an daraig. cloc, "a stone"; croin, 

 ** swarthy"; daraig, "oak." Polypodium vulgare. 

 polypody. 



Craob muice fiad or cream muice fiad. 

 craob, "branch," "tree"; fiad, "deer"; muice, 

 " dawn," or possibly from muic, " a pig." Scolo- 

 pcndrium vulgare. hart's-tongue. 



Equisetaceae. 



Clois. Clo-uisge. clo, "peg," "nail"; "river 

 peg." Equisetum palvstre. horse-tail. 



Hepaticae. 



Duilleog NA cruitneacta. little leaf with a 

 hump on its back. Marchantia (I think likely) 1 



Fungi. 



Ballog losgain. ball, "ball"; losgan, "toad." 

 Balgan seidid. Balgan beiceac. Balg, " bag " ; 

 seidte, " blasted." Balgan, " a small bag." Beic 

 is beac, " the name " ; hence " blasted bag " or 

 " small bag-mushroom." Caocag. caoc, " blind," 

 "'empty." Lycoperdoyi bovista. fuzz or puff ball. 



Ballan losgiun. Ballog losgain. Beac. 

 ballag, " a shell " ; ballan, " shell " ; " toad shell." 

 Beac. mushroom. Fas nahaon oidce. fas, 

 " growing " ; aon, " excellent " ; oidce, " night " ; 

 "the thing which springs excellently up in a 

 night." Agaricus eampestris. mushroom. 



Algae. 



Duilleasg. dilse. Fitreac. Rhodymenia 

 palmata. dulse, dillesk. 



Feamain. Feamnac, Feamiun. feam, "a tail." 

 Fitc us vesiculosits. bladder fucus. 



Carrageen, carrac, "rocky," "stony." Chon- 

 drus crispus. Irish moss. 

 Sleabacan. Ulva. sloak. 



In conclusion there is little to be said. Amongst 

 the Fungi and Algae many difficulties and doubts 

 arise, though we find them also amongst the higher 

 orders. I may add that at the present time " Red 

 Roger " is another name for Ragged Robin in some 

 parts of Ireland. Often " eyebright " signifies 

 " scorpion grass." Lutther is the Co. Clare name 

 for a river plant I have not been yet able to desig- 

 nate. " St. Patrick's cabbage " is Saxifraga umbrosa, 

 the real Irish of which I have not met with. 

 Heracleum spliondylium is "keck" in Tipperary and 

 King's County. However, I hope that though I have 

 not been able to find out everything, this article 

 will prove useful as well as interesting, and that 

 though some of the suggestions made may look 

 exaggerated and contradictory, they will be con- 

 sidered merely as possible suggestions, and not 

 dogmatic in any sense of the term. 



Ballyhohne, Bangor, Co. Down. 



AN INTRODUCTION TO 

 BRITISH SPIDERS. 



By Frank Percy Smith. 



(Continued from page 10.) 



GENUS TISO SIM. 



Anterior row of ejes recurved ; centrals very close 

 together, widely separated from the laterals. Four 

 central eyes forming a quadrilateral much longer than 

 broad. Tarsi shorter than the metatarsi. 



Tiso vagans Bl. (Neriene longimana in 

 " Spiders of Dorset.") 



Length. Male 2 mm., female 2.25 mm. 



Cephalo-thorax dark brown. Legs brown, tinged 

 with red. Abdomen black. 



This spider bears a great resemblance to those of 

 the genus Erigone, but may be distinguished by the 

 lower caput and by the curious form of the radial 

 joint of the male palpus, which is produced into a 

 somewhat slender apophysis, the end of which bears 

 a small knob-like expansion. 



This species is uncommon : I have taken it recently 

 in Epping Forest, and have just received a specimen 

 from Mr. W. Falconer, of Slaithwaite, Huddersfield. 



GENUS GONGYLID1ELLUM SIM. 



Eyes of anterior row very close together. Posterior 

 eyes rather large, their intervals not exceeding 

 their diameters. Four central eyes forming a quadri- 

 lateral almost as broad as long. Anterior tarsi as 

 long as metatarsi. 



G-ongylidiellum latebricolum Cb. (Neriene 

 latebricola in "Spiders of Dorset.") 



D 4 



