128 



SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



leaving an easily perceptible scaly rudiment below 

 -'the former. Similarly the "boutons" which cover 

 the branches of the larch, and open in spring to 

 yield fasciculated leaves, are actual branches, half- 

 . aborted. With regard to differentiation, it must 

 •be remembered that the first shoots of the young 

 pine are always formed of simple leaves whose 

 structure is correspondingly simple, and it is quite 

 'evident that these simple leaves disappear because 

 they are not suited to the external conditions to 

 which the tree is subjected in later life. However, 

 that the fasciculated leaves are very remarkable 

 and extraordinary is manifested not only by their 

 internal anatomy, but by their physiology, as 

 .attested by chemistry. For this latter feature my 

 paper in " Natural Science," vol. xv. p. 52, may 

 'be consulted. There is another feature in con- 

 nection with the origin and formation of the fibro- 

 vascular system of the dicotyledonous leaf which 

 "is worthy of a special note. Tn this the liber is 

 always more developed in relation to the xylem 

 'than that of the stem, and the internal, superior, 

 liber of the leaf is never formed at the expense of 

 the procambium, in which the inferior liber and 

 the xylem of the bundle originate. The details 

 •are too complicated to be adequately described in 

 a mere note. However, I would advise all your 

 botanical readers to make the acquaintance of 

 Yaucher's book. It is a most valuable storehouse 

 of accurate information, absolutely untainted by 

 •any trace of fad or fantasy. — {Dv.') P. Q. Keegan, 

 Patterdale, Westmoo'land . 



[I am glad to have raised a point for discussion 

 •■with regard to the homology of the gymnosperms. 

 1l quite understand why Dr. Keegan objects to the 

 "term " minor point" ; but in comparison with the 

 all-important homologies that appear during the re- 

 productive cycle in Pinus, I think that the reten- 

 tion of stem-structure in the leaf is rather a minor 

 •point, although, as I mentioned in the note in 

 ■question, it is such features as these which often 

 help to corroborate previous deductions. I cannot 

 -quite accept the statement from Vaucher's woi'k, 

 i.e. that "the leaves of Pinug are true branches," 

 Tjecause it is not really the leaves which spring 

 "from the axils of the primary scale-leaves, but a 

 -shoot, known as the " limited shoot," and it is 

 from this latter that the two leaves arise in each 

 ■case, the bundle splitting to supply each leaf. — 

 H. A. H.] 



NOTICES OF SOCIETIES. 



■Ordinary meetings are marked f, excursions"' ; 7iames of persons 

 following excursions are of Conductors. Lantern Illustra- 

 tions §. 



-London Geologists' Association. 



•Sept. 7.— «Bedford or the Crag District. E. P. Ridley, F.G.S. 



BiRKBECK iSfATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 



■Sept. 14.— *Erith, for Orayford. Mr. Goodchild. 



:Sept. 28.— *Kew Gardens, via Electric Railway and Tram. Miss 



E. Bowers. 

 Yorkshire Naturalists' Union. 

 ■Sept. 12.— » Pontefra^t, for Went Vale. 

 „ — .— * Fungus Foray at Conisborough. 



'Quekett Microscopical Club, 

 '.Sept. 7. — ■* East London Waterworks. 

 „ 21.— » Hale End, for Higham's Park. 



North London Natural History Society. 

 .-Sept. 10.— t" The Chemical Cycle of Life." The President. 

 Special Exhibition and Discussion— " The Agro- 

 tidae." A. Baoot. 

 j„ 21. — * Epping Forest. 



24. — t"The Quantitative Theory of Evolution : a new 

 'M'pthnd of Research." IL Greenwood. 



NOTICES TO COKRESPONDENTS. 



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The Editor is not responsible for unused MSS., neither can he 

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ANS\^^RS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



F. J. B. (Highgate). — The fly is Exorista vulgaris. Family 

 Musoidae, sub-famil}' Tachioinae. This fly deposits eggs upon 

 lepidopterous larvae, within which the fly larvae feed' to 

 maturity and then go to soil for pupation. 



J. 0. (Holgate). — The specimen is not an insect, but a worm of 

 the sub-order Nematomorpha, and the genus Gordius. These 

 animals are commonly called '■ hair-worms " and inhabit 

 ditches, ponds, and other damp earthy places. In shape they 

 resemble a miniature piece of whip-cord with tapering ends, 

 the males having a forked tail. 



EXCHANGES. 



Notice. — Exchanges extending to thirty words (including 

 name and address) admitted free ; but additional words must be 

 prepaid at the rate of threepence for every seven words or less. 



Microscopic Slides, sixty, chiefly entomological. Would 

 exchange for Coleoptera, Hymenop'era, Entomological Works, 

 or Store Boxes. — J. H. Bromwich, Tyburn, Erdington, near 

 Birmingham. 



Fine Exotic Butterflies for exchange. Ornith. croesus, 

 dohertyi, &o., fine specimens from Mexico, Guiana, Peru, &c. — 

 W. Dannatt, Donuington, Vanbrugh Park, Blackheath. 



Wanted, current tenpenny, and the new shilling used Eng- 

 lish stamp. Will give good fossils, minerals, or British or 

 foreign shells. — Thos. Edwards, Cliftonville, Equity Road, 

 Leicester. 



British Beetles wanted in exchange for others. Desiderata 

 very numerous. — A. W. Bartlett, 2 Church Terrace, Hurst- 

 pierpoiut. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 



Flies Proper. By Walter Wesche. Illustrated . . 97 

 Cleaning Skulls and Skeletons. By Lionel E. 



Adams, B.A 100 



Classieication op British Ticks. By Edward G. 



Wheler. Illustrated 102 



Hints on Drying Flowers. By the Rev. F. H. Woods . . 104 

 The Mycetozoa. By J. Saunders, A.L.S., and E. ' 



Saunders. Illustrated 105 



An Introduction to British Spiders. By Frank 



Percy Smith Illustrated 108 



Butterflies of the Palaearctic Region. By Henry 



Charles Lang, M.D. Illustrated 110 



"Carpenter on 'I'HE Microscope" 112 



Books 'ro Read 114 



Notes AND Queries. Illustrated 115 



Chemistry 116 



Photography. Illustrated 117 



Microscopy. Illustrated 119 



Astronomy. Illustrated 123 



Science Gossip 125 



Botany. Illustrated 125 



Notices — Exchangbs 128 



