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SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



Xote. — In consequence of pressure on our space, 

 we regret to have to hold over several important 

 communications, including the continuation oi 

 •' Palaearctic Butterflies," " Photography for Be- 

 ginners." and " Chapters for Young Astronomers." 

 — Ed. Science-Gossip. 



Hypericum hirsutum.— A few plants of the 

 hairy St. John's-wort occur in the lane leading 

 from Pyrford Green to Wisley, Surrey. My wife 

 picked them on August 4th, not much later than 

 their July season, but the soil was the Lower 

 Bagshot sands, and not their usual limestone 

 habitat.— R. Ashington Bullen, F.L.S., Axeland 

 Park, Horley. 



Altitude of Marine Deposits in Scotland. 

 — Sir A. Geikie in his " Scenery of Scotland," this 

 year's edition, says that " The highest level at 

 which these (boulder-clay marine shells) have been 

 met with in Scotland is 510 feet." The fact is 

 that marine shells have been found in the boulder 

 clay or drift beds of Scotland to considerably 

 over 1,000 feet, and all the way downward to 

 below sea-level. For a detailed description of 

 their occurence, the reader may consult the supple- 

 ment to the eleventh volume of the " Transactions 

 of the Geological Society of Glasgow," 1898, which 

 is entirely devoted to a description of drift or 

 glacial deposits of Ayrshire.— J. Smith, Morilt- 

 redding, Kibe inning. 



Digestion of Young Swallows.— On July 

 13th, at Ripley, Surrey, I watched a swallow 

 (Hirundo rustica) feeding its young. During my 

 observation the parent bird paid several visits to 

 the nest. It clung to the side of the nest and 

 called its young, promptly fed one of the little 

 •ones, and then left to scout for fresh insects. 

 About twenty seconds after being fed one of the 

 young birds pushed its head well out of the nest 

 and dropped a white pellet. I could not secure 

 the pellets recently dropped,-but managed to reach' 

 others within the railings which had'fallen on a 

 piece of paper. . On breaking them open I found 

 them tightly packed with entire legs and wings. 

 presumably of gnats. I have since "examined the 

 excreta of adult swallows, and find them to consist 

 of the chit-inous remains of insects, but in a well- 

 triturated and powdery condition. It appears, 

 therefore, the young swallows eject from the 

 mouth the same elements undigested which in the 

 adults go through the usual course of digestion. 

 — R. Ashington Bullen, F.L.S., Axeland Park, 

 Horley. 



Science in Queensland.— The first scientific 

 society in Queensland was the Philosophical, which 

 was founded in 1859. Of the early contributors 

 only three or four are now alive. One of the 

 principal results of the society's labours was the 

 inauguration of the popular institution now known 

 as the Queensland Museum. In 1883, shortly after 

 the incorporation of the Royal Society of Queens- 



land, the Philosophical Society was amalgamated 

 with it. The Queensland branch of the Royal 

 Geographical Society was formed in 1885, and, as 

 the name implies, has confined itself principally to 

 geographical research. On this subject it has added 

 valuable information to the records of the colony. 

 The most important event in the annals of Queens- 

 land science was, undoubtedly, the meeting of the 

 Australasian Association for the Advancement of 

 Science, which was held in Brisbane in January, 

 1895. Many noted men from the different Austral- 

 asian colonies attended. During the proceedings, 

 which occupied a week, a large number of papers 

 were read, several concerning Queensland, that 

 were by Queensland authors. The papers selected 

 for printing composed a volume of about 900 pages, 

 which was printed for the Association free of charge 

 by the Government of the colony. The Australasian 

 Medical Congress, which was held in Brisbane 

 during September, 1899, was also a noteworthy 

 gathering. The papers read on that occasion are 

 now being printed, and when published it will be 

 seen that those by Queensland authors are of much 

 value. When the importance of the subjects is 

 considered, comparatively little has been done 

 regarding the ethnology and anthropology of the 

 colony. It is now almost too late to do anything 

 in connection with the southern portion. Fortu- 

 nately, however, for some years past these sciences 

 have been taken up with regard to the northern 

 parts. Valuable publications on the subjects have 

 been issued by the Government, and these, we are 

 told, will be followed by others. About twelve 

 years ago the Government appointed a specialist to 

 report on the fisheries of the colony, and an 

 elaborate report was the result. The science of 

 meteorology has made wonderful advance, and 

 Queensland at the present time may congratulate 

 itself on having a system for obtaining trustworthy 

 information perhaps second to none. Astronomy 

 has not received the same attention that it has in 

 New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia, 

 each of which has a department, maintained at 

 Government expense, for obtaining information on 

 perhaps the greatest of all sciences. The Medical 

 Society of Queensland since its inception some 

 years ago has added much useful knowledge in the 

 important branch of science with which it deals. 

 The same may be said of work done by the 

 Queensland branch of the British Medical Associa- 

 tion, recently amalgamated with the first-mentioned. 

 Those who have the advancement of the science of 

 pharmacy at heart ba-ve not been behindhand, and 

 one of the chief features of their endeavours was 

 the part they played in arranging for the inclusion 

 of several local drugs in the " British Pharmaco- 

 poeia." During recent years bacteriology has 

 attracted great attention. The. Bacteriological 

 Institute, started some years ago by the Govern- 

 ment, has done valuable work in this branch of 

 science, and has proved a boon to the medical pro- 

 fession and others. 



Acrid Taste of Red Currants. — Being wish- 

 ful to know the cause of that almost painfully 

 disagreeable irritation of the palate always ob- 

 served when eating bunches of red currants, and 

 which I had ignorantly attributed to some peculiar 

 action of certain acids contained in the fruit, my 

 curiosity led me, upon the first opportunity, to 

 make a careful dissection and examination of these 

 dainty berries. By means of a microscope it was 

 not long before I received one of those strangely 



