SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



uj\ 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



At the HUKK^-'^ti^^i^ *''^ M'vt'rnl L-orropomlcnts wt* open with 

 this volume a Jeparhnent in whii-h our rc;ultTK may jiddn-ss 

 the EJitor in letter form. We luTve ple.iHure in invitinj; any 

 wWt desire to raise diHCiiHsion". on Hcientific Mibjects. to 

 addresH their letter-, to the Editor, at i lo. Strand. London, 

 W.C Our only restrietion will he. in c.'ise the correspondence 

 exceetU the hoiMuIn of courtesy : which \vc trust is a matter 

 o'i ^rreat improbability. These letters may be anonymous. 

 In that case they must Iv aceompani*'d_ by the full name and 

 •address oi the writer, not for publication, but as an e.nrncst 

 oi j;ood faith. The Eilitor does not h^tld himself responsible 

 for the opinions o( the correspondents. — AV. S.'G. 



Irish Plant Names. 

 ■/o I he Editor of SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



SiK, — I congraliil.ilc you oiuhc inttrestirij; October 

 nunil)er of SciENCK-Ciossii'. Dr. Lang's beautiful 

 pictures of butterflies remind one of pleasant days 

 spent in some of the South Europe.in districts where 

 Thais., l'af<ilio aU.xaiior, 1'. /'odaliriiis, and Cliaraxis 

 iiuiiis are flying. 



Mr. Keogan would increase the interest of his 

 valuable study of the Birch and .\lder if he would tell 

 us lo what element of the xylem .jr phloem is due the 

 toughness which makes the former tree .so useful for 

 the manufacture of broonis and for castigatory pur- 

 po.ses. .-Vlso what particular substance in the birch- 

 hark renders it capable of sustaining life in Lapland. 



The article in youiOctobcr number (ante p. 130) 

 which I have especially enjoyed is that by Mr. J. U. 

 Harbour on " Irish Plant Names." Will you 

 permit me to make a few comments on this 

 list ? The colours are appropriately applied : — 

 thus DKAKc, red, to the poppy, etc. ; I'.ORM, blue, to 

 Cenlamca lyaitiis, etc. ; BUITII, j'ellow, to Sciurio 

 ''aioiia, and to Chlora, etc. N'ery naturally also we 

 find HEStJE, water, as an element in the name of 

 Vironiia /Kctt!/>ii/i!,'a o.nd Raiiiinctilns iXquatilis. BAN, 

 white ; iiItiih, dark ; and r,i..\s, green, seem to occur 

 occasionally in Iri.sh plant-names. We arc not sur- 

 prised to find the epithet il.Oiir, rock, applied to 

 Sediim aire, and BOi;, that is swamp, to Stirpiis. .As 

 might be expected, mor, big and BEAC, little or 

 lesser, are of frequent occurrence. Some of the 

 plant-names in Mr. Harbour's list are exact equiva- 

 lents of the Latin and Greek. Thus baink, milk, 

 corresponds to the gala in I'olygala : teanc.acox to 

 Cyiwglossiiiii. Mi'c, translates pig in pignut. I infer 

 froip ciili.EACH, cock, applied to the red campion that 

 cockscomb is the name of this plant, not of Khin- 

 anthe trislagalli. In this instance the Gaelic name is 

 mi>re applicable to the colour, and the Latin one to 

 the .shape of the corolla of these plants respectively. 

 l->nubtle.ss Mr. Barbour will be able to give many 

 adtlitional explanations which my limited knowledge 

 of the beautiful and melodious Gaelic langu.age makes 

 it impossible for me to ofier. May I venture to 

 suggest to him through your columns that he should 

 reprint his valuable list in alphabetical order, trans- 

 lating the Gaelic words throughout ? I am certain 

 that all Irish botanists would welcome such a glo.s.sary. 

 .\t the same time may I ask the author of this list, or 

 some other Gaelic scholar, for information on one or 

 two points? Can sic.llE (ante 131) be an error for 

 sri'HE, fairy? In that case foxglove, that is folk's 

 glove or fairy's glove, would agree with the Irish 

 name. Why is crax, tree, applied to the 

 maple above all other trees ? Why is the elm 

 called a palm ? Of course tlie willow goes by 

 this name in England from the date of it.s 

 flowering. What \irtue has the plantain which 

 deserves the epithet span, healing? Above all I 

 would suggest that seamsoo cannot possibly be any- 

 thing el.se ihana misprint for seam ROG, the shamrock, 

 .sacred emblem of Erin. This becomes the more 



certain when we observe thai Mr. Barbour attaches 

 the name to Oxalis acelosella, the very plant which 

 the great botanist lienlham, himself a Cell, identifies 

 with the shamrock of Ireland. 



In conclusion may I point out one or two 

 omissions in the list ? Sa.\i/raga iimhrosa, a typical 

 West of Ireland plant, which the cockney absurdly 

 claims as "London I'ride :' this is St. I'atrick s 

 Cabbage. Though it may exist, like many an 

 unfortunate Irishman, in a smoky wilderness, it is 

 much more at home, as he also is, among the natJN'e 

 bogs. Eriophorum, the cotton-sedge, is called t:A.N' A in 

 Scotch Gaelic, probably also in the North of Ireland. 

 I have read that in the Gaelic alphabet each letter is 

 called after a tree. .M.iy I appeal to Mr. -Barbour to 

 give us this list of trees, and to you, .Mr. Editor, to 

 print it and so oblige those of your readers who love 

 both Natural History and the sweet Gaelic tongue. 



In IS Fail.- 



BournemmUh West. 



Co-operative Science Collections. 



To the Editor of SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



.Sir, — I'ermit me to olTer a suggestion as to the 

 feasibility of conducting the study of many branches 

 of natural history on the lines of co-operation, or if 

 that word is objected to, brotherhood might be 

 substituted ; with a membership of most known 

 collectors, and a central depot for duplicates, which 

 would be free to all who contributed their duplicates. 

 .-V catalogue should be kept of all species on hand, to 

 be revised frequently and arranged as to districts. A 

 member studying an\- given species could have 

 specimens from every district for comparison and 

 study, which could be returned when no longer 

 required and others given to him lo fill blanks in his 

 collection, until he collected them himself. The real 

 work should be increasing the knowledge of the 

 fauna of the district, to be possessed by the greatest 

 number of students in that district. 



A conchologist when collecting meets with in- 

 numerable beetles. If the assistance I have sketched 

 were available, he would send his specimens to the 

 depot to be named, then without loss of time, he 

 could' consult any local works available in his 

 neighbourhood, or could have works frtim the depi'il 

 where a circulating library could be established. By 

 the time he got through the list of shells in his 

 district he would be well advanced with the beetles, 

 and so several branches could be worked together, 

 such as butterflies and moths, spiders and mites, 

 plant water bugs, etc. Members finding for the first 

 time species new to the district should be accredited. 



Instead of a collection being rough and tumble, 

 and a source of irritation to the collector it might 

 have been spick and span, and an endless pleasure. 

 Each would feel that he was helping a brother less 

 favoured than himself. The knowledge that the 

 education of the many in his favourite pursuit was 

 being promoted, woulil far outweigh the pleasure 

 derived from the selfish possession of the objects 

 themselves. 



The manner in which members sent in their 

 duplicates might be made the stdjject of commenda- 

 tion and mild criticism, .and the spirit of generous 

 rivalry and emulation might be fostered to carry 

 forward the work at a greatly accelerated pace. It 

 might also be made international, so that a complete 

 family could be got together for exhibition at local 

 gatherings. 



The amount of subscription for membership should 

 be low, so as to exclude none. Subscriptions to go 

 towards reVit, printing, and general expenses. 



