i'EB. 1, 1865.] 



SClBNCE-aoSSIP. 



35 



SIMPLE OBJECTS.— No. I. 



STAE-SPOEED FUXGUS {Aderosjjor'uim. Iloffmanni). 



f'T^HE subject of our illustration is a small 

 J_ fungus which is very common on dead 

 twigs of beech, lime, &c. It occurs in the 

 form of black pustules which break through 

 the bark, forming small orifices with a ragged, 

 irregular mouth, within which the black mass 

 of spores, about the size of a cabbage seed, is 

 contained. The spores appear to be aggluti- 

 nated together into a hard friable heap soon 

 after the bursting of the cuticle, but at first 

 they ooze out in a pasty mass. These spores 

 are of a star-like form with three or four 

 limbs, each of which is divided transversely 

 by septa. "When viewed by transmitted light 

 they are almost of an amber colour. Dui^ing 

 the summer the pustules may be found on 

 nearly every dead twng of beech or lime 

 which still remains attached to the parent 

 tree. 



Mounting. — A little fragment of the black 

 mass, taken out from one of the pustules, on 

 the point of a penknife, may be laid on a 

 glass slide, and a drop of spirit added, which 

 assists in breaking it up into its constituent 

 spores, whilst at the same time it expels the 

 air. A portion of this muddy-looking fluid 

 may be transferred to a clean slide, and as the 

 s])irit evaporates a drop of balsam may be let 

 fall upon it, and covered with thin glass ; or 

 it may be mounted in the ordinaiy way with 

 glycerine in a shallow cell. A piece of twig 

 may be preserved for years wdth this fungus 

 upon it, and wnll be as good as ever.* Our 

 figure is magnified 420 diameters. 



M. G. C. 



*■ A Hraited mimber of fragments can be supplied 

 to our subscribers on receipt of stamped envelopes. 



NOTES ON LOCAL NAMES. 



I HAVE often thought that a complete collection 

 of _ the names by which our British plants and 

 animals are known in country places would be 

 interesting, and would be, besides, not ^A'itho'ut its 

 utility. 



Many of these names are exceedingly pretty, — far 

 prettier than those by which they are generally 

 known, — at any rate in works on Natural History. 

 Some conjure up poetical associations, or remind us 

 of traditions or stories connected Avith the plants 

 themselves, or point out uses which have, perhaps, 

 now become obsolete. Many local names, too, are 

 no doubt very ancient ; some being of Saxon, some 

 of Norse, and otliers of Celtic origin ; and tliese 

 ancient names would be a very sure means of deter- 

 mining whether the plants which bear them wei'e 

 true natives, or were introduced amongst us, and by 

 whom, in later times. 



One_ fact would be very observable in such a 

 collection, namely, that many different plants are 

 known hi different places by the same name ; and, 

 no doubt, the same v.'ould be true to a certain 

 extent with regard to animals. Thus "Robin run 

 by the hedge" is a name which, I believe, is generally 

 applied to ground ivy {Glechoma hederacea) ; but I 

 have heard the same name given to red campion 

 {Lychnis clioica). Harebells, or hairbells, or air bells 

 {Campanula rotundifolia, but Avhich may be the cor- 

 rect E?igUsk name 1 have not yet been able to make 

 out) are often called " bluebells," and the same 

 name is frequently applied to the wild hyacinth 

 {Ilyacinihus nonscriptus). I am told that in Sussex 

 the greater bindweed {Convolvulus sepiim) is called 

 "woodbine," the name which in most places serves 

 to distinguish the honeysuckle {Lonicera), which in 

 Cumberland is called "biudwood"— a name not 

 quite so euplionious as woodbine, but evidently 

 meaning the same, and merely differing in the trans- 

 position of if s parts. In Cheshire " bindweed" means 

 the twining knotgrass {PohigoHv.m convolvulus) • but 

 all these plants are characterised by their twining 

 around others for support, and it is only likely that 

 they should have received the same, or very similar 

 names. As a rule, labouring men do not recognise 

 minute differences in plants, and classify much more 

 by similarity of leaves or habit than by resemblance 

 in the ilowers ; thus many plants that have large 

 coarse leaves are called "docks" — as "burdock;" 

 Avhile, in Cheshire, waterlilies are " flatter-docks " 

 or floating docks. In tliat county, too, Polyfjo/nim 

 aiiiphibium is called ground willow because its leaves 

 arc just the shape of wdllow leaves, and the different 

 kinds of Lamiwiii are everywhere called "dead 

 nettles " only because their leaves are like the leaves 

 of the true or stinging nettle. 



A source of error probably exists in this fact of the 

 same name bemg given to different plants in dif- 

 ferent places, for it is not at all unlikely that locali- 

 ties have been erroneouslyrecorded for both plants 

 and animals from a confusion of English names. I 

 can quite well remember that for years I mistook 

 the eggs of the black-headed bunting (Embenza 

 scJ^sniclus) for those of the blackcap warbler {Cur- 

 ruca atricapilUi), because some of my schoolfellows 

 who found them were accustomed to hear the black- 

 headed bunting, otherwise red sparrow, called black- 

 cap, whereas I understood by that name a very dif- 

 ferent bird. 



Such mistakes would be very much obviated by 

 some good-natured uaturahst taking the trouble 



