46 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Ebb. 1, 1865. 



ESPOETS OF SOCIETIES. 



Manchf.steu Liteuaby and PHiLosonncAii 

 Society, Bee \Wi. — Some spores of plants found 

 in the splint coal of Methill, Fifesliire, were ex- 

 ])ibited ; also some larger spores found in the 

 Derbysliire coalfield. Mr. W. Brookbank read 

 a paper on the "Discovery of the bones of the 

 Mammoth in a fissure of the Carboniferous Lime- 

 stone at Waterhouses, near Leek." The fissure in 

 which these remains were found occurs in the upi^er 

 beds, and has been exjiosed by the working of a 

 quarry. All the bones from the dryer side of the 

 fissure were recovered in good coudilion. A con- 

 siderable part of the fissure remains to be explored, 

 which is already in progress. 



MicEOscopiCAL_ Section, Nov. Ilst.—Mx. G. E. 

 Hunt announced his discovery of Potamogetoii nifens 

 in Loch Ascog_, Kothsay. This plant was first ob- 

 served as British by Mr. David Moore, Dublin, in 

 a lake near the sea at Castle Gregory, County of 

 Kerry, in July last. 



LiNN^AN, Dec. 15/^..~Dr. St. Brady exliibited 

 specimens of Ammi ghmcifolinm, L., gathered by him 

 on the banks of the Severn, near Gloucester, in 

 September last. A paper was read on " Potamogeton 

 trichouks, _Cha.m., in England," by Dr. R. Caspary, 

 and "Notice of two forms of JEriopJiorum cmgusti- 

 folmm" by Dr. Dickie. 



Ethnological, Dec. '^Ith.—'Mw John Evans, 

 E.R.S., read a paper "On Flint Implements from 

 Salisbury _Hill, near Bath." These implements, con- 

 sisting chiefly of small arrow-heads, and flint cores 

 from which such articles had been flaked, were 

 found on an oolitic hill, to the natural soil of whicli 

 flint was a foreign material. The author did not 

 attempt to assign these relics to any definite age, 

 though he considered it would be justifiable to refer 

 them to the pre-Iloman period, and that for the iirst 

 occupation of Salisbury Hill a date might be claimed 

 far earlier than those Saxon times to which Collinson 

 (History of Somerset) has ascribed the encamp- 

 ment. 



Entomological, Jan. 2nd.—¥i\\ Bond exhibited 

 Depressaria olerella, a new addition to the list of 

 species of British moths, and some remarkable varie- 

 ties of the ghost moth, Ilepiahis ImmvM, from the 

 Shetlands. Mr. Dunning mentioned the capture,uear 

 Huddersfipld, of a large numljer of Dasypolia Templl. 

 Mr. F. Smith communicated a paper on "Wasps and 

 their Parasites in 1S64<," by Mr. S. Stone. 



Amateur Botanists (London), Jan. 4/"/*.— Paper 

 by Mr. Harland Coultas on " Plant Palaeontology." 



MiCKOScopiCAL, Jan. 11///.— Paper by Mr. Slack 

 on the " Vinegar Plant." A committee was after- 

 wards formed to work in association with Mr. Slack, 

 in order that some important points, still open for 

 elucidation on this subject, may be more thoroughly 

 investigated. 



Secretabies of Field Clubs and Natural His- 

 tory Societies are solicited to forward accounts 

 of their ordinary meetings, excursions, and pro- 

 ceedings, througliout the year. A portion of the 

 Science Gossip being devoted to the service of 

 such associations, it is the wish of the promoters 

 tliat it should be rendered as truly serviceable as 

 possible. 



NOTES AND aUERIES. 



In the woods, a man casts off his years, as the 

 snake his slough, and, at what period soever of li!'e, 

 is always a child. — Fmerson. 



Zoological Gardens in India.— It is reported 

 that Zoological Gardens are about being established 

 in Bombay. 



Mounting Plants.— Corrosive sublimate mixed 

 with glue will be of little service, as the glue decom- 

 poses it.— ^. /. S. 



Death op Dr. Baikie. — This enterpriziug 

 African explorer lately died on board ship on his 

 return homewards from West Africa, after many 

 years' residence on the Upper Niger. 



Watering Vegetables with Iron Solution. 

 — It is stated as a new discovery that wonderful 

 effects may be obtained by watering fruit-trees and 

 vegetables with a solution of sulphate of iron. 

 Under this system beans will grow to nearly double 

 the size, and will acquire a much more savoury 

 taste. The pear seems to be particularly well 

 adapted for this treatment. Old nails thrown into 

 water and left 1;o_ rust there will impart to it all the 

 necessary qualities for forcing vegetation as Aq- 

 scribed.— r/»?e5, Dec. 5, 1864. 



Man's Place in Nature.— The fairy in Kings- 

 ley's "Water-Babies" tells her pupil, "Folks say, 

 now, that I can make beasts into men, by circum- 

 stance, and selection, and competition, and so forth. 

 Well, perhaps they are wrong, and perhaps again 

 they are right. Whatever their ancestors were, 

 men they are, and I advise them to behave as such, 

 and act accordingly. Let them recollect this, that 

 there are two sides to every question, and a down- 

 hill as well as an uphill road ; and if I can turn 

 beasts into men, 1 can, by the same laws of circum- 

 stance, and selection, and competition, turn men into 

 beasts." 



No Knowledge without Work.— Many per- 

 sons, in a scientific age, would become scientific 

 without the labour of study, and imagine that know- 

 ledge may be acquired by some popular but ideal 

 method, requiring no more mental fatigue or patient 

 research than reading a novel or perusing a love 

 ditty. Ladies would fain study chemistry as they 

 sigh over the last new novel; while the "sworn 

 horse-courser " wonders that the marvels of astro- 

 nomy are not so much adapted to his capacity for 

 knowledge as are the lucubrations of the Racing 

 Calendar, or that the perigee is more intricate thnn 

 the pedigree of an "Eclipse." — 3j/monds' Old 

 Bones. 



_ Origin of Proverbs. — The memorable words of 

 history, and the proverbs of nations, consist usually 

 of a natural fact, selected as a picture, or parable, 

 of a moral truth. Thus— a roUing stone gathers no 

 moss; a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush; 

 a cripple, in the right way, will beat a racer in the 

 wrong; make hay whilst the sun shines; 'tis hard 

 to carry a full cup even ; vinegar is the son of wine ; 

 the last ounce broke the camel's back ; long-lived 

 trees make roots first— and the like. In their pri- 

 mary sense these are trivial facts, but we repeat 

 i hem for the value of their analogical import. "Wliat 

 is true of proverbs, is true of all fables, parables, 

 ;ind allegories. — Emerson. 



