June 1, 1865.] 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



139 



What is Mildew ?— " Mildew " is just one of 

 those loose terms wliicli represent no definite idea, 

 or a very different one to different individuals. Talk 

 of mildeio to a farmer, and instantly he scampers 

 mentally over his fields of standing corn in search 

 of the brown lines or irregular spots which indicate 

 the unwelcome presence of Pucciniagramims, known 

 to him, and to generations of farmers before liim, as 

 " mildew." Try to convince a Norfolk farmer that 

 anything else is "mildew," and he will consider you 

 insane for your pains. Speak of mildew in your 

 own domestic circle, and inquire of wives, or 

 daughters, or servants, what it means, and without 

 hesitation another, and even more minute species of 

 fungus, which attacks damp linen, will be indicated 

 as the true mildew, to the exclusion of all otliers ; 

 and with equal claims to antiquity. Go to Earn- 

 ham, or any other hop-growing district, and repeat 

 there your question,— What is mildew ? — and there 

 is every probability that you will be told that it is a 

 kind of mould which attacks the hop plant, but 

 which differs as much from both the mildew of the 

 farnier and the laundry-maid as they differ from 

 each other. The vine-grower has his mildew, the 

 gardener his mildewed onions, the stationer his 

 mildewed paper from damp cellars, the plasterer his 

 mildewed walls, and in almost every calling or 

 sphere in life, wherever a minute fungus commits 

 its ravages upon stock, crop, or chattels, to that in- 

 dividual owner it becomes a bugbear under the 

 name of " mildew." — Tlust, Smut, Mildew, and 

 Mould. 



TutFFFLES.— Trnflles are plentiful occasionally in 

 Hampshire. In the village of Cheiiton, about three 

 miles south of Alresford, when I was a boy, there 

 were two families whose principal means of support 

 depended upon the success of their truffle-hunting ; 

 and their name was Leach. At present there are 

 three brothers in the village who follow the occupa- 

 ' tion of their sire. These men do not bribe the 

 dogs by giving them meat, to prevent their eating 

 the luxury ; but they give them a piece of bread 

 now and then as a reward for their discoveries. Nor 

 do the dogs, as might be inferred, get possession of 

 the truffles. They find them, and their master digs 

 them up with a pike he carries for the purpose. 

 The dogs used by these men are white ones, very 

 similar to the Erench poodle. The hunting is not 

 limited to any particular places ; but in all the 

 hedgerows round, and fir plantations are the truffles 

 found. — /. W. Batchelor. 



A New " Rust."— Mr. M. C. Cooke found during 

 his recent visit to North Wales, a species of " rust " 

 growing upon Umpetrmn nigrum, and known to my- 

 cologists as TJredo Empetri, DC. This is the first 

 record of its occurrence in Britain. 



Introduction of Rahe Plants, &c.— The pro- 

 gramme for the season of the Manchester Eield 

 Naturalists' Association contains the following sug- 

 gestion : — Members who join in the excursions 

 might add to the beauty and interest of the country 

 round Manchester by taking with them any surplus 

 roots and seeds they may possess, especially of native 

 plants brought from a distance, and also living 

 fresh-water mollusca, and depositing them in places 

 where they would be likely to become permanently 

 established. No confusion would be caused, since 

 the Elora and Eauna of the neighbourhood are now 

 both well known, and the introduction of new species 

 would be a set-off also against a.ny possible lessening 

 of the abundance of those produced spontaneously. 

 Members are invited to collect seeds, &c., for this 

 especial purpose, when at a distance from home, and 

 also to enrich the neighbourhood by a judicious 

 sowing of the seeds of exotic plants. 



Wellingtonia Gigantea.— Prof. Brewer, of the 

 Californian State Geological Survey, announces to 

 Sir William Hooker the discovery " of the big trees 

 in great abundance on the ' western flanks of the 

 Sierra Nevada, in about latitude 3G° or 37° ;" and 

 lie describes them as " very abundant along a belt 

 at 5,000 — 7,000 feet altitude, for a distance of more 

 than twenty-five miles, sometimes in groves, at 

 others scattered through the forests in great num 

 bers." One of the largest trees seen by Prof. 

 Brewer measured 106 feet in circumference at four 

 feet above the ground, and -was 276 feet in height. 

 " You can have no idea," he adds, "of the grandeur 

 they impart to the scenery, where at times a hun- 

 dred trees are in sight at once, over fifteen feet in 

 diameter, their rich foliage contrasting so finely 

 with their ciunamon-colourcd bark." It is satis- 

 factory to learn that there is no danger now of 

 speedy extinction of the species, for " immense 

 numbers " of seedlings have been seen growing. — 

 AUienceum. 



Laudanum, a Species of Dew.— Laudanum is 

 procured in a curious manner in some parts of the 

 isle of Cyprus. It is a species of dew, which falls 

 during the evening and night upon plants resembling 

 sage, the flowers of which are like those of the 

 eglantine. Before the sun rises, flocks of goats are 

 driven into the field, and the laudanum fastens on 

 their beards ; whence it is taken. It is of a viscous 

 nature, and, collected in this manner, is purer than 

 that which adheres to the plants; because these 

 plants are subject to being covered with dust during 

 the ^^-^ .=—Bucke' s Beauties of Nature. 



[Doubtless gum ladanum is meant, and not the 

 opiate with the above name. Ladanum is a resin 

 which exudes from several species of Cistus, espe- 

 cially Cistus creticus. Such paragraphs as tlie 

 above, containing as much romance as truth, are only 

 calculated to mislead.] 



