176 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Aug. 1, 1865. 



a proper seaweed-press, containiBg about a dozen 

 smoothly-planed boards ; it takes up very little space, 

 arnd in travelling, the papers, calicoes, and blotters 

 maybe placed between the boards. The figure below 

 represents the press which I have employed for years ; 

 and ou it lies tlie iron clamp by means of which any 

 requisite amount of pressure may be obtained by 

 tightening the screws, which cap the iron rods con- 





iiecting the cross-beams of wood enclosing the 

 pressure-boards. Residents in and around London 

 may examine this press on application at the office 

 of this journal. 



Space will not admit of any further description of 

 the process of seaweed-mounting ; but I hope that 

 the few directions I have given will help beginners 

 to dry any pretty plants they may meet with. 



W. H. Geattakn. 



Enough fob all! — A thousand million of men 

 at least now live upon the earth, each one different 

 from his fellows ; for every man how many thousand 

 animals, again most different ; for every animal how 

 many plants, — still no two quite alike. And yet for 

 all this countless host, for every individual man and 

 animal and plant, there is ample provision in the 

 treasures of the earth and sea and sky; there is 

 abundant flood of sunshine to illumine, warm, and 

 energize the whole; a provision as varied as the 

 wants of those supplied, adjusted carefully to each 

 several need ; a flood of sunshine everywhere alike, 

 yet bearing in itself such diverse powers, such 

 ada])tive suppleness as perfectly to harmonize with 

 all ; sunshine wliich is gone almost as soon as come, 

 which is scattered far and wide, to all appearance 

 lost, yet in its momentary stay conferriirg what 

 stupendous \AQi^\ns&\—Wanngto,i's Fhenomcnu of 

 Radiation. 



SIMPLE OBJECTS.— V. 



The Beamble-leaf Brand {Aregma hulhomm, Er.). 



TOURING summer the under surface of the 



u 



leaves of the Common Bramble will commonly 



be found spotted with a yellow rust. As autumn 

 approaches, darker bodies will be found mixed with 

 this yellow powder, until at last the yellow spores will 

 scarcely be found, but large blackish spots will occupy 

 their place, and reddish spots on the upper surface 

 of the leaf will indicate the presence of the parasite 

 beneath. These dark spots are clusters of spores 

 of the Bramble brand, as figured above. The head 

 consists of an elongated, brown, sausage-shaped 

 fruit, apparently divided by three partitions into 

 four equal-sized cells. (The number is not entirely 

 constant.) These fruits are borne on long colourless 

 stalks or peduncles, which are thickened and almost 

 bulbous at the base. 



If some of these spores are removed on the point 

 of a sharp penknife and placed on a slide in a drop 

 of alcohol, and before the spirit is quite evaporated, 

 two or three drops of strong nitric acid are added, and 

 the whole covered with thin glass ; if the slide is then 

 warmed over a spirit-lamp to nearly boiling-point, 

 the fruit will be found to consist of an outer mem- 

 brane, studded with tubercles, enclosing three or 

 four cells. When the membrane is dissolved or 

 ruptured, these cells escape. The apparent divisions 

 of the fruit will be found to be due to the compres- 

 sion of the cells witliin the membrane. (See 

 "Microscopic Eungi," p. 70.) 



The spores may be mounted in glycerine or bal- 

 sam, and form very interesting objects.'* 



M. C. C. 



* a stamped envelope sent to the Editor, during the 

 current month, will insure a specimen for examination. 



