186 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Aug. 1, 1865. 



B f A If Y. 



Possible Increase oe an Orchid. — An acre of 

 land wonld hold 174,240 plants of the spotted orchis 

 {OrcJiis maculatd), each having a space of six inches 

 square, which is rather closer than they could 

 flourish together ; so that, allowing twelve thousand 

 bad seeds, an acre woidd be thickly clothed ly the 

 progeny of a single plant. At the same rate of 

 increase, the grandchildren would cover a space 

 slightly exceeding the island of Anglesea ; and the 

 great-grandchildren of a single plant would nearly 

 clothe with one uniform green carpet the entire 

 surface of the land throughout the globe. — Darwin's 

 " Fertilization of Orchids" 



Ancient Trees.— The celebrated chestnut {Cas- 

 tanea vesca) on J]]tua must be a thousand years old 

 at least. The Baobab trees {Aclansonia cUgitata) of 

 the Green Cape demand of us, according to their 

 thickness and the number of zones in some of their 

 branches, an age of 4,000 years or thereabouts. 

 The gigantic cypress {Cupressus disticha) at Santa 

 Maria del Tule, six miles east of Oaxaca, in Mexico, 

 has a cicumference of 124 Spanish feet, about 40' in 

 diameter. Now, suppose that every annual zone 

 measured 1'", the tree must be nearly 3,000 years old. 

 It is historically certain that it is older than the con- 

 quest of Mexico by the Spaniards. The age of the 

 great dragon-tree {Braccena draco) at Orotava, in 

 Teneriffe, is supposed to be 5,000 years. These 

 examples are quite sufficient to prove the possibility 

 of a compound plant living on without end. — 

 ' ScMeiden's " Frinciples of Scieniifc Botany." 



Twining Plants. — A greater number of twiners 

 revolve in a course opposed to that of the sun, or to 

 the hands of a watch, than in the reverse course, 

 and, consequently, the majority, as is well known, 

 ascend their supports from left to right. Occasion- 

 ally, though rarely, plants of the same order twine 

 in opposite directions, of which Mohl gives a case 

 in the Leguminosse, and we have seen another in 

 AcanthaccEe. At present no instance is known of 

 two species of the same genus twining in 

 opposite directions ; and this is a' singular fact, be- 

 cause different individuals of the Bitter-sweet 

 [Solaniim juav^^'Mard) revolve and twine in both 

 directions: this plant, however, is a most feeble 

 twiner. — Barwin on Climbing Plants. ■■ ■ 



British Lichens.— The Eev. W. A. Leighton 

 has conunenced a series of papers, to appear from 

 time to time in the Annals of Natural History, con- 

 taining notes and illustrations of new or recently 

 discovered British lichens, or such as have not been 

 figured and described in Sowerby's "English 

 Botany." The first paper was published in No. 91, 

 for July, 1865. 



Brittle India-Rubber. — Mr. Spiller has re- 

 cently shown (Chemical Society, February 16, 1865), 

 in a paper on the oxidation of India-rubber, that 

 this substance, when exposed to the air in a fine 

 state of division, gradually becomes converted into 

 brittle resinous matter, very similar to shell-lac. 



To Dry Ploweks WITH their Natural Colours 

 — "A vessel with a moveable cover is provided, and 

 having removed the cover from it, a piece of metallic 

 gauze of moderate fineness is fixed over it, and the 

 cover replaced. A quantity of sand is then taken 

 sufficient to fill the vessel, and passed through a 

 sieve into an iron pot, where it is heated, with the 

 addition of a small quantity of stearine, carefully 

 stirred, so as to thoroughly mix the ingredients. 

 The quantity of stearine to be added is at the rate 

 of half a pound to one hundred pounds of sand. 

 Care must be taken not to add too much, as it 

 would sink to the bottom and injure the flowers. 

 The vessel with its cover on, and the gauze beneatli 

 it, is then turned upside down, and the bottom 

 being removed, the flowers to be operated upon are 

 carefully placed on the gau2;e, and the sand gently 

 poui'ed in, so as to cover the flowers entirely, the 

 leaves being thus prevented from touching each 

 other. The vessel is then put in a hot place, such, 

 for instance, as the top of a baker's oven, where it 

 is left for forty-eight hours. The flowers thus become 

 dried, and they retain their natural colours. The 

 vessel still remaining bottom upwards, the lid is 

 taken off, and the sand runs away through the 

 gauze, leaving the flowers uninjured." — Journal of 

 Society of Arts. 



The Periwinkle.— But for all wonder-working 

 herbs commend us to that seeming simple inhabitant 

 of our gardens, the periwinkle. The list of virtues 

 belonging to this wort are completely overwhelm- 

 ing ; and if one's whole lifetime were devoted to the 

 plucking and distributing of this herb amongst one's 

 fellow-creatures, it would scarcely be wasted — only 

 supposingthe Saxon herald of the magicianperi winkle 

 to have spoken sooth. "This wort, which is named 

 priapiscus, and by another name vinca pervinca, is of 

 good advantage for many purposes ; that is to say, 

 first, against devil-sickness, and against snakes, and 

 against wild beasts, and for various wisJies, and for 

 envy, and/or terror, and that thou may have grace : 

 and if thou hast this wort with thee, thou shalt be 

 prosperous, and ever acceptable."— 0;?(?e' a JFeek. 



Pollen op Crowfoot. — Mr. G. Gulliver has 

 called attention to the difference in the pollen 

 grains of all the British species of yellow-flowered 

 Ranunculge with divided leaves. The variations in 

 size lie between -ggsth and ^fotli of an inch in 

 diameter in the six species examined. Those of the 

 Corn Crowfoot are rough, whilst those of the others 

 are smootli. 



