182 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[Aug. 24, 1888. 



minor, Eriophorum vaginatum, and Lastrcea spinitlosa. 

 Other noteworthy plants associated with these hills are 

 Helleborus viridis, Thlaspi occitanum, Alsine verna, Gnapha- 

 litim sylvaticum and Herminium Monorchis. Cheddar de- 

 serves to be treated separately on account of the great 

 natural phenomena there exhibited, an d the exception al rich- 

 ness and peculiarity of its flora. The grandeur of its mag- 

 nificent cliffs and caverns will amply repay a traveller, 

 even if he have journeyed far to witness it; and the delight 

 of a botanist can be imagined when, for the first time, he 

 sees above and around him fine tufts of the beautiful Dian- 

 thas casius conspicuous with colour, nestling in clefts and 

 crannies of the heights. Underneath by the roadside 

 are Sedum rupestre (majus), Saxifraga hypnoides, thrown 

 as a matted mantle over the rocks ; and, earlier in the 

 year, Cochkaria officinalis, with Ceraslinm pumilum. Here 

 and there large yellow blossoms of Meconopsis make a 

 brave show, and the limestone screes bear abundance 

 of Phegopteris Robertiana. If his vasculum be not yet 

 filled to repletion, the student may venture on 

 the critical task of determining how many forms of Thalic- 

 trum grow at Cheddar ; and should he do so, it is not 

 lack of material which will hinder a satisfactory conclu- 

 sion. 



Below the zone of undulating moorland, breezy heath, 

 and old grey rock there are many little rivulets winding 

 and turning down the boggy slopes until lost in the 

 sphagnum where the sundews grow ; and stretches of 

 aboriginal copsewood afford suitable spots for many 

 sylvestral plants. Lithospermitm pitrpurco-caruleum makes 

 its home on the sunny borders of these woods. The 

 splendid hue of its petals, its porcelain fruit, and remark- 

 able mode of growth g ; ve it a high place in our estima- 

 tion apart from its rarity. Here too the Bee Orchis makes 

 a "profuse display when it chooses; but, as is well known, 

 the appearance of most Orchids is uncertain and seem- 

 ingly capricious. 



The Mendips in Somerset and the Cotswolds in Glou- 

 cestershire alike, each overlook a great alluvial plain, 

 stretching away westward to the Severn and the Bristol 

 Channel. Reclaimed from the sea at some distant date, 

 these extensive tracts are now fertile pasture, rich in 

 aquatic and paludal species that find congenial stations 

 in the frequent marshes, ditches, still pools, and sluggish 

 drains. Approaching the Channel shore, numerous 

 estuaries and tidal inlets locally termed " Pills " materially 

 add to the number of our plants, and influence in some 

 degree the character of the vegetation to a considerable 

 distance from their waters. About their banks such 

 plants as delight in a saline soil or atmosphere, but shun 

 the exposure of the open coast, find suitable resting 

 places. The coast itself, a long and little-varied line of 

 sand and mud bank, with now and then a low cliff or a 

 bank of shingle, offers all the conditions required by 

 many maritime species. 



From what has been stated it will be evident that the 

 neighbourhood of Bristol possesses widely varying 

 peculiarities of physical configuration and geological 

 structure, and furnishes nearly every kind of locality 

 that a botanist desires for his researches. One may 

 even say that the additions of mountain and bog are 

 mainly all that are required to render the Bristol district 

 a typical portion of Great Britain. The distribution of 

 plants being largely dependent upon the nature of these 

 features, the flora is, as might be expected, propor- 

 tionately extensive. 



(To be continued.) 



a*efciefo& 



Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmoreland Associa- 

 tion for the Advancement of Literature and Science. 

 No. XII., 1886-7. Carlisle : G. and T. Coward. 



The Cumberland and Westmoreland Association is a 

 league entered into by nine societies in the two counties, 

 though individuals not belonging to any of the above 

 bodies may become direct members of the Association. 

 Of the affiliated societies, one only, the Carlisle Scientific 

 Society and Field Naturalists' Club, is devoted to science 

 alone, the remainder, like the Association in general, 

 being concerned with both literature and science. Each 

 affiliated society has the right of recommending one 

 original paper for publication in the Transactions, and 

 such as have more than 150 members may send in two 

 such papers. 



The number of papers in the volume before us is not 

 very great. The literary portion includes " Memoirs on 

 the Maryport Camp," " Brampton in 1745," and "Former 

 Social Life in Cumberland and Westmoreland." The 

 scientific section includes " Zoological Record for Cum- 

 berland, 1886," by Rev. H. A. Macpherson, M.A., and 

 W. Duckworth ; " Our Summer Visitors," by T. Duck- 

 worth ; and " Ice Work in Edenside," by J. G. Good- 

 child, F.G.S. Of the nine affiliated societies, three 

 have contributed nothing to the Transactions. This is 

 much to be regretted. In the "Zoological Record " and 

 in " Our Summer Visitors " some interesting facts are 

 placed on record. Thus, from the former memoir we 

 learn that on a recent occasion a dipper (Cinclus aqua- 

 ticus) was observed capturing a small fish in the 

 Calders. " The dipper emerged from the stream, and 

 on reaching shallow water released the captive, which 

 made off at once for deep water. After allowing the 

 fish a start, the dipper darted after it, and recaptured it, 

 subsequently releasing and recapturing it alternately, 

 until tired of play ; the fish was then bruised by 

 repeated pecks and swallowed head foremost. The 

 deplorable mortality in May, 1886, among small 

 birds, especially swallows, is duly noticed. In one 

 case twenty swallows were found dead on the 

 window-ledge of a small clay cottage ; in another the 

 exhausted birds invaded a smithy in search of warmth 

 and food. 



The authors have reason to believe that in the Carlisle 

 district the white wagtail (Motacilla alba) occasionally 

 interbreeds with the pied wagtail (Motacilla lugubris). 



It is suggested by Mr. Eagle Clarke that many birds 

 in their autumnal migrations pass from Scotland to North 

 Wales by way of the Isle ot Man, avoiding the coasts of 

 Cumberland and Lancashire. 



The persecution to which that harmless and useful 

 bird the night-jar is subject is no less rampant in 

 Cumberland than in other parts of the kingdom. An 

 incident here given confirms Waterton's opinion that the 

 average gamekeeper is a ruthless assassin and, as far as 

 in him lies, extirpator of every bird not in the game- 

 list. 



The author of" Ice Work" concludes that a period of 

 20,000 years since the close of the Glacial Epoch is 

 amply sufficient to account for all the denudation that 

 can be demonstrated to have been accomplished in post- 

 glacial times. 



It is worthy to be noted that concerning the alternate 

 glaciation of the two hemispheres geologists are not 

 absolutely unanimous. Mr. J. G. Goodchild considers 



