208 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[Aug. 31, li 



sory surface in the antennae than have the workers and 

 queens. This superior development of the olfactory 

 organs in the male sex is what we find in many moths, 

 in gnats, and in many beetles, and has its obvious 

 physiological meaning. We do not find that the author 

 refers at all to the utterly untenable hypothesis of Wolf 

 and Graber, who actually say that " no one has proved 

 that the antennae of insects display any sensitiveness to 

 odoriferous matters." 



The simple eyes which bees have on the top of the 

 head, in addition to the facetted eyes, Mr. Cheshire con- 

 siders adapted for sight at short distances. The reason 

 why some insect species possess this two-fold visual 

 apparatus whilst others have only the large compound 

 eyes has not been fully ascertained. 



Experiments — especially those conducted by Sir John 

 Lubbock — have shown that bees distinguish colours, and 

 have their preferences for certain tones. 



From considerations of space we are compelled to 

 pass on to a very interesting chapter, which treats on 

 bees as fertilisers, florists, and fruit-producers. Beginning 

 at the end of this chapter, we find notice of a fact, little 

 known, but equally noteworthy for its scientific interest 

 and its practical importance. An apple, for its pro- 

 duction in perfection, " demands no fewer than five inde- 

 pendent fertilisations. If none are effected, the calyx, 

 which really forms the flesh of the fruit, instead of 

 swelling, dries and soon drops. An apple often develops, 

 however, though imperfectly, if four only of the stigmas 

 have been pollen-dusted, but it rarely hangs long enough 

 to ripen, the first severe storm sending it to the pigs as 

 a windfall. I had 200 apples, that had dropped during 

 a gale gathered promiscuously for a lecture illustration, 

 and the cause of falling, in every case but eight, 

 was traceable to imperfect fertilisation." 



Another very interesting fact here recorded is that 

 some blossoms, e.g., the great wild bindweed (Convolvu- 

 lus sepiuni) remains open at night if the moon is shining, 

 and thus is able to attract moths, which carry on the 

 task of fertilisation when bees, wild and domestic, are 

 asleep. But the whole of this chapter we can recom- 

 mend for most careful study as giving excellent in- 

 stances of the mutual action of insects and flowers. It is 

 to be.regretted that some persons still believe that the 

 visits of the hive-bee, or indeed the so-called humble bee 

 (should be hummel bee), to gardens and orchards are for 

 the purpose of devouring the fruit, especially raspberries. 

 The author is justified in saying, by way of peroration : — 

 " The bee, with all her wonderfulness, is only one 

 wheel within many ; she takes to truly give, for seeds, 

 flowers, and fruits follow in her train. Her honey is but 

 a fraction of the results of her labours." Rightly does 

 he remind us that a great part of the mischief of a bleak, 

 ungenial season like the present is not so much the 

 direct action of chilly winds and unseasonable frosts as 

 of the circumstance that the bees are hindered in their 

 work of fertilisation. 



ROMAN BATH, AND RECENT 

 DISCOVERIES.— II. 



( Cont.nucd from p. 184 .) 



HTHE records of Roman life in Britain are but few, and 

 chiefly confined to military movements and succes- 

 sive acts of subjugation, but we know that after the 

 subjugation of the south and west of Britain, under the 



Emperor Claudius, this part of the island was not harassed 

 by war, and seems to have developed its resources 

 under an orderly government, as we find throughout 

 Somerset and Gloucestershire, as well as in Wilts and 

 Dorset, remains of fine Roman villas, situated on the 

 lines of main roads which traversed the country in 

 different directions. Beautifully executed mosaic pave- 

 ments have been found in these villas, as at Woodchester, 

 Lydney, Cirencester, Bath, Wellow, and places too numer- 

 ous to mention. Within a radius of five or six miles around 

 Bath fourteen or fifteen sites have been opened. A'ong 

 the line of the Mendip hills abundant traces of Roman 

 mining have been left, and many pigs of lead, bearing 

 the Roman stamp, have been found, from the date of 

 the Emperor Claudius to that of the Antonines. Hoards 

 of Roman coins have also been discovered, one very 

 lately at East Harptree, between Wells and Bristol, on the 

 line of Roman road along the Mendip Hills, connecting 

 the Roman port on the Severn, at the extremity of 

 Breandown, near to Uphill, with Old Sarum, and from 

 thence leading to the seaports on the south coast of 

 Britain. In the district of Mendip was obtained the lead 

 which is found so copiously used in the coating of the 

 Roman baths at Bath and in the formation of the pipes 

 for conveying the hot water to the baths. A pig of 

 Roman lead bearing the stamp of the Emperor Hadrian 

 was found in Bathwick, on the site of Sydney Build- 

 ings, and is now in the Museum of the Literary and 

 Scientific Institution. The lead- workings in the Mendip 

 Hills lie chiefly on the surface, and the lead ore has been 

 entirely extracted by the Romans, as no fresh veins have 

 been found ; and lead, in more recent times, has been 

 procured by re-smelting the Roman scoria which covers 

 many acres, and from re-washing the old refuse from 

 former washings, called " slimes." Coins of a very 

 errly date are found among the refuse, as well as Roman 

 finger-rings with engraved stones. 



The Roman coins found in Bath and the neighbeur- 

 hood begin with the name of the Emperor Claudius, 

 and continue to the latest period of Roman occupation. 

 Much variety of pottery has been found, and glass, as 

 well as bronze implements, most of which are preserved 

 in the Museum of the Literary and Scientific Institution, 

 though many curious articles and articles of value are 

 known to have passed out of the city and found their 

 way into private collections. The inscribed stones 

 found within and around the city are not the least in- 

 teresting remains to be recorded. 



They consist of altars to the tutelary goddess Sul, or 

 Sul- Minerva, and confirm the statement of the historian 

 Solinus. She is also coupled with the " Numina Augus- 

 torum," or divinity of the reigning emperors, on one 

 altar, and there is also a tombstone to her priest, named 

 Calpurnius Receptus, and an altar to her attendant 

 nymphs, called Sulevce. There are seven stones which 

 record her name. Many funereal monuments have been 

 preserved, though many have been lost, of which a 

 record remains. 



They are some to soldiers of the 20th Legion, located at 

 Chester. One to a soldier of the 2nd Legion, entitled 

 Adjutrix, Pia, Felix ; one to an aged decurio or 

 magistrate, of Gloucester, Glevum being ranked as a 

 colonia. 



A stone found at Combe Down,, a mile south-west of 

 Bath, records the restoration of the officers' quarters, 

 which had fallen into decay, another the repurga- 

 tion of a locus rcligiosus, dedicated afresh to the 



