3?^ 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[Oct. 5, 1888. 



munication on the part of the ants. Wishing to obtain 

 some he found that they climbed a certain plant, from 

 which he could brush them into his collecting bottle, but 

 after a time very few ants came upon the leaves, and those 

 that did so turned back, his impression being that they 

 had been warned by others of the danger attending such 

 a course. He gathered a number of flowers of the mallow 

 (Althcca officinalis), the anthers and pollen grains of 

 which make beautiful microscopic objects. He had 

 found that in preparing it from the fully-opened flower, 

 most of the pollen grains fell off, whereas, by gathering 

 the unopened buds, stripping off the leaves, and drying 

 the anthers out of reach of dust, much better results were 

 obtained. He had also noticed that wheat was largely 

 infested by a fungus (Ustilago segetum) commonly known 

 as the corn smut. This fungus, however, does not 

 damage the flour, as the fungus reaches maturity, dries, 

 and is scattered by the wind before the corn is ripe. The 

 other fungus which affects wheat, the wheat bunt (Tilletia 

 caries) is not so common, but is much more destructive, 

 and is a more insidious foe to the farmer. In the case of 

 this fungus the ears of wheat remain green and externally 

 there is no appearance, except to the practised eye, that 

 anything is wrong. There is no black impalpable dust 

 about the ears as in the " smut," but stealthily and 

 secretly the work is accomplished, and until the bunted 

 grains make their appearance in the sample the disease 

 may, perchance, be unchallenged. When the grain is 

 broken, the farinaceous interior will be found replaced by 

 a minute black dust of a very fetid, unpleasant odour and 

 greasy to the touch. Flour which contains a large pro- 

 portion of bunt is injurious in proportion to its extent. 

 The prevalence of these fungi on wheat is due to the wet 

 summer we have had, as it is well known that many 

 fungi flourish in proportion to the wetness of the season. 

 Mr. Parkes read a paper on the nest of a trap-door 

 spider found at Ajaccio in Corsica, and exhibited four 

 rests. 



Malton Naturalists' Society.— At the meeting held 

 on September 24th, Mr. Matthew B. Slater, the curator, 

 reported a most interesting discovery during the recent 

 excursion of the union to Houghton Woods, Market 

 Weighton. In a fir forest there a Mr. Mirshall had found 

 eight specimens of Coodyera repens, which Mr. Slater 

 states has never previously been found in Yorkshire, and 

 only once before in England. The " find," he added, was 

 an interesting one, geologically as well, as the Goodyera 

 is an old Arctic plant, found chiefly in the North of 

 Europe, and flourishes in the fir forests of North Britain. 



Leicester Working Men's Club and Institute. — Mr. 

 A. Berry delivered the first lecture of the season on 

 September 25th, taking " The Moon " as his subject. 



Liverpool Science Club. — On September 22nd a large 

 number of the members of this club met in the Museum, 

 William Brown-street, to hear a lecture by the Rev. F. F. 

 Grensted, M.A., on " Egyptian and Babylonian Antiqui- 

 ties." Beginning with a clean-cut Egyptian tombstone, 

 carved some 3,500 years before the Christian era, the 

 lecturer showed the peculiar religious belief of the Nile 

 dwellers of that age. The growth of language was also 

 pointed out, and the strange developments of totemism 

 as shown by the mummy cats and other strange animal 



forms preserved in the museum. The pictures of the 

 last judgment, as taken from the book of the dead and 

 figured on one of the mummy cases, attracted much at- 

 tention, as showing the peculiar notions of the Egyptians 

 with regard to a future state. The tools of the ancient 

 races were compared with the tools of the modern 

 mechanic, and it was shown how nearly allied we are in 

 many respects to the long perished races, and compari- 

 sons were made on points of labour, language, literature. 

 and religion. 



Sydney Natural History Association. — The fifth 

 excursion of members of the association took place on 

 Saturday, June 30th, the locality selected being on the 

 western slope of Bellevue Hill, and in the adjacent 

 gully. The following plants were found and examined : 

 Pcrsoonia tenuifolia, P. lucida, Hakea rostrata, H. 

 acicularis, H. bifurcata, and H. flexilis, Banksia ser- 

 rata, B. marginata, and B. integrifolia, Lambertia 

 formosa, Grevillea sericea, and Xylomelum pyriforme, 

 the " wooden pear " of the settlers. Among legu- 

 minous plants collected and examined were Bossicea 

 ensifolia and B. scolopendria, Hardenbergia mono- 

 phylla, Hovea linearis, and four or five species of acacia. 

 It was rather early in the season for the majority of 

 flowering plants ; but some of the genera Rutacae were 

 just commencing to unfold their charms, the species col- 

 lected being Correa speciosa (known to bush children as 

 the native fuchsia), Crowea saligna, Boronia hdifolia, B. 

 floribunda, and B. parviflora. The epacrids were also 

 beginning to display their beauty, being represented by 

 the handsome though cosmopolitan Epacris longiflora, E. 

 microphylla, and E. pulchella; Styphelia lubiflora, S. viridis 

 (much sought after in the summer season for its fruits, 

 known as five-corners), and Astroloma hemifusa. Among 

 ferns collected in the gully were Todea barbara, Davallia 

 dubia, Lomaria discolor, Gleichcnia circinnata, and G. 

 rupestris, Schizara dicholoma, and 5. rupestris. Here 

 also was found, growing in the spongy soil, saturated 

 with the drip of water from the rocks above, that 

 curious plant, Drosera binata, one of Darwin's carni- 

 vorous plants, with broad, deeply-cleft leaves, the lamina 

 presenting the figure of a V ; while the petioles are 

 several inches in length. 



Agri-Horticultural Society of Burma. — From the 

 proceedings of the meeting held on August 1 ith, we learn 

 that during June and July special attention had been 

 paid to moth collecting, as Colonel Swinhoe, who is 

 naming them for the Museum, intended leaving India for 

 Europe at the end of this year. Good specimens of a 

 large number of species had been obtained, of which 

 over one hundred were new to the collection. Two or 

 three of each variety had been sent to Col. Swinhoe for 

 identification, and very many were most likely new to 

 science. In such cases he would take them to Europe 

 with him, and describe them there, and then return the 

 specimens. He has several specimens now with him 

 which he considers new, but for want of sufficient books 

 of reference has not described. He has as yet only 

 returned a small number of those sent to him in the 

 beginning of June. The Rev. Latham Browne has again 

 sent over an hundred moths collected at Thayetmyo by 

 him, many of these are new to the collection Major 

 Bingham has presented the museum with five rare 

 moths and three butterflies, besides a collection of beetles 

 lately collected in Maulmain. 



