HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



45 



able to see the tracheal tubes nicely. After you have 

 taken out sufficient colour, place the tongue in benzol 

 for a couple of days ; then into oil of cloves, to make 

 transparent. Now take a 3 X I glass slip, on which 

 you have fastened a tin cell of sufficient depth to take 

 the tongue. Fill up the cell with balsam and benzol 

 until it is nicely rounding on the top, f put in the tongue, 

 place on the cover glass, but do not press the glass 

 circle close on to the tin first off; give the benzol 

 time to evaporate, after which you may press the 

 circle down, and when the edge of balsam is hard, 

 ring with shellac cement, finishing off with any fancy 

 colour you like. — J. Boggust. 



ZOOLOGY. 



Yellow-crested White Cockatoo. — An in- 

 genious device of one of these birds is, perhaps, worthy 

 of record. To take advantage of a heavy, straight- 

 down, warm shower of rain, the bird holds [on to the 

 cross-bar of his stand with his beak, lowers himself 

 on the opposite side to his chain (so that the chain 

 hangs over the bar as if over a pulley), grasps both 

 pieces of chain to prevent its running, and then, 

 letting go with his beak, throws himself back down- 

 wards, horizontally, wings open, and enjoys himself 

 to the full. His strong beak breaks the links of 

 ordinary parrot-chain, forces open thick rings, and 

 unscrews swivels. This occurs sometimes several 

 times a day ; at first he used to bite, and that 

 severely, when he was re-fastened ; but after having 

 been well beaten he now contents himself with peck- 

 ing with sharp blows the perch upon which he is 

 standing. The natural parrot says " Bite I must " ; 

 the chastened parrot says "but not my dear (?) 

 master." If two or three persons are talking near 

 him, he will break out into a "jabber without words," 

 accompanied by appropriate gestures, imitating the 

 general resultant of the conversation in a very ludi- 

 crous manner. Such things as having mock-fights 

 with the dog, sneezing, dancing, etc., are, I suppose, 

 common accomplishments of these amusing birds. — 

 T. D. S., Blakiston, S.A. 



BOTANY. 



The Coloration of Flowers. — Mr. Griset 

 (on page 23) states that plants kept in air-tight and 

 dark bottles will, as a rule, lose their colouring 

 more or less. I also have noticed that on a plant of 

 Geum coccineum, which in the open air was producing 

 flowers with scarlet petals, which, however, in the 

 bud were yellow, when moved into a semi-dark 

 cellar the flowers when fully expanded got no further 

 than the yellow or, at best, orange stage. In face 

 of these facts, I hope that the statement that lack of 

 light, whilst altering the colour of leaves, has no effect 

 on that of flowers, will henceforth be omitted from 



botanical works. I should also like to call attention 

 to a fact, which, as far as I know, has not hitherto 

 been put on record, namely, that whilst the green 

 parts of plants are coloured by granules of chlorophyll, 

 and many yellow flowers by chromoplasts, i.e. 

 granules of colouring-matter, blue flowers are more 

 often coloured with blue cell-sap, and red by coloured 

 cell-sap, sometimes mixed with granules. These facts 

 seem to confirm the evolutionary theory that blue 

 flowers have been develqped from green through 

 various gradations of yellow and red. This rule 

 holds good, I believe, in roots as well as in flowers, 

 since beetroot is certainly coloured by sap, and 

 carrots, I think, by chromoplasts. — Henry St. A. 

 Alder, Gt. Malvern. 



GEOLOGY. 



The Geology of Barbados. — At a recent meet- 

 ing of the Geological Society, the second part of 

 an important paper by A. J. Jukes-Browne, B.A., 

 F.G.S., and Professor J. B. Harrison, M.A., F.G.S., 

 was read. They stated that the Oceanic deposits rest 

 unconformably on the Scotland Series, with which 

 they contrast strongly in every respect. They are 

 divisible into five portions : — (1.) Grey and buff 

 calcareous marls (Foraminiferal). (2.) Fine-grained 

 red and yellow argillaceous earths. (3.) Pulverulent 

 chalky earths (Foraminiferal). (4.) Siliceous earths 

 (Radiolarian). (5.) Calcareo-siliceous and chalky 

 earths (Foraminiferal). The whole series is more 

 calcareous in the northern than in the southern part 

 of the island, and layers of volcanic dust occur in it 

 at various horizons. There is everywhere a passage 

 from the more siliceous to the more calcareous earths. 

 From the pakeontological and lithological, evidence 

 the Authors conclude that the depth of water in which 

 the Oceanic beds were deposited varied between 1000 

 and 2500 fathoms. The microscopical and chemical 

 evidence shows that the Radiolarian earths are 

 similar to modern Radiolarian ooze ; that the cal- 

 careo-siliceous earths are similar to what is called by 

 Professor Haeckel "mixed Radiolarian ooze " ; that 

 some of the Foraminiferal earths are comparable to 

 Globigerina-ooze from 1000 fathoms, and that others 

 greatly resemble European Chalk ; and, finally, that 

 the coloured clays bear a strong resemblance to the 

 so-called " red-clays " of modern oceanic areas. 

 Hence the raised oceanic deposits of Barbados seem 

 to present us with an epitome of the various kinds 

 of deposits which are found on the floors of warm 

 seas at the present day. Equivalent deposits are 

 known in Trinidad and Jamaica ; and it is inferred 

 by the Authors that the whole Central American and 

 Caribbean region was deeply submerged during the 

 Pliocene period, leaving free communication at that 

 time between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. An 

 Appendix by Mr. W. Hill treats of the minute 



