HARDIVICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



117 



the holly leaf are caused by the parenchyma not being 

 £0 fully developed between the extremities of the veins, 

 thereby causing the leathery and tough edge to project 

 further at the venation, and thereby developing 

 spines ; and that when grown in rich luxuriant soil 

 this prickly character of the leaf is suppressed by the 

 extra flow of sap, causing the parenchyma to fill out 

 the leaf to its entirety. I herewith send you a 

 specimen of a holly leaf, that I gathered this morning, 

 with the blade of the leaf covered almost entirely with 

 prickles, as is usually developed at the edge ; in my 

 humble opinion, sir, placing the above theory among 

 the "non-positives." — W. J. Pollard. 



Peculiar Crocus. — I have noticed single snow- 

 drops with four petals ; but never before to day have 

 I noticed a crocus with eight. We have one in 

 bloom this morning, (a white one) with eight distinct 

 petals, four perfect stamens, and the style divided 

 into four stigmas. I thought possibly this might 

 intere st your readers. — Joshua J. Ashley. 



The Butcher's Broom (Ruscus aculeatus). — 

 Mr. Clement Reid, F.G.S., has a very suggestive note 

 relating to this most interesting plant in the last num- 

 ber of " Natural Science." He states that it usually 

 " flowers in March, but in the years 1884-7, I 89°i 

 1891, it was flowering freely in November, in Sussex 

 .and Hampshire. In November, 18SS and 1S89, I 

 was in London and could not observe it. Is this an 

 instance of the premature opening of flower-buds that 

 should be dormant till next spring, or has the plant 

 two flowering seasons in the year ? Only a small 

 number of the plants, perhaps one in fifty, produce 

 any fruit, and it is difficult to find a bush bearing as 

 many as a dozen berries. The November flowers 

 seldom if ever produce fruit, the November ripening 

 berries being formed by the March flowers. Is the 

 scarcity of fruit in this country connected with the 

 premature opening of most of the flowers ? What- 

 ever may be the reason of this double flowering 

 season, it seems to be a marked instance of the non- 

 adaptation of a plant to present climatic conditions." 



GEOLOGY. 



Geological Society of Glasgow. — At a recent 

 meeting of this 'Society Mr. Dugald Bell, F.G.S., 

 read a paper on " The Alleged Submergence in 

 -Scotland during the Glacial Epoch," with special 

 reference to the so-called " high-level shell-bed " at 

 Chapelhall, near Airdrie, 5 12 feet above the sea. 

 This "bed" had been first brought into notice by 

 Mr. Smith of Jordanhill, about forty years ago, and 

 had since been generally accepted as proving a 

 submergence of the land to at least that extent. Its 

 existence, however, rested on very imperfect evidence. 

 It was said to have been found in digging a well near 



the summit of one of the high ridges of boukler-clay 

 in the district ; and was described as a bed of fine 

 reddish clay, about two feet thick, and thinning away 

 rapidly on all sides, lying in a hollow of the boulder- 

 clay, which was fourteen feet or more in thickness, 

 both above and below it. The well seems to have 

 been built up before Mr. Smith had an opportunity of 

 examining the section or the clay, though he got some 

 of the shells that had been found in it, and which 

 were all of one species, Tellina calcarea. From that 

 day to this no geologist had seen the clay, though it 

 had been sought for all around, and though another 

 well had been sunk within a few yards of the old one 

 for the purpose of finding it. At the very utmost it 

 seems to have been a limited strip or patch of shelly- 

 clay, intercalated in the boulder-clay, such as had 

 been found in many other localities, and could not 

 fairly be taken as a sufficient proof of submergence. 

 Mr. Bell commented on the many improbabilities 

 which the theory of a submergence and re-emergence 

 to this extent at the period referred to involved, 

 alluding to the highly Arctic character of the shells 

 found, the absence of marine remains from the upper 

 boulder-clay, &c. He pointed out that the locality 

 was quite in the path of the old ice-sheet, and 

 immediately in front of a tract of high ground to the 

 east, which would form a considerable obstacle to its 

 progress. It was in such localities that anything 

 being carried forward by the ice was most likely to be 

 left. This seemed to be in every way the more 

 probable account of this' Chapelhall clay, and it 

 ought no longer to be cited as a proof of submergence. 

 An animated discussion followed. 



A very important paper has just been read before 

 the Geological Society, by Mr. Edw. Wethered, 

 F.G.S., on" The Microscopic Structure, and Residues 

 insoluble in Hydrochloric Acid, in the Devonian 

 Limestone of South Devon." Microscopic examina- 

 tion of the Devonian Limestones of South Devon 

 shows that they have been built up by calcareous 

 organisms, but that the outlines of the structure have 

 for the most part become obliterated by molecular 

 changes, and the limestones are often rendered crystal- 

 line. In connection with this the author alludes to 

 the disturbances which have affected the limestones. 

 He finds occasional rhombohedra of dolomite, and 

 discusses the probability of their derivation from 

 magnesian silicates contained in the rocks. A de- 

 scription of the insoluble residues follows. The micas, 

 the author considers, may be of detrital origin, but 

 this is by no means certain ; he is disposed to consider 

 that the zircons, tourmaline, and ordinary rutile were 

 liberated by the decomposition of crystals in which 

 they were originally included. Minute crystals, referred 

 to as " microlithic needles," resemble " clay-slate 

 needles," but are not always straight : they occur in 

 every fine residue, and as inclusions in siliceous and 

 micaceous flakes. The siliceous fragments which en- 



