i6o 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Mr.j E. D. Marquand, " The Flora of Guernsey," 

 reprinted from the transactions of the Guernsey 

 Society of Natural Science, for 1891. 



The last number of the "Essex Naturalist" for 

 May includes, in addition to the account of the 

 ordinary meeting, the follQwing valuable articles : 

 " Notes, Original and Selected ; " " Ancient Remains 

 at Epping, Essex," by C. B. Sworder ; " Epping 

 Forest Rubi," by J. T. Powell; "Notes of Two 

 Days' Trawling and Dredging in the River Crouch," 

 October 10th and 15th, 1891, by Walter Crouch, 

 F.Z.S. 



We are very pleased to call the attention of our 

 botanical and microscopical readers to No. 9 of 

 M. Tempere's " Le Diatomiste" (London: II. P. 

 Collins), perhaps the best work on Diatoms yet 

 issued. 



The amiable Professor James Thompson, brother 

 of Sir William (now Lord Kelvin, a new invention, 

 that is a "scientific peer," created as such), has just 

 died. 



We strongly advise our readers to carefully and 

 «njoyably peruse the Report of Professor Percy 

 Frankland's Lecture at the Royal Institution on 

 " Micro-Organisms in tlfeir Relation to Chemical 

 Change," published in " Nature " of June 9th. 



The annual Conversazione of the Royal Society 

 was held on June 15th. We hardly need to say it 

 was at high-water mark. 



The total number of licensees under the Vivisection 

 Act in 1891 was 152, of whom forty-three, however, 

 made no experiments. There were fifty-nine licensed 

 places in forty different institutions in England and 

 Scotland. It is further stated in the report that 

 licences and certificates are only granted and allowed 

 upon the recommendation of persons of high scientific 

 standing. The total number of experiments per- 

 formed in 1S91 was 2661, of which S75 were 

 performed under licence alone, the remainder being 

 performed under certificates. In 9S6 experiments the 

 animals operated upon suffered no pain, complete 

 -anaesthesia being maintained from the beginning until 

 the end, when the animal was killed. In other cases 

 ihe animals were anesthetized during the operation, but 

 were allowed to recover. In these cases the animals 

 were operated upon with as much care as human 

 beings. In the bulk of the cases the operations were 

 very simple. Among the diseases the causation of 

 and protection from which occupied the attention 

 of the licensees during 1S91 were tubercle, cholera, 

 cancer, erysipelas, diphtheria, influenza, rabies, 

 glanders, distemper, blood-poisoning, lead-poisoning, 

 goitre, and cretinism. 



The collection of butterflies belonging to Mr. 

 Naish, of Bristol, sold last month, fetched as follows : 

 Seven examples of Lycxna dis/ar, an extinct British 

 butterfly, realised 16/. Ss., or an average of 2/. "]s. 



each. A "lot" of four Polyommalus acis was 

 knocked down for \%s. Eight Latlia ciinosa (appa- 

 rently recently extinct) brought 3/. 17.?. 6d., and one 

 fine example of Noctua subrosea, no longer a native 

 of Britain, and the continental form of which is 

 very different in appearance, fetched 2/. ior. 



Isoprene, a hydro-carbon, discovered among the 

 products of the destructive distillation of india-rubber, 

 was in 1SS4 found by Dr. W. A. Tilden, F.R.S., 

 among the volatile compounds obtained from the 

 action of moderate heat on oil of turpentine. When 

 isoprene is brought into contact with strong aqueous 

 acids, for example hydrochloric acid, it is converted 

 into a tough elastic solid, pronounced to be true india- 

 rubber. Not long ago Dr. Tilden observed that some 

 isoprene made from turpentine and kept in bottles had 

 become thick and syrupy in appearance, and on exa- 

 mining it found lumps of a solid substance floating 

 in it. These proved to be caoutchouc of a yellowish 

 colour. He accounts for the spontaneous formation of 

 the rubber by supposing that a small quantity of acetic 

 or formic acid had been produced by the oxidising 

 action of the air. The artificial rubber, like natural 

 rubber, appears to consist of two substances, one 

 more soluble in benzine or carbon bisulphide than the 

 other. When dissolved in benzine the evaporation 

 of the solution leaves a residue agreeing in all 

 respects with a similar preparation of Para rubber. 

 The artificial rubber unites with sulphur to form 

 vulcanite. It is obvious that if the artificial rubber 

 can be made at a sufficiently low price, there is 

 a great field before it. 



In these days of scientific culture it is difficult for 

 an artist to avoid marring the effect of his work by 

 some error of science ; and Professor Norman 

 Lockyer, Professor Du Bois Reymond, and others 

 have been strongly urging artists to study science — 

 not merely anatomy, but physics. The day appears 

 to be coming when lectures on these sciences will 

 form part of the training of an artist. Ruskin is 

 opposed to science teaching for the artist, although 

 Professor Du Bois Reymond considers this ridiculous. 

 The artist should have a knowledge of science, but 

 he should work in the spirit of art. 



MICROSCOPY. 



The Quekett Microscopical Club. — A con- 

 versazione, attended by about 600 or 700 persons, 

 given by the officers of this club, was held at Free- 

 mason's Hall, Great Queen Street, W.C. Among 

 the many and various objects exhibited we may 

 without invidiousness mention the following. Living 

 and mounted specimens of cattle ticks (larva? and 

 adults) from Natal {Amblyomma hebrczum) and not 

 previously exhibited in this country, Mr. R. T. Lewis ; 

 scale insects (Aspidotus conchiformis) on apples im- 

 ported from Tasmania, Mr. J. E. Mainland ; Volvox 



