HARD WICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



163 



BOTANY. 



Hex-and-Chickens Daisy. — I have to record 

 another curiosity in the shape of a "hen and 

 chickens " daisy, which I found growing on the lawn 

 in our garden here on the 23rd of May. The plant 

 had then ten heads of flower on it, all of which, 

 except three, showed a "chicken'' growth. Round 

 the edge of the largest head, just above the involucre, 

 grew thirteen small heads, five of which had distinct 

 stalks, while the rest were sessile, or nearly so. The 

 florets of the central head of this flower were greenish- 

 brown and imperfect ; some of the bracts had de- 

 veloped into small leaves, and its stem was thickened 

 but not fascicled. One of the other flowers had 



Fig. 106. — Hen-and-Chickens Daisy. » 



twelve small heads growing round it, four of which 

 had distinct stalks, and another head bore six small 

 heads, all nearly or quite sessile. The central florets 

 of the heads, both primary and secondary, were, for 

 the most part, smaller, greener, and more slender 

 than in ordinary daisy flowers, the stamens imperfect, 

 and the lobes of the corollas deformed and concave 

 at the tips. I could not find any normal "central" 

 florets ; and of the " ray " flowers one had three, 

 another two rays, and the corolla of a "central" 

 floret had six lobes and two opposite scales growing 

 from its base, looking like pappus. In the more 

 normal heads there were four or five rows of ray 

 florets, and these rays on nearly all the flowers were 

 pure white. — Frank Sich,jun. 



Liverpool Naturalists' Club. — The second 

 field meeting of this club was held at Brynypys and 

 Erbistock on May 22nd. The morning was fine, and 

 fifty-eight members and friends left for "Wrexham, 

 where on arrival wagonettes were in waiting to con- 



vey the party by Bangor, Isycoed and Brynypys to 

 Overton. Here all walked two miles by the banks 

 of the Dee, which brought the company to Erbistock 

 Ferry, on crossing which the wagonettes were again 

 in requisition, the return journey being by way of 

 Marchwiel to the Wynnstay Arms Hotel, Wrexham. 

 Many interesting and uncommon plants were noticed 

 on the route, amongst which may be mentioned 

 Chrysospleniimi alternifolium, Paris qtiadrifolia, Carex 

 pendala, and Saxifraga granulata. The prize for the 

 best basket of wild flowers was awarded to Miss 

 E. M. Davies. 



GEOLOGY. 



The Underground Circulation of Water. 

 — In an address to the Meteorological Society, Mr. 

 Baldwin Latham (perhaps the best authority on the 

 subject — he and Mr. De Ranee) observed that at 

 certain particular seasons of the year it was possible 

 to indicate the direction and volume of the flow of 

 underground streams, even when they were at a con- 

 siderable depth, owing to the formation of peculiar 

 lines of fog. Upon comparison with underground 

 temperatures, which were taken at the same period, 

 it was found that in the temperature of the ground 

 there was for most months in the year an effectual 

 check against the escape of the vapour arising 

 from water in the ground ; the temperature of the 

 ground acted as a condenser, for, as a rule, except 

 between September and November, there is always 

 some strata of the ground within 25 ft. of the surface, 

 which is colder than is due to the tension of the 

 vapour given off by the ground-water ; but about the 

 month of September or October there are limited 

 periods when no part of the ground between the 

 ground water-line and the surface is colder than 

 the ground-water. Consequently, in these short 

 periods vapours readily escape from the ground, and 

 when accompanied by cold air and a clear sky, as 

 often happens in September and October, then it is 

 that those particular fog-lines appear which indicate 

 the presence of ground-water. It appears that in 

 nature there are constant checks supplied against 

 the inordinate loss of water from the surfaces which 

 receive it, and very dry surfaces are often com- 

 pensated to a considerable degree by the moisture 

 which is condensed in them owing to the difference 

 of temperature between their surface and that of the 

 atmosphere ; whilst with deeper waters, as long as 

 the vapours can serve the uses of vegetation, an 

 effectual check by the temperature of the ground 

 is provided, so that these vapours are condensed 

 within a limit from the surface sufficiently near to 

 be brought up by capillarity to serve the require- 

 ments of the growing plan ; and possibly it is by 

 reason of this provision in nature that our great 



