HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



277 



able of the two, the case is worse than was formerly 

 supposed. 



Mr. Saville-Kent's forthcoming work on " The 

 Australian Barrier Reef," to be published by Messrs. 

 W. H. Allen &; Co., judging from the magnifi- 

 cent photographs made by the author, ought to be a 

 splendid success. 



We are pleased to call attention to the advertise- 

 ment of Miss Hele, of Cotham, Bristol, concerning 

 her collection of fossils and minerals, offered for sale. 

 Miss Hele and her sisters are enthusiastic and 

 intelligent collectors, and their collections are full of 

 good things. The fossil carboniferous corals, from 

 the neighbourhood of Bristol (polished) are almost 

 unique for their beauty. 



It is with the deepest regret we have to record the 

 death, at a comparatively early age of life, of Mr. 

 Henry Hailes, the esteemed editor of the "Journal 

 of the Quekett Club," and the foreign secretary of 

 the society. He was an old contributor to Science- 

 Gossip, and an ardent microscopist, especially in 

 anything appertaining to the foraminifera. His 

 genial and kindly manner won him troops of friends. 



Treated chemically, a pound of coal will yield 

 enough magenta to colour 500 yards of flannel, 

 vermilion for 2560 yards, aurine for 120 yards, 

 and alizarine sufficient for 155 yards of red cloth. 



The November number of "The Naturalist" is 

 very rich in notes on entomology and ornithology, 

 embracing hymenoptera and lepidoptera, in the 

 former, and the great snipe, buzzard, Pomerine 

 skua, woodcock, etc., etc., in the latter. There are 

 also long articles on "The supposed inter- breeding 

 of the merlin and kestrel in Northumberland in 1886," 

 by F. B. Whittock; "The Land and Freshwater 

 Mollusca, 1S88 and 1889"' by Mr. Denison Roebuck, 

 F.L.S. ; together with the conclusion of J. E. 

 Tinkler's " Notes on the Avi-fauna of Arkengarth- 

 dale, Swaledale, and the New Forest." 



The Journal of the Royal Microscopical 

 Society for October, contains a very long list of 

 researches relating to zoology, botany, and micro- 

 scopy. Among the chief zoological discoveries and 

 experiments may be enumerated the " Embryos 

 of Apes," by J. Kollmann, and the "Development 

 of Blood-corpuscles," by O. Van der Stricht. In the 

 botanical notes is a very interesting one on " Iron 

 in Plants," by H. Molisch. Among the Crypto- 

 gamia, A. Richter's paragraph on the Adaptation of 

 Fresh-water Algae to Salt water." is' most curious. 

 The plate and woodcuts are well got up, and artistic. 



THIS month's " Feuille des Jeunes Naturalistes," 

 comprises Adrien Dollfus's "Notre Bibliotheque ; " 

 " The Natural History Objects at Montpellierin 1S92 

 (Botanical)," by Dr. L. Planchon ; "Geological 



Excursions in Alsace and neighbouring Country," by 

 Mathieu Mieg. Then follow communications re- 

 ceived, articles on l'Aberration de Deilephia Hippo- 

 phae's, Fermeture des flacons, Conebus bifasciatus, 

 questions, and finally a supplementary catalogue of 

 the current works and memoirs in the library. 



Trinidad Field Naturalists' Club. — The Oc- 

 tober number of this periodical contains much in- 

 structive matter, i.e., "Report of the Club Meet- 

 ings," First Annual meeting, 8th August ; " Club 

 Papers;" " Babiche-shooting in the Caroni." It 

 is a well-appointed little paper, and interesting, as 

 coming from one of our many flourishing colonies. 



The Entomologist's Record and Journal of 

 Variation. — Dr. T. A. Chapman continues his 

 article on "The genus Acronycta and its Allies" 

 from page 195. Most of the readers' experiences of 

 the past season tend to one point and seem to be 

 guided by one idea, which no entomologist has had 

 out of his head since last July, and that one point 

 centres around the two Colias. Other contents are : 

 Variation, Scientific Notes, Current Notes, Reports 

 of Societies, etc., etc. 



Recently the natural history of that dread dis- 

 ease, cancer, has received much attention from 

 physiologists of various countries, who have studied 

 its growth and development by means of the micro- 

 scope. The results are not sufficiently advanced for 

 any trustworthy conclusions or generalisations to be 

 drawn, but there seems no doubt that cancer is an 

 organic growth. Further, it is all but certain that 

 cancer itself is liable to the attacks of another para- 

 site. Between the cells of the cancer these sporozoa 

 live. They have been found most abundantly in 

 soft ' medullary cancer. Perhaps, before long a 

 further knowledge of the ways and doings of these 

 parasites may enable us to deal more effectually with 

 the growth of cancer. 



There are few plants which have attracted the 

 attention of botanists more than r those termed 

 "carnivorous," about which the great Darwin wrote 

 one of his most notable books. The idea of plants 

 feeding on animals such as flies, and even birds, was 

 ludicrous, perhaps, because we were not familiar with 

 anything else than animals feeding on plants. The 

 fact, however, is not fully substantiated. We have 

 at least half-a-dozen not uncommon English plants 

 which are carnivorous. One aquatic species even 

 captures, devours, and digests young fish as soon as 

 they escape from the egg. It was even found that 

 these peculiar plants possessed a peptonising power 

 for digestive purposes. Up to the present time the 

 plant has taken the credit for this physiological act ; 

 but it has recently been discovered that it is due to 

 the activity of certain micro-organisms which are 

 always present in the sap of the mature plant. For 



