44 



HARD WICKE' S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



men are very depressing. But the "Bulletin " shows 

 that this physical condition of things has very pro- 

 bably been brought about by human agency. This is 

 largely proved by the names of localities. Thus, 

 the Arabic names of the valleys are those denoting 

 the names of trees, although now not a single tree is 

 to be met with. But there is no doubt that these 

 valleys abounded with arboreal vegetation twelve 

 hundred years ago, about the period when the Arabs 

 began to extend over these regions. The Arab and 

 his camel have been the means of converting a 

 wooded country into a waste, howling wilderness 

 and desert, and also of bringing about the climatic 

 changes following upon such a physical revolution. 

 The camels ate the leaves and shoots of the trees, 

 and the Arabs converted the trunks, branches, and 

 roots into charcoal. Similar vegetable destruction, 

 it is believed, has brought about the semi-desert-like 

 physical appearance of Palestine, which is so strongly 

 contrasted with the description of the country in the 

 Old Testament as a land flowing with "milk and 

 honey," and whose tribal wars show that it was 

 capable of supporting thousands of horses, chariots, 

 and horsemen. 



On Friday, January 6th, the Rev. H. N. 

 Hutchinson delivered a lecture before the members of 

 the Geologist's Association (illustrated), on "An 

 attempt to restore Extinct Monsters." 



ANOTHER Christmas Day has gone, and the 

 season once more brought up the subject of the 

 "Star of Bethlehem." A good many astronomical 

 speculations and suggestions have been made con- 

 cerning this phenomenon, and only a month before 

 Christmas Day, the second of two articles on the 

 subject, by Mr. J. H. Stockwell, appeared in the 

 " Astronomical Journal." His calculations are based 

 chiefly upon the conjunctions of the planets. He 

 thinks the appearance of the "Star of Bethlehem" 

 may have been due to the conjunction of Jupiter and 

 Venus. Three centuries a^o the distinguished 

 astronomer Kepler suggested that the bright star 

 beheld by the Wise Men, was probably due to the 

 conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. Mr. Stockwell 

 calculates that Jupiter and» Venus on May 8, six 

 years B.C., were very close together, and must have 

 presented a striking and beautiful appearance. This 

 was fifty days short of two years before the death of 

 King Herod. He thinks, therefore, that Christ was 

 born as early as May, in the year B.C. 6. 



It is with much regret we have to announce the 

 death of an old friend, and frequent contributor to 

 Science-Gossip, in Mr. Thomas Davies, senior 

 assistant in the Mineralogical Department of the 

 British Museum. Many of our microscopical readers 

 will remember gratefully the helpful aid of his early 

 book on "Mounting," published a quarter of a 

 century ago. 



MICROSCOPY. 



Pitted Ducts. — I had been seeking some suitable 

 wood for that fascinating employment, "chip- 

 carving," and had been recommended to get lime, or 

 Kawri pine, or American bass-wood. I sent to a 

 timber-merchant for specimens of all three. I knew 

 that the Coniferse were distinguished by "pitted 

 ducts," and that Kawri pine was remarkable by 

 having a double row of pits in its ducts. I made 

 some sections and mounted them, and found that the 

 lime had pitted ducts as well, only six or seven pits 

 often in a row, and not merely single ones. Dr. 

 Carpenter, in his book on the Microscope, sixth 

 edition, p. 439, figures the pitted ducts of the " Italian 

 reed ; " thus other plants besides the Coniferae pos- 

 sess these pitted ducts. If some of your able corre- 

 spondents would favour us with a paper on "pitted 

 ducts," it would be most interesting. I suppose that 

 many woods may be distinguished, one from another, 

 by these or similar ducts ; the microscope has become 

 a useful adjunct to trade. Even a list of woods, with 

 pitted ducts, would be serviceable, and would make 

 our cabinets more interesting. — A. C. Smith. 



Washing-Bottle for Micro. Sections. — The 

 accompanying sketch shows an arrangement for 

 washing sections, which I have found to be an 

 improvement upon Mr. Marsh's apparatus for the 

 same purpose. Instead of drilling a hole in the side 

 of the bottle for the overflow, I use a siphon through 



Fig. 37. — Washing-Bottle for Micro. Sections : a, bottle ; 

 lit tunnel ; c, siphon ; D, india-rubber tubing connection 

 from funnel to side of bottle at bottom. 



the cork, which draws the water off at or near the 

 centre, and does away almost, if not entirely, with 

 the nuisance of a thin section being caught against 

 the hole in the side, as often happened when using 

 the apparatus as described in Mr. Marsh's " Section 

 Cutting."— C. W. Maw. 



New Slides. — We have received from Mr. C. W. 

 Maw, Bradford, two excellently mounted slides of 

 the Rhizome of Iris (v. sect.), showing raphides in 

 situ ; and one of the cuticle of the common onion, 

 showing same objects. 



