HARBWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



47 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



Micro-fungi. — Mr. J. W. Walker is himself 

 hardly "up to date " in saying the last edition of Dr. 

 Cooke's little work on "Rust, Smut, and Mildew," 

 bears the imprint of 1878. The fifth edition, 

 "revised and enlarged," was issued in 18S6. Still 

 there is room for improvement, and another edition, 

 containing the full results of the large body of workers 

 on this subject, would meet a desideratum. sEcidium 

 orohi, restricted by Dr. Cooke to Scotland, I found 

 here in a wood last summer, while yEcidium. primula, 

 marked "not common, " rendered the leaves of the 

 primrose so conspicuous, that I could not withstand 

 the temptation to write a special note about it for the 

 Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society. It abounded 

 in all parts of the valley, particularly in damp woods 

 and sheltered hedgerows. Outside the valley it was 

 not so generally prevalent. — Fred. K. Davey, Pousa- 

 tiooth, Perranwell Station, Cornwall. 



Acicula lineata, var. alba, Jeff. — It may in- 

 terest J. W. D. K. and others, to know that I 

 collected my specimens of this rare mollusk at Fleet- 

 wood on July 26th and September 14th, 1890. On 

 the latter date Mr. Standen of Manchester, who 

 accompanied me, found three specimens. ("Journal 

 of Conchology, vol. vi. No. 5.") It was also dis- 

 covered in considerable numbers by Dr. G. W. 

 Chaster of Southport, in Merionethshire in June last, 

 ("J. of C, vol. vii. No. 3.") The late J. G. Jefferies 

 also recorded it from the rejectamenta of the River 

 Avon, near Bristol. — W. H. Heathcote, 3f.CS., 

 Preston. 



The Llangollen Advertiser states that a corncrake 

 was caught in the neighbourhood of Pentrefelin, 

 Llangollen, the second week in December. As it is 

 a bird of passage, and seen in Great Britain during 

 the summer months only, the capture is a remarkable 

 one. Several local naturalists have seen the bird, 

 and all without exception declare it to be a corncrake. 



It is rather a rare occurrence to find a thrush's 

 nest in December ; yet one with four newly-laid eggs 

 therein was found, on the 8th, in Mr. Oxenham's 

 linhay, in Spring-gardens, Wiveliscombe, Bristol. 



A Wasp's Sting. — A curious case, the result 

 of a wasp's sting came under my notice at St. 

 Bartholomew's Hospital last month (November). A 

 woman was admitted with a swelling just above her 

 ankle about double the size of a walnut . Her story 

 was, that six months ago a wasp stung her, the leg 

 got very swollen and in a fortnight began to ulcerate, 

 the ulceration extending for about an inch round the 

 point stung. Six weeks after this a swelling appeared 

 in the centre of the ulcer, which steadily increased jin 

 size. The tumour was growing very rapidly when 

 she entered the hospital. It was found to be 

 malignant (Sarcoma) and an operation was at once 

 performed for its removal. — J. C. Padwick. 



Superstition regarding the Flowers and 

 Fruit of the Apple-tree. — Possibly some of 

 your readers may be interested to hear of a curious 

 superstition in the West of England, about the 

 simultaneous appearance of flower and fruit on the 

 apple-tree being a bad omen. Many years ago, when 

 visiting an almshouse in a Gloucestershire village, an 

 old woman said to me with reference to a sudden 

 death by a fall from a horse in the family of a 

 neighbouring farmer : " Martha and me, we says, 

 when we saw a big white apple-blossom on the 



bough with ripe fruit in Farmer S 's orchard last 



year, There'll be a death in the family as owns that 

 tree before long." " Martha " was another old 

 almshousewoman. What is the origin of this idea, I 

 have not been able to find out, but have embodied it 

 in a short village tale. Perhaps some of your readers 

 may know more about it than I do. — F. S. H. 



Spiders in Winter. — On the morning of 

 December 28th last, after a very cold night (ther- 

 mometer 19 F.), on going out I was surprised to see 

 every door, wall, and possible place where a spider's 

 web could hang thickly hung with cobwebs, 

 thousands in every direction. On going into the 

 town (Hemel Hempstead), the same again, shops, 

 signboards, and eaves of all sorts similarly decorated ; 

 and walls as though covered with lace, and gas lamps 

 festooned. On examining a large number of webs, 

 no trace of a fly could be detected in any, nor 

 were they torn by the entrance and escape of one. I 

 write to put the question to your scientific readers, 

 What possible object could the spiders have had in 

 spreading their webs at a time when no fly could have 

 been on the wing ? — B. P. 



OROBANCHE ELATIOR. — In the December number 

 of Science-Gossip, I am made to say, that I know 

 no other place in the " country " but Smeeten, 

 Leicestershire, in which Orobanche elatior grows. 

 This should read ' ' in the county. " I find that I 

 forgot to mention, in speaking of the appearance of 

 Nasturtium officinale at Wherstead, that the plant 

 had grown many years before, in a brook which ran 

 into the pond, which was cleaned out, but that the 

 brook had disappeared, and no water-cress had made 

 its appearance, at any rate for a long while in the 

 pond. The apparent inference is, that the seed 

 must have lain dormant during that period. — L. 

 Creaghe-Haward, Dramford, Ipsviich. 



Wasp seen at Christmas. — On December 26th 

 last, I was on the top of Thorpe Cloud in Dovedale, 

 and was much surprised to see a wasp flying about 

 in the sunshine. — John E. Nowas. 



CAN anyone recommend me an inexpensive dic- 

 tionary which includes common scientific words, 

 constantly used in popular science works, but not 

 given in common dictionaries? Is " Annandale's 

 Concise English Dictionary" (Blackie & Sons), such 

 as 1 want ?— F. P. 



[Editorial : Cassell's 3^. 6d. Dictionary is good.] 



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