20 



HARDWICKE' S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



tography recorded it as far back as the i8th October 

 last. The nucleus,'or most solid portion of this comet, 

 seems to have shifted from the centre towards the 

 front end. Thanks to photography and spectrum 

 analysis, the comet Holmes will very likely afford 

 the world a better knowledge of comets in general 

 than any of its predecessors. 



MICROSCOPY. 



" Champignons de France."— Under this title, 

 Messrs. J. Tempere & E. Dutertre, of Paris, are 

 issuing a series of admirably mounted slides, of 

 sections, as well as entire specimens of the minuter 

 fungi. We have just received the first dozen, and 

 can therefore testify to their neatness and usefulness. 

 A student of microscopic fungi can now travel on a 

 royal road to knowledge. The sections of most 

 plants, with their parasitic fungi, are marvels of 

 modern mounting. These slides are accompanied by 

 four fascicules, or parts of explanatory text. They 

 are! well and clearly printed, and each species is 

 carefully synonymised, its habits and habitats de- 

 scribed, as well as a carefully and plainly detailed 

 diagnosis of its structure,' appearance, etc.: these 

 fascicules are published in French. 



New Slides. — We have received from Mr. 

 Ernest Hinton, 12, Vorley Road, Upper Holloway, 

 two beautifully mounted and highly instructive 

 objects. One is the well-known hydroid Eudendrium 

 ramaswn, with the tentacles fully expanded, an 

 exquisite thing with the paraboloid. The other is the 

 stigma of the narrow-leaved perennial oat-grass 

 (Avena pratensis). The stigma has the filaments and 

 stamens attached to it. The stamens are shown 

 filled with pollen. 



ZOOLOGY. 



Black-veined White Butterfly. — A corre- 

 spondent asked in Science-Gossip, for December 

 1891, for records of instances where this insect has 

 been taken in this country during the past twenty 

 years. During May of last year a friend of mine 

 who possesses a keen eye for all kinds of strange 

 things, sent me a butterfly, in a somewhat -battered 

 condition, which he took on the outskirts of this 

 valley, and which I had no difficulty in identifying 

 as the black-veined white. It was one of about a 

 score which the observer saw hovering along a 

 narrow lane. Being struck by the marked difference 

 they bore to the common whites, he gave chase, but 

 having nothing better than his hat to take them in, 

 and being somewhat stiffened by the wear of sixty-five 

 summers, the specimen which he secured was in a very 



dilapidated condition, and altogether unworthy of a 

 place in the cabinet. A few weeks back I was talking 

 with an enthusiastic young entomologist on the subject, 

 and was agreeably surprised to find she had secured 

 a fairly good specimen of the same insect of this 

 neighbourhood in 1S91.— H. Davey, Pousanootk, 

 Perranwell Station, Cornwall. 



The Late W. Mattieu Williams. — It is with 

 the utmost regret we have to record the sudden death 

 of our old friend and delightful correspondent at Neas- 

 den on Monday, November 28th. All our old readers 

 will remember his monthly papers on contemporary 

 science. Mr. Williams wrote several important 

 scientific books, such as "The Fuel of the Sun,' 

 " Chemistry of Cooking," etc. One of his earliest and 

 most delightful books in reality opened the country 

 described, "Through Norway with a Knapsack." 

 Mr. Williams was a man of an enormous range of 

 reading, a good chemist, geologist, and naturalist, and 

 a good hater of scientific priggism. 



The Ruddy Sheldrake. — The Ruddy Sheldrake 

 ( Tadoma casarca) has occurred in some number on 

 several of our coasts this year, and many ornitho- 

 logists are interested in this bird. Its first appear- 

 ance in Norfolk was recorded in Science-Gossip 

 for 1869, by Thomas Southwell, Esq. F.Z.S., who 

 says it occurred on the 26th of March, when a male 

 was "killed" on the beach at Snettisham by Mr. 

 Wright, but further on in the volume Dr. L. 

 positively informs us "the bird alluded to in our 

 last was a veritable ' escape.' " Be this as it may, 

 Mr. G. Smith of Yarmouth writes me that a young 

 " Ruddy " was washed ashore at Snettisham on the 

 13th of last September, and evidently looks upon 

 this as the first certain record of the bird having been 

 taken in Norfolk. I will not quote from F. Menteith. 

 Ogilvie, Esq., M.A., F.Z.S., who writes a very in- 

 teresting paper on the subject in the "Zoologist" 

 for November of this year. I have tried to get 

 information from gentlemen residing in various parts 

 of the country, but with poor result. Mr. H. W. 

 Marsden states that one was taken or seen in Hereford, 

 which was probably an " escape," and adds that a 

 specimen from near Gloucester once came into his 

 possession. The London Naturalists seem to have 

 nothing to say on the subject. Another specimen of the 

 Ruddy Sheldrake was undoubtedly shot near Ipswich 

 the end of last March, probably on the river Orwell, 

 as it was seen in the flesh by Dr. Taylor, who states 

 it was offered for sale to him, and at the time was 

 dripping from the beak ; it has since been lost sight 

 of, and all attempts to discover its present where- 

 abouts have failed. Mr. Kerry of Harwich says he 

 neither saw nor heard of such a bird being taken in 

 the district. I would be much obliged if readers of 

 Science-Gossip, throughout the country would kindly 

 communicate with me via Dr. Taylor's admirable 



