THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



125 



this name was given to the water star- 

 wort (Calliiriche) in which the rosettes 

 of leaves spread in a stellate manner. 

 Uolostea is from the Greek hol-vAl, 

 osteon-bone, by antiphrasis applied to 

 a plant the texture of which is remark- 

 ably tender and delicate. Speaking 

 sarcastic, as if we should say of a rogue 

 " he is an honest man " ; or it may 

 have been transferred to this plant 

 from its dry, skeleton-like stems. The 

 common name of " all-bone " is simply 

 a translation of the specific name; 

 whilst in certain districts it is known 

 as " break-bones/' from its stems readily 

 snapping off at the joints. In old 

 writings its commonest name of 

 "stitchwort" was spelled "stichwort," 

 and was applied to "Valeriane" as a 

 plant used to cure the sting (German 

 stick) of venomous reptiles ; the later 

 herbalists held it a cure for stitch in 

 the side, but whether the name sug- 

 gested the use of the herb or its virtues 

 procured it the name, is dubious In 

 Durham it is known as " shirt button/' 

 and the children call it "bird's eye/ 3 

 In Northumberland it is said to be 

 known as " dead men's bones." The 

 well-known partiality of poultry and 

 birds for the common " chick weed" 

 accounts for its universally popular 

 name, which it shares with various 

 other plants from their real or fancied 

 resemblance in appearance or proper- 

 ties, such as the mouse -ear chickweed 

 (cerastium), water chickweed (mo?itia), 



&c. In Gaelic it is fliodh, an excres- 

 ence; in Irish lia, wetting; Gaelic, 

 fluich^zt, flock, soft; Welsh, gxclydd, 

 the soft or tender plant. And also 

 garrulous old Culpeper says "It is a 

 fine, soft, pleasing herb under the 

 dominion of the moon." And after 

 enlarging on its cooling virtues as a 

 poultice in inflammation, kc, he re- 

 commends it when the sinews are 

 shrunk with cramp, and sententiously 

 winds up with the exordium, "bind 

 also some of the herb if you will to 

 the place, and with God's blessing it 

 will help it in three times dressing." 



THE NATTERJACK TOAD 



(Bufo catamite). 

 By W. H. Warner. 



One fine day in June, 1S71 (as already 

 recorded in Science Gossip, vol. x., p. 62), 

 when out on an excursion in quest of objects 

 of natural history, I came upon a colony of 

 natterjacks. The scene of the discovery 

 was a small heath in Berkshire known as 

 Frilford Heath. This heath, though of no 

 great extent, is a favourite resort of all those 

 beautiful country objects which make a 

 summer's ramble on wasteland so enjoyable 

 to the true lover of nature. Peewits whirl 

 and swoop in boisterous fear over the head 

 of the wayfarer ; stonechats, whinchats, and 

 linnets, chirp and twitter among the golden 

 furze ; shy, brown rabbits burrow in the 

 yellow sand ; and bright-eyed lizards dart 

 among the heather. 



At one end of this heath is a quarry which 

 contains several small pools, and at certain 

 seasons these pools absolutely swarm with 

 aquatic creatures, particularly reptiles, In 



