366 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



British Lepidoptera, and several cases of 

 life histories, lent by Mr. S. L. Mosley, and 

 also a series of paintings of Exotic and British 

 Butterflies. We send an educational collec- 

 tion of insects, arranged so as to show the 

 characteristics of the various orders. The 

 collection is interspersed with cuttings from 

 The Young Naturalist, and we are told that the 

 collection is one of the most attractive ex- 

 hibits. We particularly recommend school 

 teachers to give attention to this, as well as 

 to all the other specimens in the room. 

 Among the "neglected orders" Mr. Alfred 

 Beaumont exhibits a collection of British 

 Phryganidcg., and Mr. W. H. Charlesworth one 

 of British Coleopteva, beginners in these 

 orders will do well to take this opportunity 

 of naming their specimens. There is a col- 

 lection of 34 cases of Land, Fresh-water, and 

 Marine Shells exhibited by Mrs. John Varley, 

 and some very beautiful exotic species by 

 Mr. James Varley. In Geology there are 

 two very fine collections exhibited by Messrs. 

 Joseph Tindall and J. McKenzie, in the 

 latter are some extraordinary slabs of fossils 

 from the Wenlock shale, and in the former 

 are some good sponges, &c, from the chalk. 

 Altogether the exhibition is well got up, 

 although we question the propriety of placing 

 in a collection of "Objects of Natural 

 History" such things as a "Hindoo Idol 

 taken (stolen) by Surgeon-Major Morrogh, 

 M.D., from a Hindoo Temple during the 

 Indian Mutiny. " The exhibition will remain 

 open until September 21st, and people who 

 have the opportunity will do well to pay it a 

 visit. 



WOOD SORREL. 



I Oxalis A cetosc 7 la 1 . 

 By J. P. Soutter, Bishop Auckland. 



This beautiful little plant is so well-known 

 as scarcely to require any description. It is 

 abundant under hedges, and on open shady 

 woods, or thickets where the grass and under- 



growth is not too luxuriant. It loves to grow 

 on dry loamy banks, and revels in the humus 

 or rich vegetable mould formed by the fallen 

 and decayed leaves of the forest. It is 

 essentially a gregarious plant, and often forms 

 large carpet-like patches with its beautiful 

 dark green leaves. Under suitable conditions 

 such as a partial clearing of the thick under- 

 growth of a wood, it extends its area rapidly 

 by means of its creeping r h t zomes, which are of 

 the same nature as the familiar runners of the 

 strawberry. When the plant is growing 

 quickly, these are slender and thread-like, 

 of a rich brown hue, with occasional fleshy 

 scales, from the axils of which spring the leaves, 

 and from the underside fine fibrous roots are 

 produced. In dry hard ground or in exposed 

 situations the rhizomes are much abbreviated 

 and thickened, the surface is rough and 

 rugged from the numerous scales, and the 

 leaves seem to spring in a cluster, or rosette, 

 from the end of the stem. The leaves are 

 borne on long stalks, and are an excellent 

 example of a trefoil, or trifoliate leaf, i.e., 

 three separate leaflets having a common stalk. 

 This plant is held by many to be the true 

 Shamrock of Ireland, and is supposed to have 

 been used by St. Patrick in his Christianising 

 crusade when endeavouring to expound to 

 the unlettered Hibernians what has puzzled 

 many learned heads since : the doctrine of 

 the Trinity. He plucked a leaf of the lowly 

 wood-sorrel, which proved an effective illus- 

 tration of three-in-one ; whence the plant is 

 reverenced by all true Irishmen, and sought 

 after to be worn on St. Patrick's Day as the 

 emblem and badge of Green Erin, the Gem 

 of the sea. The leaflets are obcordate, being 

 shaped like the heart on cards, with the 

 broad divided end furthest from the stem. 

 They collapse, or hang down at night, being 

 highly sensitive to light. They possess an 

 agreeable acid flavour ; whence the common 

 name of sorrel. The botanic names, both 

 generic and specific, have the same meaning, 

 — Oxalis, from the Greek Oxys, acid, (although 

 the Oxalis of Pliny was the common sorrel, 



