112 



The Katuralist, 



development the sexual generation becomes more and more rudi- 

 mentary. Notwitlistanding the increasing specialisation of vegetative 

 parts, all cryptogams agree in being dependent on water for effecting 

 the important function of fertilization, consequently the organs 

 connected with this act retain throughout their primitive simplicity ; 

 whereas in flowering plants the departure from this mode of fertiliza- 

 tion has rendered necessary some of the most marked modifications of 

 structure with which we are acquainted. 



To the foregoing statements there are apparent exceptions, yet the 

 sequence of development goes to prove that the leading morphological 

 changes met with in the vegetable kingdom may, without fear of 

 contradiction, be attributed primarily to a departure from the aquatic 

 habitat of the earliest and simplest forms of plant life. 



Oak Road, Scarborough. 



NATURA.L HISTORY NOTES FROM SOUTH AFRICA. 



( Contmned.J 

 By S. D. Bairstow, F.L.S. 



And now for a rough glance at my early sweethearts, the butterflies 

 and moths. They form the solace-link binding my heart from present 

 to past— from immeasurable nigger-land to pat little Britain. It was 

 the first bred Populi, Vinula, Caja^ or Carpini gladdened your heart 

 when, after weeks of patient waiting and watching, a damp-winged 

 imago was seen crawling up the chrysalis cage. You — Fellow of a 

 dozen learned societies — don't be ashamed of the reminder of a bygone 

 characteristic. Here's my hand, old chap ! It was the first fluttering, 

 sailing Card id which gladdened my heart, when by the very warmth 

 of its welcome I w^as assured stomachic tumults were over, and that 

 one friend at least was ashore, and had made an effort to salute me. 

 I waived the flag of truce, and promised that no net of mine should 

 ever again damage a painted lady's scaly polonaise. 



Contrasting the home Cardui with ours, although of course they 

 are structurally identical, they differ somewhat in their habits. If I 

 remember correctly, Cardui was an irregular, fitful visitant, local where 

 occurring, nervously disposed, frequenting flowers specially selected, 

 and partial to individuals, rarely settling upon tree-trunks (unlike the 

 Llanrwst Atalanta), walls, or palings. Here it is a true Amicus himani 

 generis^ fearless yet prudent, settling on anything — partial to nothing, 

 excepting, perhaps, snug corners of verandahs, and age and natural 

 decay seem not to weaken its flight. The larvae I have hitherto found 



