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NOTES AND QUERIES.

IS THE POISON OF THE VIPER FATAL ?-Your correspondent who signs "Henry H. Ullyett" asks if there is any known instance of the viper's poison having proved directly fatal, and I will tell him of one which I heard of from an eye-witness a few days since.

Two summers ago a poor woman was found dead on Poundberry, near Dorchester (Poundberry is a wild kind of spot, a sort of waste); the body was swollen and much discoloured, there were evident marks of the bite, and the viper was discovered curled up in her flannel petticoat. Some respectable persons came forward to state that they had met the woman seemingly in perfect health early that morning, on her way to the town. It was late in the evening when the body was found, and the general opinion was that, fatigued by the heat, she had sat down on the heath to rest, that the reptile had made its way up her dress, and on her moving had bitten her on her side just where the small mark was visible, that the poison took effect almost immediately, that she became too weak to continue her journey and died in a few hours. The youth (a young relative of mine), who saw the dead body, and the living viper, will, I am sure, be glad to give Mr. Henry Ullyett any further information in his power. remember when I lived in Carmarthenshire, South Wales, hearing of a woman having died at Pembry, a village distant about five miles from my home, of the bite of a viper: she had gone to CwmCethin, a wood in the neighbourhood, to gather sticks for firewood, and was bitten in the hand. She went to an old herb "doctress" who applied a poultice of charms, and proper restoratives not being administered the poor creature died. But there was a legend about these Cwm-Cethin snakes, as the country folks called them. They were said to be red in colour, and to have the power of flying; one having, the tale stated, escaped from a vessel which had been wrecked on the sands about fifty years ago, consequently they were not true Welch vipers, but a highly poisonous importation, according to "Rural Natural History."-Helen E. Watney.

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ATOMECHANICS.-A novel chemical hypothesis is now being taught by Professor Gustavus Heinrichs, of the Iowa State University, U.S. He assumes that the atoms of the different chemical elements only differ with regard to quantity-the number and relative position of the atoms of some one primary matter; and since everything would thus be composed of this one primary matter, he calls it " togen," and its atoms panatoms." Professor Heinrichs demonstrates that this hypothesis explains the numerical relation of the atomic weights, and that the chemical, physical, and morphological properties of the elements, and their combinations, may be calculated just as the orbit of a planet calculated. In answer to any doubt that may be raised as to the existence of "pantogen," Professor Heinrichs asks, Can you mention one single property which is not in some degree common to all elements? the difference being simply quantitative. The theory has at least the advantages of plausibility, and its development certainly opens a large field for useful research, owing to the enormous benefit which would result from the application of the theory, should it prove to be a sound one.Mining Journal.

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A CHILD BITTEN BY A VIPER.-The distressing narrative which follows has been communicated to "Two little children, aged respectively nine and eleven, were looking for blackberries in Handsworth Wood, yesterday (Thursday), when the younger (a little girl) was suddenly bitten in the leg by a snake (supposed to be a viper). The elder (a boy) screamed for assistance, but, being frightened at the reptile, ran to his home, in a lane adjoining the wood. His mother was at home, and came to the assistance of the girl (her niece). But the poor thing was in her last agony. It looked piteously in her aunt's face, and died without saying a word."-Birmingham Daily Post, Friday, Sept. 13, 1867.

[The above account was sent to us by five or six correspondents, one of whom furnishes the following comment: "In reference to the paragraph from yesterday's Birmingham Daily Post which I sent you, I find by to-day's Post that Mr. Downes contradicts the report, and says that there is no truth whatever in any part of it. No death has occurred; no inquest is to be held; consequently the report is a wicked hoax."]

FANGS OF SPIDERS.-At the risk of seeming very hard of belief, I venture again to refer to the subject of spiders poisoning their prey. In vol. ii., p. 229, Mr. Mills gives an account of the supposed poison gland of a spider. Now I don't quite understand it. The fang ends in a point, but Mr. Mills says the gland is a sac, and that it is attached to the base of the fang by its narrow end. How could the wide end reach up to the point, and how is it attached to the aperture, and how can the poison get out as it is a closed sac"? I have tried, but however I cannot find anything more than the muscular fibre, and, not succeeding, I left this, and tried for the aperture. First, as a transparent object. As the late Mr. Beck said, I could not see it, trying all kinds of ways. Most fangs are lined, and of course, if there were an aperture, there would be a break in the lines; but I cannot make out that it is so. Then I tried as an opaque object, and in one or two fangs I thought I had found a most evident opening; but discovered it was only a bubble of air, though it gives a capital representation of an opening. Next I enclosed a bubble of air in a fang under water. This I could work backward and forward; but never a bit could I force it through the opening, if there be one, not even when pressing the fang hard enough to break it. I have now and then seen what had something of the appearance of an aperture, but it turned out only a deception. It is quite certain that if there be an aperture, pressure should drive either air or water out of it. Then, again, it don't seem to me to agree with the action of a spider. In killing an insect by stabbing it, you must do so in one particular part, and it will die very quickly-nearly as soon as when a spider kills it. I think it will be found that a spider always grips a fly in the same spot. It does not always die at once, for I have seen a fly retain life for a minute or more. Then the spider somehow sucks the contents of the fly, keeping hold of it all the while with its fangs, and turning it round and round till a shapeless mass of skin is left, which he at last throws away. Very different is its action to that of a snake, which bites its prey, injecting the poison into the wound, and leaving it to produce its effect. I think this should be examined rather more before deciding that the spider kills its prey by driving two fangs into the poor fly, and injecting

poison, as it must do, from both, and then holding the fly by the same fangs while it consumes its contents.-E. T. S.

HEDGEHOG ECCENTRICITIES.-Whilst one correspondent writes sceptically on the subject of the communication in our last number, two others send us similar narratives. In the face of four independent assertions of the fact, we think that the assumption is strongly in its favour, and that all who are still disposed to be sceptical must for a while suspend their judgment.

FOSSIL COLEOPTERA.-In a freestone quarry near Fifeness, the workmen recently came upon a stratum of de-bituminized peat thirty yards in length, fourteen inches thick, and about the same in breadth; at the top it had somewhat the appearance of cubic coal, but gradually changing, till at the bottom it resembled a dirty sand. The greater part of it had been carted away as rubbish before it attracted attention; but in what remained there were a few inches in the middle thickly studded with the remains of coleopteran insects in a very perfect state of preservation. There were wing cases, mandibles, and legs of a dark but bright green colour; four species have been detected, but whether or not the same as any at present in existence, I am unable to say. Along with them there was a small piece of unfossilized wood, apparently allied to the bamboo, a fruit with a corrugated shining pericarp, and a hazel nut was also stated to have been found in the same deposit. The rock containing that stratum is a gritty sandstone, about fifty feet in thickness, and has always been considered as belonging to the lower carboniferous series, and does not appear to be unconformable to the rocks on the beach in the immediate neighbourhood, which undoubtedly belong to that system; indeed, what seems to be a part of it is overlaid by them. But the fact of these remains being so different from those which are said to have existed during the deposition of the carboniferous strata, makes it a matter of almost positive certainty that they are the product of a more recent era, although, on the other hand, that is almost incompatible with the lie of the rocks; but on account of the overlying soil, and of the way in which the quarry is wrought, it is very difficult to obtain a complete section. The upper part of the deposit was about ten feet from the surface, and, according to the report of the workmen, above it was solid rock. Another brownish deposit was found, but void of organic remains.-S., Fifeshire.

POISONED BY MUSHROOMS.-A year or two ago, a man in the north of England cooked a large batch of what he called mushrooms for supper, and succeeded in poisoning his wife and family to death, and himself nearly so. Part of the things he cooked were sent to me for identification, and lo! he had gathered everything he could lay his hands upon; large and small, sweet and foul-off horsedung rotten palings, or wherever he could find anything with a stalk, and a top to it after the manner of an umbrella. When he had buried his family, and recovered his own health, he carelessly walked into a well, and either killed or much damaged himself, I forget which. I mention this to show the sort of men they are who poison themselves with mushrooms. They would poison themselves with anything else if they had the opportunity, would get under a cart-wheel, or do any absurd thing.-W. G. Smith's "Mushrooms and Toadstools."

FALSE CHAMPIGNON (Marasmius urens).—I think I was once poisoned by it in Bedfordshire. I well remember on my way home, late one evening, gathering a quantity of champignons for supper; as it was dark, I imagine I gathered both species. I did not cook them myself, neither did I examine them after they were taken from the basket; but I noticed at supper-time they were unusually hot, and I thought the old woman who cooked them had put too much pepper in the stew. I never suspected the fungi. In about half an hour after partaking of them, my head began to ache, my brain to swim, and my throat and stomach to burn as if in contact with fire. After being ill for some hours, a terrible fit of purging and vomiting set in, which appeared soon to set me to rights, for after a day or so I was no worse for it.-Smith's "Mushrooms and Toadstools."

WORMS IN COCKROACHES.-In reply to your correspondent W. Hanwell, the worms (?) found in cockroaches are doubtless Gregarinide. They are inhabitants, for the most part, of the bodies of invertebrates, but are also found in vetebrate animals, and are very common indeed in the intestines of the cockroach and earthworm. They may be said to consist of a sac, enclosed by an almost structureless membrane containing a somewhat fluid substance, in which lies a delicate vesicle within which is a more solid particle. In this group there is no distinction of the body into separate layers, &c. As they live entirely by absorbing the juices of their "host" through their membraneous coat,[they are devoid of mouth and alimentary canal. The most striking signs of life shown by them are certain expansions and contractions of their bodies. Some have a constricted body, some are stalked with horny beads, but generally gelatinous, and not distinguishable.-Archibald Liversedge.

CLEANING AQUARIA.-I have seen various modes

of cleaning aquaria suggested, but know of none so efficient as the following:-Take a small piece of coarse brown paper, and apply it to the side of the aquarium, and rub it freely over the surface. If the aquarium is large, roll up a mass of the paper into a ball, and scrub with this. This method entirely removes all confervoid growth, and has the merit of not scratching the glass.-L.

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OPHIOCYTIUM.-The species figured in the June number of SCIENCE-GOSSIP, p. 127, as O. majus, seems to be rather the O. apiculatum (Näg.) Figures of both forms may be seen on Tab. iv. of Nägeli's "Gattungen Einzelliger Algen," from which it would appear that majus, in addition to being much larger, affects a sigmoid rather than a spiral mode of growth. O. apiculatum I found in March, 1853, amongst other algæ, chiefly Tetraspora gelatinosa, in a small boggy pool on Cannock Chase, Staffordshire.-Robert C. Douglas.

CHARA. I fancy that there is something particularly favourable to the growth of conferva in the sulphuretted hydrogen-like smell which all the characea emit. If water-snails won't keep the aquarium free, I know not what to suggest-the March shell and the Trumpet snail are the best scavengers. The singular crust of carbonate of lime with which the stems of some of the genus are covered, renders them pretty objects in an aquarium. Sir David Brewster made an interesting discovery relative to these minute particles of lime. -Helen E. Watney.

DOUBLE HONEYSUCKLE (Lonicera Periclymenium)-(G. R. R.)-The double-flowered honeysuckle is not of very frequent occurrence, nor is it, so far as we know, in cultivation. In your specimen the blossoms are more than ordinarily numerous, and very closely packed. Each flower is "doubled" by the formation of two or even three additional corollas within the first; the stamens and ovary are wholly wanting, but the calyx is present in the form of five small leafy teeth. It would be very desirable to introduce this variety into gardens, for which purpose cuttings should be at once taken. There is a similar variety occasionally met with in hedges, which is equally curious, but decidedly less generally attractive, inasmuch as its blossoms, though double, are all green and scentless.M. T. M.

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PLANTAIN-(J. G.)-Your specimens belong to the panicled variety of Plantago major, P. major var. paniculata. Our common plantains seem very liable to changes of this kind in their flower-spikes, but what is curious is that to a great extent each species has its own special form of variation; thus in Plantago major we have the inflorescence (as in your specimen) forming a much-branched pyramidal panicle, covered with small bracts, but rarely producing perfect flowers. A corresponding variation, so far as we have observed, does not occur in the other species. In other cases the lower bracts of P. major become large and leaf-like, the flower-spike remaining simple, or sometimes dividing irregularly into two or three divisions. The "Rose plantain, sometimes found in old-fashioned gardens, is a form of P. media in which the bracts form flat leafy tufts at the top of the flower-spike, the flowers themselves being generally deficient, though when they are produced the tuft gradually lengthens out so as to assume more or less of its normal spike-like aspect. This modification does not occur in the other species. P. lanceolata and P. maritima are sometimes found with much-branched or compound spikes, with perfect flowers. P. lanceolata, too, may be sometimes met with a rosette or tuft on the top of the flower-stalk, the rosette being composed of leaves and secondary flower-stalks, so that the whole looks like a miniature plant raised on the top of the flower-stalk. As there are numerous intermediate forms, the above must be taken as a general statement only.-M. T. M.

THE ELK.-Your correspondent F. A. Allen, in SCIENCE-GOSSIP for September, page 199, states that "the bones and antlers of the elk are found in the peat-bogs of Ireland and the Isle of Man, in excellent preservation; but we have no records of their existence in our land, even in the time of the Romans." Allow me to inform him and your readers generally that the bones and antlers of the elk have been found here in Kent's Cavern, in the Brischam Bone Cavern, and I believe they have also been dredged up from Torbay. Those found in Kent's Cavern are supposed to belong to a period greatly anterior to the time of the Romans.— A.J.D., Torquay.

THE ASH.-Lightfoot says that in many parts of the Highlands of Scotland, at the birth of a child, the nurse or midwife puts one end of a great stick of this tree into the fire, and while it is burning receives into a spoon the sap or juice which oozes out at the other end, and administers this as the first spoonful of liquor to the new-born babe.-Sylva Florifera.

NOVEL SITUATION FOR A CHRYSALIS.-A few days since I was scrambling over the rocks at the back of the north fortifications, in search of anemones and other marine treasures, when my thoughts were turned from zoology to geology by seeing a large piece of rock-which had been thrown by the sappers from the works above-lying at my feet, and which contained three or four tolerably perfect specimens of Cerithium portlandicum and an Ostrea. Wishing to obtain at least one of the fossils, and having no tools, I resorted to the primitive method of dashing the stone against a rock, in order to split it into pieces small enough to carry home. After several trials, it broke into three pieces; but as a matter of course the finest Cerithium was shattered by the concussion. As I was mournfully gazing at the fragments, my eye was attracted by something in the last whorl of another shell. I looked closer, and there, snugly laid, was a little chrysalis. What renders this remarkable is the fact that this portion of the shell is quite an inch from the surface, and that the aperture in the centre of the volutions seems far too small for the larva to have crawled through. I cannot, neither can those friends to whom I have shown the stone, detect a crack which might have served for a passage-way. Can any one elucidate the mystery, or must it, like the presence of a toad in an almost similar predicament, remain a questionable point?-questionable only as to how it got there, not to the fact of its being there, for I have it now lying as first found within the whorl; indeed I could not remove it without destroying it. Should it ever cast off its pupa dress, I will send a description of the perfect insect; but I much fear the severe concussions it has received have quite destroyed its dormant life.-M. Pope, Weymouth.

YELLOW VIOLETS.-A few years since, whilst travelling in Norway, I spent a day or two on the Fille Fjeld, and, searching for microscopic objects in a small copse a few hundred yards from the station at Maristuen, I was surprised to discover, amongst other wild flowers, a large number of yellow violets, the sweet odour of violets being as powerful in them as in the English violet. Upon mentioning the fact to several botanical friends, upon my return to England, they expressed some doubts about the flowers being violets at all, hinting that I had probably mistaken the wild pansy for a violet. However, although no botanist in the scientific sense of the term, I am sufficiently well acquainted with the external characters of the commoner plants not to be so easily deceived by a mere general resemblance; and, in addition, the wild heartsease, which is so wonderfully abundant in some parts of Norway, was ready to my hand for comparison. Will some botanical correspondent kindly inform me if yellow violets are known to botanists, or whether those observed by me were an accidental departure from the normal colour of the flower?-Edward H. Robertson.

HINT ABOUT LABELS.-During a recent visit to Neufchatel, I noticed in the Natural History Museum there a plan of labelling specimens which may_be_worth recording. Different parts of the world, Europe, Asia, Africa, America, North and South Australasia, &c., are distinguished by different colours, and the labels surrounded by a border of the colour or colours indicating the district to which the specimen belongs. In the case of insects, the pin is stuck into a small paper disc of the proper colour. The geographical distribution of animals is thus brought very plainly before the eye.-B. W. S.

NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS.

ALL communications relative to advertisements, post-office orders, and orders for the supply of this Journal should be addressed to the PUBLISHER. All contributions, books, and pamphlets for the EDITOR should be sent to 192, Piccadilly, London, W. To avoid disappointment, contributions should not be received later than the 15th of each month. No notice whatever can be taken of communications which do not contain the name and address of the writer, not necessarily for publication, if desired to be withheld. We do not undertake to answer any queries not specially connected with Natural History, in accordance with our acceptance of that term; nor can we answer queries which might be solved by the correspondent by an appeal to any elementary book on the subject.

J. R. W.-No. 6, Bartramia fontana; 7, Myrica gale.R. B.

T. H., Jun.-No. 6, Hypnum striatum; 8, 9, 11, Hypnum cuspidatum.-R. B.

R. B.-Bryum atropurpureum.

F. W.-No. 1, Barbula fallax; 2, Dicranella varia.-R. B. W. E. H.-The scaly (metamorphosed bud) gall on oak is called the "artichoke gall," and is very common.

M. C. T. S.-Archæology is beyond our province.

W. D. N.-British Neuroptera. A list of British species is included in Morris's "Catalogue of British Insects." There is no special work on British Neuroptera. Curtis's British Entomology, republished by Reeve & Co.; the section "Neuroptera" may be had in parts separately. A catalogue of British Neuroptera is published by the trustees of the British Museum.

J. P., Bridgewater.-Consult fig. 167 at p. 181 of our volume for 1866. Is it not the same?

J. D. R.-If you send us in a quill specimens of the parasite, we will inform you.

J. C. D.--The Colias Edusa is common enough on the Sussex coast this autumn.

A. W.-The eleventh number of Newman's British Moths, with each species figured, is advertised to appear in the middle of October.

G. O. may obtain Nitella or Vallisneria (growing plants) of Mr. Kennedy, Covent Garden Market, W.C.

H. C. is a careless reader of SCIENCE-GOSSIP, or he would have noticed what he calls "Fungi on oak leaves" figured and described as "Galls," in vol. ii., 1866, p. 228, fig. 217.

W. T. H.-Place the animal in an ant's nest, and they will anatomize it for you.

A. J.-No. 1, Bryum pseudotriquetrum; 2, Hypnum stellatum; 3, Hypnum exannulatum.-R. B.

E. C.-Bryum capillare.-R. B.

S. H.-Did not enclose name and address, nor stamped envelope for name and address, which was requested, and we have no authority to publish it here.

T. H., Jun.-Not a Veronica at all, but Alchemilla arvensis. H. W. is thanked, but a long extract from Middleton's Geography is scarcely the answer required to the query about the Maelström.

DIPTERA. The only work on British Diptera which we know of, that approaches completeness, is F. Walker's Diptera, 3 vols., 8vo., published by Reeve at 25s. per volume. BLUE PIMPERNEL. Several correspondents send us notices of the occurrence of the Blue Pimpernel, which is by

no means rare.

M. S. B. H.-The fly is Tabanus bovinus, and commonly called the "Horse Fly."-F. W.

S. C.-Cases of caddis worms; nothing novel.

J. S. No insects, only a crushed leaf, in your letter. We suppose it was the common aphis found on beans.

W. W. S.-The species called Chaitophorus aceris, Koch., in Walker's list, is the same as Aphis aceris of SCIENCEGossip, p. 204.-F. W.

R. V. T.-The grass is Gustridium lendigerum, rather an uncommon species.-J. G. B.

J. B.-Your variety of caterpillar of Death's-Head Moth is well figured in pl. 3 of Fuessly's Archives.

J. G.-Hints on the Formation of Local Museums. London. Hardwicke. One Shilling.

C. E. D.-Too much of a list to insert, and queries without conscience to answer for one individual. We may do a little for you.

B. T.-No. 5 is Notania loriculata; 6, Membranipora pilosa. -E. C.

X.-A common complaint. We fear that we cannot help you.

W. J. B.-The prevailing form on the Raby slide appears to be Surirella biseriata.-J. B.

IGNORAMUS is quite worthy of the signature adopted. We neither attempt to name objects from description, nor to answer anonymous querists.

H. M. H.-No 1, Hogweed, Heracleum spondylium. G. A.-Very probably of Mr. Kennedy, Covent Garden. M. A. L.-We are not partial to guesses or guessing. HARVEST MOON, Maelström, and answers to several other queries, are unavoidably postponed for want of space.

EXCHANGES.

VICIA SYLVATICA for Gonepteryx rhamni, or Arge Galathea.-W. D. Robinson, 2, Shandwick-place, Edinburgh. LEPIDOPTERA of South Coast in exchange for others.J. D. R., Conservatory Cottage, Charlton, Dover. GREENSAND FOSSILS (Cambridge) in exchange for Silurian fossils. Rev. J. S. Tute, Markington, Ripley, Yorks. PLUMATELLA REPENS in exchange for any other freshwater Polyzoa (except Cristatella mucedo) in a living state.— C. J. Richardson, Old Change, E.C.

ALPINE PLANTS in exchange for rare British or others.— T. Howse, Jun., Garrybank, West Hill, Upper Sydenham. COLEOPTERA and LEPIDOPTERA, well set, and in good condition, for other Coleoptera.-J. Barlow, 1, Thompson-street, Stantonbury, Wolverton, Bucks.

RECENT SHELLS.-Vertigo edentula for other British Shells. -J. Beaulah, Bracken Hill, Brigg.

FOSSIL FISH TEETH and BONES (mounted) for slides of Photographs.-John Sim, West Cramlington.

RICHMOND EARTH, for good mounted objects.-W. Freeman, 2, Ravensbourne Hill, Lewisham-road, Greenwich, S.E. FOSSILS FROM CHALK, London Clay, and Woolwich Beds, for fossils from other formations. F. Stanley, 3, Daneterrace, The Dane, Margate.

PLANORBIS ALBUS and P. LINEATUS.-I have a few to distribute, on receipt of stamp and small box.-W. H. G., Vernon Cottage, Thornhill-road, N.

BRITISH BIRD's EGGs in exchange for British Lepidoptera (Nocturnæ).-Send lists to F. Jonas, 13, Canterbury-villas, Maida Vale, London.

AMPHORA MINUTISSIMA parasitic upon Nitzschia sigmoidea for other rare Diatoms.-E. W., 21, West-street, Banbury. GORSE WEB-SPINNING MITE (see SCIENCE-GOSSIP for June), in exchange for mounted objects.-J. C. White, Montpellier House, Budleigh Salterton, Devon.

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BRITISH FERNS.-Rare plants for other varieties. sand and Kawri Gum from New Zealand, for other objects of interest.-J. E. M., Woodfield, Moseley, Birmingham.

EUPERIA FULVAGO, Dianthæcia capsincola and Larentia casiata, for other Macro-lepidoptera.-A. Ford, 38, Mowbray.. street, Sheffield.

BRITISH MOLLUSCS.-Prepared tongues of Cyclostoma and other species, for the Animals of Valvata, Assiminia, Testacella, Clausilia or Ancylus.-W. R. May, 20, Trinidadplace, Islington.

BOOKS RECEIVED.

"Mushrooms and Toadstools: How to distinguish easily the differences between Edible and Poisonous Fungi," with two large sheets containing figures of 29 Edible, and 31 Poisonous Species (coloured). By Worthington G. Smith. London: Hardwicke.

"Letter to His Grace the Duke of Buccleuch on the Quadrature and Rectification of the Circle." By James Smith. Liverpool: E. Howell.

"The American Naturalist." No. 6, August, 1967. Salem, U.S., Essex Institute.

"The Naturalist's Circular, August and September, 1867. London: H. Hall.

"Country Life." Nos. 1 to 6. London. Aug. and Sept.

COMMUNICATIONS RECEIVED.-J. B. W.-A. C. (is right). -S. D. L. A.-B.-J. K.-C. W.-F. G B.-M. P.-W. M. C. -W. G. S.-W. F. H.-F. A. A.-M. C. T. S.-W. D. R.— C. S. S.-W. H.-A. C. P.-C. H. G.-F. B. W.-C. L. J.W. E. H.-R. H. M.-R. B. S.-A. J.-R. H. M.-R. T. L.W. W.-W. B.-C. R. B.-F. R. A. S.-J. D. R.-R. V. T.H. W.-J. P.-W. F. F.-L.-E. T. S.-R. C. D.-H. E. W.J. S. T.-E. S.-J. C. D.-H. H. O'F.-W. R. T.-W. T. H.J. A., Jun.-H. C.-T. B. H.-B. W. S.-C. J. R.-T. H., Jun. -H. W.-E. H. R.-H. A.-A. D. M.-S. H.-A. W.-M. B. -J. B.-A. J. D.-G. G.-J. B. B.-S. C.-R. G.-F. C.C. T.-A. R. M.-H. A. A.-J. S.-W. F.-F. S.-A. B.-J. G. -C. E. D.-R. V. T.-F. J.-W. F. H.-H. C. L.-H. U.— W. H. G.-J. G. B.-E. W.-G. D.-.J. G.-G. B.-C. G.A. M.-T. A. H.-H. B.-H. J. H.-J B. W.-J. L. M.-A. F. J. C. W.-X.-J. H. M. -J. E. M.-C. J. T.-J. W. S.-G. G. -T. J. S.-J. B. B.-G. A.-W. R. M.-M. A. L.-J. Y. H.

IS LICHEN-GROWTH DETRIMENTAL TO TREES?

BY DR. LAUDER LINDSAY, F.L.S.*.

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HERE is, it would appear, a radical difference of opinion between lichenologists on the one hand, and arboriculturists on the other, as to the effect on the value of the tim

ber and bark of the trees on which it occurs, of Lichen-growth. Lichenologists. have been in the habit of describing Lichens as deriving their nourishment wholly from the air-as non-parasitic-and as making use of trees simply as bases of support. Some, especially of the earlier writers, not only deny any possible harm, but demonstrate a considerable amount of actual good, in so far as Lichens attract moisture to the trees on which they occur, and thus assist in their nourishment and growth. All" practical men," on the other hand, all those who are concerned with the cultivation of timber, bark, or fruit trees, without theorising on the subject, are unanimous in describing Lichens as detrimental to growth, and as depreciative of value. My friend Mr. Anderson, of the Kinnoull Nurseries, Perth, tells me that trees or shrubs coated with

* The substance of a paper read before Section D of the British Association at Dundee.

† Nylander, in his "Synopsis" (Introduction, p. 1), says that the majority are exclusively nourished by the atmosphere. Berkeley in the "Treasury of Botany " (p. 679), says Lichens are "distinguished from Fungi by their not deriving nourishment in general from the substances on which they grow, but from the surrounding medium."

Vide "Tentamen Historiæ Lichenum." By J. A. Luyken, M.D. Göttingen, 1809, p. 32 and seq.

No. 35.

Lichens, are "immediately discarded as unsaleable;" while Mr. Bell, factor on the Kinfauns estates, gives me a similar assurance as to the diminished value of oak-bark when infested by Lichens.* Mr. Gorrie, Horticultural Editor of the Farmer, and one of the most experienced and discriminating arboriculturists in Scotland, Mr. Moore, of the Sydney Botanic Garden, New South Wales, and other practical authorities, whose opinions carry great weight in such a question, have borne similar testimony. My inference from their testimony is that they regard Lichens as true parasites, living, in great measure at least, at the expense of the bark on which they occur; interfering with its healthy action and growth. While regarding Lichen-growth, however, as in a certain sense, or in some measure, a cause of unhealthiness or disease in the trees which it affects, they also admit that, in a certain other sense, it is a result of unhealthiness or disease. The evidence appears uniform that Lichen-growth should never occur in forests or nurseries, which are the subject of proper care, where the trees or shrubs are properly thinned,† where the conditions of healthy growth are sedulously provided. Not only so, but I am assured that the disease of Lichen-growth, when it occurs, can be removed or dissipated by removal of

* He writes to me (March, 1867), "It is much against the growth of the trees as well as the bark. You will scarcely find it in a good thriving plantation."

† My own observations are here somewhat at variance with the statements of Arboriculturists. In the Kinfauns Plantations I find some trees bare: others copiously covered: but the latter are as frequently in vigorous life, with a plentiful foliage, as dead. It is impossible in such instances to infer that Lichens are necessarily either a cause or result of disease. Moreover, all my experience in different parts of the world goes to prove that Lichen-growth is most abundant and vigorous in those situations, which are most freely exposed to light and air: of which familiar illustrations are to be found in maritime rocks and Druidical stones, that are frequently "shaggy" with a plentiful mantle of Ramalina scopulorum and other Lichens.

M

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