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When the conjugation is complete, the combined contents of the two cells become an oval spore (figs. 8, 12), from which a new plant eventually springs.

Fig. 7 represents a curious instance of a filament, which has conjugated with two others.

In ordinary cases the conjugation takes place as has been just described, but in some cases it takes place in two contiguous cells of the same filament (fig. 9), and the contents of one cell pass over into the next and form a spore.

When the plants have been kept a considerable time in the same vessel, the contents of the cells are sometimes changed into brown moving bodies (fig. 11), but whether these are zoospores or not, seems a little uncertain. The contents of the cells are also changed into green zoospores, which escape from the ruptured cell. J. S. TUTE.

THE BLOOD-BEETLE.-That the scarlet fluid said by Westwood to be emitted from the joints of the limbs of this beetle is a fact, I can assure Mr. Ullyett from personal observation. The beetle is rather common on our " down," and often, on taking it between my fingers, it has emitted this scarlet fluid from the leg-joints next the body, as well as from the mouth.-Eliza C. Jellie, Redland, Bristol.

Fig. 52. Triple Jargonelle Pear (greatly reduced).

TRIPLE PEAR.-In September, 1856, I picked in my garden, from a jargonelle pear-tree, a curiously formed triple pear. In looking over an old folio a day or two since, I found a drawing of it I made at the time, and thinking it may have some interest for the readers of SCIENCE-GOSSIP, I enclose you a copy. It would seem as though three blossoms had formed their fruit one within the other.-J. R. Keene, 4th February, 1867.

ZOOLOGY.

PARR OR SALMON.-As thus buoyant, elated, and self-confident, I proceeded onwards, I observed a boat, with a young man in it, anchored in strange fashion a little on one side of the main stream down which I was passing. The anchor consisted, in fact, of another individual, older than the occupant of the boat, who, standing in the water as deep as his somewhat long legs would allow, leaned his weight upon the stern of the boat, and so held it fast in its position. I passed them carelessly, and when but a few yards in advance, my attention was attracted to a small, struggling, brown fly, which had apparently just dropped into the water. Rushing towards it, and rising suddenly to the surface,

greedily seized, and was preparing to swallow, the delicate morsel; but scarcely did it touch my lips when a slight but smart sensation, as of a thorn pricking my mouth, was felt by me, and I found myself dragged by some invisible but irresistible force against the stream, until, half choked, I approached the boat, into which, by the aid of a light net, I was instantly lifted. I found myself clasped by a dreadfully warm hand, and held, in spite of my struggles, firmly until the hook, attached to the treacherous fly I had seized, was extracted, not untenderly, from my wounded jaw. I was already more than half dead, limp, faint, and bleeding. "It's just a wee parr beastie," said the elder of the two, preparing to slip me into the water. "It's of no use putting it back," said the other; "parr or not, it's dead." "It may dee and be dom'd; I wash my hands of it," was the reply with which my profane friend placed me in the water, carefully enough. I felt sick and helpless; without power to sustain my proper position, I floated, with my back downwards, until I rested against some long floating grass, a few yards from the boat, to which the eddy of the stream had carried me. Although too weak to move, I retained my senses, and heard the younger man say to his companion-"Why, John, what made you throw that poor little dead beast into the water again?" "Deed," was the reply, "yon beastie's just a smolt, an' there's a fine for killing sich like." "But you killed a parr just now ?" "Ay." 'But you call this a parr?" "Deed, an' it's the fau't of those who gie the same name to twa different fishes." "What do you mean?" "A' mean that there's a wee fish ye killed just noo ca'ed 'the parr,' an' it's a fish of itself, an' has melt an' roe as every ither fish has,

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* I have opened hundreds of the Burn Parr, Salmo Salmulus, male and female. I have seen them on their spawningbeds, and taken them out of burns where salmon never yet ascended, nor could by possibility ascend. I have baited hooks with the tough little beggars, and released them alive after they had towed a trimmer for six hours about a loch; the salmon parr being as soft as a pat of butter, and endowed

an' ye'll find it in rivers an' burns, an' abune waterfalls, an' in mountain tarns, where no saumon ever yet was seen or could get, an' it's streekit an' barred all the same as the young saumon-parr; and it's just the confusion of ca'ing the twa by the ae name that's raised a' the fash that's made about the 'edentity,' as they ca' it, of the parr with the young saumon. "Then you believe that the parr is not the young of the salmon ?" "If ye ca' the young saumon the parr, the parr is the young saumon ; but there's anither parr that has a better right to the name, an' it's a pity that twa fish should be bund to hae but ae name betwixt them."-Autobiography of a Salmon.

دو

DOG IN TROUBLE.—A singular mishap befel a young Retriever of mine when he was about four months old. Up to that time he exhibited all the playfulness, and distinguished himself for mischief as much, if not more, than the majority of pups, but at the age of four months he suddenly became serious; the change was so sudden I could not account for it. If I attempted to draw him out with a bit of his favourite carpet, which in his younger days was his delight, he would only survey it well with his head, first on one side and then the other, and sometimes attempt to seize it, but he would recollect himself and turn away, evidently disgusted with it. At first his behaviour was a source of amusement to me; he appeared at times half inclined to play, and at the same time as if he had made up his mind not to do so; in fact, he became quite a droll dog. After he had been in this state for about a week, I was patting and caressing him one day when I chanced to touch him rather roughly on his left side, which made him wince and howl, which drew my attention more closely to the spot, and on examination I found a slight swelling just beyond the last rib. I concluded he had been wounded, bathed the place with warm water, and examined it carefully every day. I began to get rather anxious about poor Rover, as he was evidently in great pain, and the least touch on the swelling made him whine piteously. He continued in this state for about three weeks, and by this time the swelling had increased considerably, when one morning my attention was called to the dog, and on going out to look at him I observed a slight discharge from his side, and on examining it I slightly bent his body, when to my astonishment the point of a wood-skewer protruded from his side. I immediately took hold of it and drew it forth. I thought it would never end; it came out at last, a perfect unbroken skewer five-and-a-half inches long. I could scarcely believe my own eyes; but there was the skewer in my hand, and poor Rover was quite conscious of the relief, as he began

with about as much power of sustaining hardships. Doubtless the young salmon is the parr, but the parr is not always the young salmon.

frisking about and licking my hands with great delight. He stood quite Christian-like while I bathed him well with warm water. He soon resumed his old tricks, and returned to the forsaken fragments of carpet with increased vigour; and I am happy to say Rover is himself again. I can account for the skewer finding its way there from the fact that the dog was in the habit of having meat occasionally from the "cat's meat man," which is sold on skewers, and he must have had a lot thrown to him before it was taken from the skewer. I have since compared the skewers, and find they are not like the common butcher's skewer, but are made of pine. James Rowley.

HEN WITH CAT AND KITTENS.-At Falkingham, Lincolnshire, in the early part of last October (1866), was daily seen the following curious instance of maternal affection. A hen was sitting upon her eggs for hatching; she had them taken away from her, but still she persevered in keeping on her nest. One day, when away to feed, an old pussey took possession, and kittened five kittens within it. On the hen's return, instead of being disconcerted at the intruders, she took to both cat and kittens, and with the same assiduity as if her own chickens began and continued to regularly brood them, always pulling any stray kitten under her wings, and, if any curious person, on viewing them, displaced one, would make as great a disturbance as if one of her own chickens had been taken from her. During this singular attachment she would always make room for the old cat to suckle them. She was allowed to have them under her care for three weeks; then she was prevented going to them, and apparently suffered a great loss by the privation.— J. Ward.

SPAWNING OF THE FROG.-Perhaps the following fact may be interesting to some of your readers. It is, I believe, generally stated in works on Natural History that the frog spawns about the middle of March. Now, although such may be the case in other parts of England, certainly here in the South of Devonshire the spawning takes place at a much earlier period. For the last fifteen years I have observed that in the absence of frost the frogs in this immediate neighbourhood spawn on the 14th or 15th of January, and so punctual are they to the day, that I have always succeeded in capturing some dozen for observation on those dates. The spawning takes place in the night, and the little creatures, being subsequently weak and exhausted, remain for the next twenty-four hours immediately under and covered by the cake, or else slightly buried in the mud in the immediate vicinity; hence it is very easy to catch them, as they generally select very shallow water for the purpose; but after recruiting their strength for twenty-four hours, they move off and are no longer to be found. This year the severe

weather has retarded their operations, but the night before last the thaw set in, and yesterday the ice had nearly disappeared. Supposing that froggy might require twenty-four hours to recover from his torpidity, I, this morning, sallied forth to my accustomed hunting ground (for they always appear to frequent the same place year after year), a roadside gutter or small ditch not having more than three or four inches of water in the deepest part, and scarcely two feet broad. Here I found about a dozen cakes of spawn which had evidently been deposited during the night, and I immediately caught ten frogs for my fernery in a distance of less than thirty yards. Now as most persons having microscopes are always glad to be provided with a few frogs for observation, I think if they note the days on which the frog begins to spawn in their neighbourhood, they will, another season, be able to secure an ample supply.-George Dansey, Devonport.

SILK.-Heliogabalus was the first Roman who wore a garment all silk, which must have been about the year 220 A.D. The Emperor Aurelianus, who died in 275, denied his empress a robe of silk because it was too dear. In the year 555, some monks, who had been in India, brought some eggs of the silkworm to Constantinople, where, in time, they produced raw silk, which was manufactured at Athens, Thebes, Corinth, &c. Charlemagne sent Offa, king of Mercia, a present of a belt and two silken vests, in the year 780, which is the earliest account we have of silk being seen in this country. -Phillips's "Fruits of Great Britain."

THE SHRIKE (Enneoctonus collurio).-There is a popular idea that this bird always has nine impaled creatures at hand, and that when it eats one it catches another, and with it replaces the one which has been eaten. In consequence of this notion, which prevails through several counties, the bird is called nine-killer. The generic name, Enneoctonus, is composed of two Greek words which have a similar signification. So strongly is this idea held by some persons, that I have seen a treatise upon instinct, where the shrike was gravely produced as an example of arithmetical powers possessed by birds. These theories generally fail when confronted by facts. I have seen numberless shrike's nests, and though in some cases there may have been nine impaled animals, in some there were more, and in others less. Rev. J. G. Wood's "Homes without Hands."

"CARDINALS."-A large and hideous species of spider, said to be found only in Hampton Court Palace, is known by the name of "Cardinals." This name has been given them from a superstitious belief, that the spirits of Cardinal Wolsey and his retinue still haunt the palace in their shape.-Notes and Queries, vii., 431.

SWALLOWS IN ALGERIA.-I saw lately a book advertised with the title "A Winter with the Swallows," and having procured a copy, I was surprised to find that the locality of the swallows' winter residence was Algiers. I had always imagined that the supposed winter residence of swallows was somewhere in the centre of Africa; and Rev. H. B. Tristram, in his interesting work entitled "the Great Sahara," states that in that region the Arabs informed him that "for one Swallow in winter they have twenty in summer. The natives are perfectly familiar with the fact of the swallow's emigration, as they say they go to visit Timbuctoo, the El Dorado of Arab and Swallow" (p. 398). I myself have passed twenty-five successive winters in Algeria, either at Algiers or Oran, and from repeated observations I found that the swallow arrived on the 6th March, but an occasional swallow may be rarely observed flitting about in the month of January, if the day be very fair and warm. Swallows, and quails, and corncrakes arrive at Algiers almost simultaneously, although the great emigration of these birds may be put down at the end of March.-G. Munby, Wood Green.

INSECT PESTS.-Can we wonder at the increase of the insects which destroy our fruits, and at the great loss sustained by those who have extensive orchards and gardens? The birds are the only possible agents to counteract the deadly unseen insects which are every hour being bred almost everywhere. Nature has formed the bird's eye for detecting insects where the eye of man is useless. Wholly destroy the birds, and the fruit is wholly destroyed.-The Gentleman's Magazine.

NESTING OF THE GREY WAGTAIL (Motacilla boarula).-During the last season I found a nest of this little bird in a hole on the banks of the Ouse, a position, to me, quite new. Another was found in a barn. This nest was of a curious construction. The nest from top to bottom was six inches in height, and much clay was woven in among the bents. That portion of the nest in which the eggs were deposited was unusually neat.-John Ranson, Linton-on-Ouse.

MALE GALL-FLIES.-Startling as the announcement really was in the first instance, it still appears that we have a want of evidence to prove that a male in the genus Cynips has any positive existence. -F. Smith, in Ent. Mon. Mag.

DIAMOND BEETLE.-At Rio Janeiro the brilliant Diamond Beetle, Eutimis nobilis, is in great request for brooches for gentlemen, and ten piastres are often paid for a single specimen.-Cowan's Curious Facts.

DOMESTIC SPIDERS.-Sir Hans Sloane says that the housekeepers of Jamaica keep large spiders in their houses to destroy the cockroaches, with which they are infested.

BOTANY.

DOMBEYA ANGULATA.-The stamens in this plant, as in all the Malvales, may be looked upon as compound, while the ordinary stamen corresponds to a simple leaf; the groups of stamens in the Mallows and allied orders may be regarded as the equivalents of compound leaves, united together at their bases. Some of the lobes or leaflets of these compound leaves bear anthers, while others are destitute of anthers, and constitute the barren stamens or staminodes. Some light is thrown on the uses of these barren stamens by an examination of the plant now under consideration. In the fully expanded flower, the inner surface of the upper angle or point of each petal is about on a level with the stigma and with the tip of the barren stamen, the outer flat surface of which latter, as well as the adjacent portion of the petal, are often dusted over with pollen, the true stamens, nevertheless, being at a considerable distance beneath these organs. In less fully developed flowers the barren stamens may be seen curving downwards and outwards, so as to come in contact with the shorter fertile stamens, whose anthers open outwardly, and thus allow their contents to adhere to the barren stamens. These latter, provided with their freight of pollen, uncoil themselves, assume more or less of an erect position, and thus bring their points on a level with the stigma, whose curling lobes twist round them and receive the pollen from them. The use, then, of the long staminodes seems to be to convey pollen from the short fertile stamens to the stigma, which, but for their intervention, could not be influenced by it. The presence of pollen on the upper and inner corner of the petais is readily explained by the fact that, owing to their position and peculiar form, they all come in contact with the ends of the staminodes and the stigmas, and hence they too get dusted with pollen. These arrangements would therefore seem to favour self-fertilisation, and they show how an organ spoken of sometimes rather contemptuously as barren, rudimentary, imperfect, or the like, may yet play an important part both in the architectural plan of the flower, and in its life history.-M. T. M., Gard. Chron., Jan. 26, 1867.

FERNS BURIED WITH THE DEAD.-An urn, dug up in the island of Anglesea, was, with its contents, brought to me for examination by Mr. Albert Way. After having determined the presence of human bones belonging to an adult and to a child, probably to a mother and her offspring, certain filaments were found adhering to the inner surface of the urn; these were of a brown colour, and arranged in definite order like the veins of leaves. Upon microscopically examining sections of these, scalariform vessels were noticed precisely similar to those

occurring in the Bracken. This fern is very aburdant in the district in which the urn was discovered, and most probably portions of fronds were placed in the receptacle before the ashes of the deceased persons were deposited in it.—Quekett's Lectures on Histology.

PAPYRUS IN EUROPE.-The true Papyrus grows abundantly on the banks of the river Anapas in Sicily, not far from Syracuse, fully 10 or 12 feet high, with stems 6 or 8 inches in circumference, and with large tufts on the top. This is the only instance of the free growth of the Papyrus in Europe.M. H.

ENORMOUS BOLETUS. -My friend, Mr. F. C. Penrose, has just sent me a tracing of the section of an enormous specimen of Boletus luridus, found by him. The circumference is exactly three feet, and the pileus and stem, are stout in proportion. It was at first mistaken for a milking stool left out by accident all night, but on closer acquaintance turned out to be a gigantic fungus of the Boletus tribe.W. G. S.

THE EVENING PRIMROSE.- This North American flower was first sent from Virginia to Padua, in the year 1619, but at what exact period it reached England is uncertain, since Párkinson is the earliest author who notices it; but it must have been some time previous to 1629, as in his "Garden of Pleasant Flowers," which was published in that year, he speaks of it in a more familiar style than he would have done had it been of late introduction. This author calls it Tree Primrose of Virginia.-Flora Historica.

DIVINATION BY RIB-GRASS.-It was once, and perhaps still is, a custom in Berwickshire to practise divination by means of "kemps" (Plantago lanceolata). Two spikes were taken in full bloom, and being bereft of every appearance of blow, they were wrapt in a dock leaf, and put below a stone. One of them represented the lad, the other the lass. They were examined next morning, and if both spikes appeared in blossom, then there was to be aye love between them twae;" if none," the course of true love" was not "to run smooth."-Johnston's "Eastern Borders."

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PLANTS IN AUSTRALIA.-A number of European genera of plants indigenous to the country, or at all events from their situations giving reason to suppose so, grew in the vicinity of this river (Murrumbidgee); among others the "sow-thistle" (the young tops of which are eaten by the natives just before the plant commences to blossom), a small red poppy, the crow-foot, a dock, geranium, and "shepherd's purse" were abundant, and they are seen very far in the interior, beyond this place.Bennett's "Wanderings."

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A, cell drilled in the slide. B B, common paper screws. D D, thin glass covers above and below.

great, enabling an insect (say a Daphnia or Cyclops) to be kept in water in the field of an inch-and-a-half, or two-inch objective, while the thin covering plates enable circulation of blood, &c., to be clearly seen under even these low powers. A 4th works well also with this instrument. I trust that this may be of service to my fellow microscopists.-J. W. Mencher. P.S.-The drilled slides can be obtained of Mr. Charles Baker;} the screws at nearly any stationer's.

VIBRIO TRITICI.-Allow me to add a supplement to Mr. Fox's remarks on the Wheat Eel, contained in SCIENCE-GOSSIP for January. The rearing The rearing of these curious creatures has been a favourite

amusement with me for a number of years, and as the process is simple, and the results highly interesting, some of your readers may perhaps be disposed to put my plan in practice. I proceed thus-After selecting about eight grains of good wheat, and an equal number of the infected ones, I wrap them in pairs in small pieces of paper, and thus plant them in my garden. Here the damp earth causes the good grain to vegetate, and at the same time resuscitate the eels; and as the wheat plant grows, they enter the fibrous roots, and passing up the stem, enter the ear and deposit their eggs. It is somewhat difficult to detect them in the stem; for this purpose I take a stem long before there is any appearance of the formation of the ear, and cut very short sections, which I bruise in a drop of water, or a glass-slide'; but the more easy and pleasing part of the process is to watch them in the infected grain from the first entrance till their maturity. To do this, it is requisite to have the wheat growing close at hand, so that daily access to it can be had, and the time I recommend for commencement is as soon as the grain begins forming in the ear. The first object to be sought is the parent eel filled with eggs. These, when first extruded, are of a dark colour, and opaque, but gradually become more transparent, at which time the young eels will be seen curled up in various figures, and slowly moving round in their shells, from which they ultimately break forth and continue to live on the farinaceous matter of the grain till all is consumed, when they become torpid, and so remain till brought again to life by means similar to those which gave activity and instinct to their parents. With a low power, no difference can be seen between these and the Paste Eel, except the greater activity and varied sizes of the latter. But the difference is very marked when carefully examined with a high magnifier.-A. Nicholson.

TOURMALINE.-This is a true Proteus among stones: it imitates almost all the gems by the variety of its colours. Thus there are brown, green, blue, yellow and red Tourmalines, and of these there are a great variety of tints. It is principally in Ceylon that the brown and hyacinth-red Tourmalines are found, sometimes mixed with those of some other colour. In Spain they are chiefly brown; and in other parts of Europe a variety is found of a darkbrown approaching to black. Of late years it has acquired additional importance from its application in the examination of objects by polarized light; for if a plate of brown Tourmaline be cut parallel to the axis, it absorbs one of the polarized pencils of light.—Jackson's “Minerals.”

SOLVENT FOR CAOUTCHOUC.-I recommend the best benzole as a solvent for asphaltum and indiarubber, the best I found after experimentalising for months.-H. B.

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