mon in moist meadows and upland marshes. When the anthers are young, they stretch forward till they reach the summit of the pistil, where they deposit their fertilizing pollen, and then fall back towards the petals.

THE SOLAN GOOSE.-We find the following curious notice respecting the solan goose, in the very old translation of Boëtius:

"In the crag callit the Bas ar incredible noumer of soland geise, nocht unlik to thir fowles that Plineus callis see ernis. And ar sene in na part of Albion, bot in this crag and Ailsay. At thair first cumin (quhilk is in ye spring of the zeir) yai gadder sa gret noumer of treis and stikkis to big thair nestis, that ye samyn mycht be sufficient fewell to ye keparis of ye castell, Howbeit yai had na othir pronision. And yocht ye keparis tak fra thir fowlis yir stikkis and treis zit yai tak littil indignation thairof. Bot bringis haistelie agane als mony fra othir placis quhair thay fle.”*

INFLUENCE OF SOIL ON ROOTS. "If a cucumber," says Sir James Smith in his Lectures, of which MS. notes are now before me—" is planted, and after the branches shoot, there is placed a stone in the way of either of them, the branch will turn off and avoid it, without touching the stone-but describing a circle around it. When it has passed the stone, however, it will go on in a straight line." Sir James explains this by the well-known law of plants always approaching the light, the cucumber turning round to get out of the shadow of the stone.

*Hector Boëthius, Cosmographie of Albion, translated by Bellenden.

This

Roots follow a very different law-always endeavouring to get away from the light; and accordingly, so far from avoiding a stone or other obstacle, they often cling closely around it, and sometimes even mould their forms upon the hard substances with which they meet. is well exemplified in the root of an alder tree (Alnus glutinosa, Betula Alnis, LINN.), which was embedded among the gravel formed by the Ravensbourne river at Lee; and it requires few details to point out how exactly it had moulded itself on every stone which it met with in its course.

In the same manner roots are much influenced in their forms by the soils in which they grow, of which the familiar instance of fibrous and bulbous roots, is a good illustration. When plants, with fibrous roots, are placed in certain situations, they are apt to change their fibrous structure for a bulbous one, in the same way as the leaves of the water crowfoot (Ranunculus aquatilis), has scalloped leaves above, and minutely winged leaves below water. The change from fibrous to bulbous roots, and the contrary, is markedly exemplified in some of the grasses, particularly in Timothy grass (Phleum), and Fox-tail grass (Alopecurus). Before this change of form was discovered, botanists frequently described the same grass under different names,-a circumstance which occurred with regard to Alopecurus geniculatus and Phleum pratense. Leers seems to have been the first to discover that transplanting into a light rich soil, tends to change the bulbous into the fibrous structure.

AUGUST.

DROUGHT. When dry weather, usual at this season, has continued long enough to evaporate the water of shallow ponds, the young geologist will find it interesting to examine the form of the cracks made in the sludge at the bottom, as illustrative of the forms of columnar rocks on the Wernerian principle. Colonel Imrie gives a very fine instance of this in which the current of a stream of water, had worn away the bank which had enclosed a pond. On the side thus broken down and laid open, the soil displayed a beautiful arrangement of columnar forms, about 18 feet in length, and from 1 to 3 feet in diameter. They were all angular, consisting of four, five, and six sides. They were perfectly vertical, and the whole surface upon which the water had stood, was level and cracked into polygonal forms, upon which the Colonel stept along as upon a giant's causeway. Similar phenomena are not rare, though seldom to be seen under such favourable circumstances for examination.

TONGUE OF ANT-EATERS.-Last summer, we had brought to us a young wryneck (Yunx torquilla,) whose singular manner of feeding attracted our notice. Though it was so old as to be able to fly, it made no at

tempt to escape, and manifested no fear. We placed it in a cage, in which was the empty nest of a whitethroat (Sylvia cinerea), and threw in a quantity of ants with their pupa, that it might fare abundantly. Those who are not acquainted with this bird, may be told, that it has a very long tongue, which it has the power of pushing out far beyond the point of its bill, an organ similar to that of woodpeckers, and the quadrupeds called anteaters, (Myrmecophagæ, LINN). It is said of the latter, that they station themselves near an ant-hill-extend their long tongue across a frequented track of the insects, who, crowding upon the tongue to examine what it may be, are suddenly drawn along with it into the animal's mouth, and devoured. At other times, it is said to plunge its tongue into an ant-hill, and drag up with it incredible numbers of the inhabitants. The accuracy of these accounts, we have no right to question, but it does not appear that the wryneck uses its extensile tongue in this way; at least, our young bird uniformly thrust its tongue between the grass stems of the whitethroat's nest, to route out the ants which had taken shelter there, and as soon as they were thus forced within its reach, it pecked them up in the usual way with its beak. It is probable, therefore, that actual observation may discover all the ant-eaters to proceed in the same manner, and that woodpeckers, which prey on insects feeding under the bark of trees, may only use their tongues to drive their prey within reach of their beaks, and not as is usually believed, for catching insects by means of its glutinous covering.

USE OF THE COROLLA IN FLOWERS.-It is, we believe, the prevalent notion of botanists, that the corolla,

or coloured portion of a flower, is intended for the protection of the fructifying parts; but as the corolla itself is generally fragile and feeble, it is as Miss Kent shrewdly remarks, "like giving one infant to the care of another." This pleasing writer, however, does not seem to be altogether successful in explaining its use, when she says, "it were enough were it destined only to give pleasure; and, not to speak of the many chemical and medical uses, it frequently lodges fragrant oils, which, scattering volatile particles in the air, perfume the atmosphere around, and afford an additional pleasure to those who come to gaze upon its beauty." Theories like this always remind us of Pope's well known lines, While man affirms, all nature's for my use,

66

See man for mine!" exclaims a pamper'd goose. We are much more inclined to believe St. Pierre's doctrine, of the corolla being intended as a mirror for concentrating and converging into the focus of the flower different coloured rays of light, which may be necessary | as a stimulant to the different parts of fructification. As St. Pierre, however, is considered by scientific botanists, a fanciful writer, nobody, so far as we know, has tried any experiments to corroborate or refute the opinion; yet it appears, however, to be a point well worthy of minute investigation.

SALUBRITY INDICATED BY INSECTS.-About this season, flies usually begin to crowd into houses in some places in very troublesome numbers. Medically considered, swarms of house flies indicate unwholesome air, either from the vicinity of putrescent vegetable effluvia, or want of ventilation. They will accordingly be found most troublesome in the airless lanes, or narrow streets