Page:Hardwicke's Science-Gossip - Volume 1.pdf/155
What is Mildew?—"Mildew" is just one of those loose terms which represent no definite idea, or a very different one to different individuals. Talk of mildew to a farmer, and instantly be scampers mentally over his fields of standing corn in search of the brown lines or irregular spots which indicate the unwelcome presence of Puccinia graminis, known to him, and to generations of farmers before him, as "mildew." Try to convince a Norfolk farmer that anything else is "mildew," and he will consider you insane for your pains. Speak of mildew in your own domestic circle, and inquire of wives, or daughters, or servants, what it means, and without hesitation another, and even more minute species of fungus, which attacks damp linen, will be indicated as the true mildew, to the exclusion of all others; and with equal claims to antiquity. Go to Farmham, or any other hop-growing district, and repeat there your question,—What is mildew?—and there is every probability that you will be told that it is a kind of could which attacks the hop plant, but which differs as much from both the mildew of the farmer and the laundry-maid as they differ from each other. The vine-grower has his mildew, the gardener his mildewed onions, the stationer his mildewed paper from damp cellars, the plasterer his mildewed walls, and in almost every calling or sphere in life, wherever a minute fungus commits its ravages upon stock, crop, or chattels, to that individual owner if becomes a bugbear nuder the name of "mildew."—Rust, Smut, Mildew, and Mould.
Truffles.—Truffles are plentiful occasionally in Hampshire. Tu the village of Cheriton, about three miles south of Alresford, when I was a boy, there were two families whose principal means of support depended upon the success of their truffle-hunting; and their name was Leach. At present there are three brothers in the village who follow the occupation of their sire. These men do not bribe the dogs by giving them meat, to prevent their eating the luxury; but they give them a piece of bread now and then as a reward for their discoveries. Nor do the dogs, as might be inferred, get possession of the truffles. They find them, and their master digs them up with a pike he carries for the purpose. The dogs used by these men are white once, very similar to the French poodle. The hunting is not limited to any particular places; but in all the hedgerows round and fir plantations are the truffles found.—J. W. Batchelor.
A New "Rust."—Mr. M. C. Cooke found during his recent visit to North Wales, a species of "rust" growing upon Empetrum nigrum, and known to mycologists as Uredo Empetri, DC. This is the first record of its occurrence in Britain.
Introduction of Rare Plants, &c.—The programme for the season of the Manchester Field Naturalists' Association contains the following suggestion:—Members who join in the excursions might add to the beauty and interest of the country round Manchester by taking with them any surplus roots and seeds they may possess, especially of native plants brought from a distance, and also living fresh-water mollusca, and depositing them in places where they would be likely to become permanently established. No confusion would be caused, since the Flora and Fauna of the neighbourhood are now both well known, and the introduction of new species would be a set off also against any possible lessening of the abundance of those produced spontaneously. Members are invited to collect seeds, &c., for this especial purpose, when at a distance from home, and also to enrich the neighbourhood by a judicious sowing of the seeds of exotic plants.
Wellingtonia Gigantea.—Prof. Brewer, of the Californian State Geological Survey, announces to Sir William Hooker the discovery "of the big trees in great abundance on the western flanks of the Sierra Nevada, in about latitude 36° or 37°;" and he describes them as very abundant along a belt at 5,000–7,000 feet altitude, for a distance of more than twenty-five miles, sometimes in groves, at others scattered through the forests in great numbers." One of the largest trees seen by Prof. Brewer measured 100 feet in circumference at four feet above the ground, and was 276 feet in height. "You can have no idea," he adds, "of the grandeur they impart to the scenery, where at times a hundred trees are in sight at once, over fifteen feet in diameter, their rich foliage contrasting so finely with their cinnamon-coloured bark." It is satisfactory to learn that there is no danger now of speedy extinction of the species, for "immense numbers" of seedlings have been seen growing.—Athenæum.
Laudanum, a Species of Dew.—Laudanum is procured in a curious manner in some parts of the isle of Cyprus. It is a species of dew, which falls during the evening and night upon plants resembling sage, the flowers of which are like those of the eglantine. Before the sun rises, flocks of goats are driven into the field, and the laudanum fastens on their beards; whence it is taken. It is of a viscous nature, and, collected in this manner, is purer than that which adheres to the plants; because these plants are subject to being covered with dust during the day,—Bucke's Beauties of Nature.
[Doubtless gum ladanum is meant, and not the opiate with the above name. Ladanum is a resin which exudes from several species of Cistus, especially Cistus creticus. Such paragraphs as the above, containing as much romance as truth, are only calculated to mislead.]