POINTS FROM LETTERS
THE LATE C. E. MONTAGUE.
I am writing a memoir of the late C. E. Montague, and shall be grateful for any material. Letters from Montague will be carefully kept and returned, and any reminiscences will also be welcome. Anything, in either case, tkat I might ask to quote would be submitted to the senders.—OLIvER EuroN, 293 Woodstock Road, Oxford.
CRAB APPLES. -
I read with much interest the article on " Our Fruits and Their Names," by Josephine Vincent, in your issue of October 13th, especially the paragraph about crab-apples. We had just been picking a sackful of wild crabs, which we made into delicious jelly. In one hedge we found three distinct kinds of crab-apples. One was a small, hard fruit. almost round, with rosy cheeks ; another was large and juicy, Jong-shaped and pale green all over ; while the third was of medium size, pale green, with a stalk rather like that of a fig, attached to a protruding part of the fruit, - instead being " counter-sunk " as is usual with apples. It would be interesting to know if botanists recognize distinct varieties of crabs. It is possible, of course, that some of the crabs found by us are reversions from cider-apples of sorts, and not originals of our cultivated fruit. The farmers seem to care nothing for their crabs, which are allowed to rot on the ground if not picked up by amateur jelly-makers. At any rate, no one has ever raised any objection to the raiding of these wild orchards.—W. MALAN, The Thatched Cottage, Littleham, Exmouth, Devon.
PHOSPHORUS.
Re phosphorescent appearances in grass at night time. A-fe* years ago I was staying at a little place called Corns, on the border of Merionethshire, and going along one of the mountain passes one night I was surprised 1,3 see quite a patch of the
side close to the footpath all aglow. There were dozens of
Mile places dotted here and there all alight. My first thought was "glow-worms." But upon inspection I foimd the substance (which I approached rather cautiously) was what I can only describe as being like wet rotten wood. I took a sample home with me and when it was dry you could powder it between your finger and thumb. I had tried wetting it again but never got any further glow from it.—A. GOODERHAM, 88 Moss Lane, Hale, Cheshire.
A CUBE FOR NOISE.
It should be more generally known that the sea-grass Zostera Marina, when dried, has the extraordinary quality of killing sound, as well as being an effective insulator against heat and cold, and on this account is being increasingly used by architects in house construction. To prove its efficacy as a sound deadener, an interesting experiment may be made with an alarm clock and a box well lined, lid as well as sides, with the material. Set the alarm going, then put the clock in the box and drop the lid. The sound disappears instantly, as if turned off by a tap. Open the box and the alarm is heard again.—NEDNA.TS.
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