■ te y-OJENCB GOSSIP. HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP Foe 1869. HARDWICKE'S Ji4ip4£- Argonauta argo, 170, 171. Ash-buds, 36. Asterionelta Bleakleyi, 193. Attheya decora, 192. Aubrietia deltoides hair, 237. Auliscus sculptus, 197. Aureliu aurita, 53. Auriculated Aurelia, 53. Barren Brome-orass, 130. Bat's Winer, skeleton, 227. Beech-buds, 24. Birds, the Bullfinch, 121. the Heron, 56. the Jay, 225. the Kestrel, 131. the Lapwing;, 78. the Ruff and Reeve, 249. the Short-eaied Owl, 2«6. the Siskin, 37. Bream, scale of, 13. Brumus sterilis, 130. Broscus cephalotes, 141. Buds of various trees, 24-36. Bullfinch, the, 121. Cape Frogs, 48. Carpels of Geranium, 117-119. Cartilage of Petromyzon, 112. Caterpillar of 'Felea, 220. Cephalanthera grandiflora, diagrams of flower, 72. Cereus gem.raceus, 164 12). papillosum, 164 (5). Ceylon Bug, 55. Chcerocampa celerio, 208. Chei'fer Lntreillei, 211, 212. Cheyletus, I. , Egg of, 2. and Cheesemite, 4. , Head of, 3. , Mr. R. Beck's, 5. Cillenum laterale, 140. Circoea lutetiana, abnormal flower, 47. ■ , normal flower, 46. Circulatory system of Dreissena, 89. Cocconeis excentrica, 21)0. Cocoon of Telea, 221. Collecting-case, 16. Comactis viridis, 163 (9). Common Rye-grass, 129. Coscinodiscus nitidus, 195. ovatis, 194. Crab, four-horned, 133. Crustacean, Nameless, 76. Cuckoo-spit larva, proboscis, 82. Cuttle-fishes, 167-172. Dace, scale of, 122. Dendritic Spot on Paper, 52. Dianthus barbatus seed, 107. sinensis seed, 1 06. Diatoms, seaside, 173-205. Digestive System of Dreissena, 90. Diphasia pinaster, 154. pinnata, 153. rosacea, 151, 152. Draba incn7ia hair, 238. Drawing Apparatus, 57. Dreissena pulymorpha, 88. Eel, scale of, 132. Egg of Cheyletus, 2. Entozoon of Labiducera, 95, 96. E/ihydra larva, 51. Episiylis, 54. Epithemia marina, 191. Eschscholtzia Cali/ornica seed, 9- tenuifolia seed, 10. Eupodiscus argus, 198. Falco tinnunculus, 131. Float of lanthina, 22. Flower, Abnormal, of Circeea, VJ. , Normal, of Circaa, 46. Flowers. Abnormal, 58-66. of Foxglove, Abnormal, 58-60. Foot of lanthina, 18, 19, 20. of Obisium, 217, 218.'; Foxglove Flowers, Abnormal, 58, 59. FragiUuria Crotonensis, 81. Fringilla spinus, 37, Frogs from the Cape, 48. Fungiu putellaris, section, 109. Gummurus locusta and Brood, 142. Garden Rocket hair, 235. Garrulus glundarius, 225. Geophilus subterraneus tracheae, 41. Geotriu austrulis, 116. Geranium tnolte carpels, 119. pusitlum cartel*, 11 7. rotundifolium carpels, 118. Gobiofluviuttlis scale, 49. Grummut ophora marina, 203. serpentina, 2»4. Grey Poplar-buds, 31. Gudgeon, scale of, 49. Gymnadenia conopsea, diagram of flower, 74. Gypsophila elegans seed, 105. Hairs of Chelifer, 214-216. Hairs, Vegetable, 231-248. Hatidrys siliquosu, 165. Hazel- buds, 26. Head ot Cheyletus, 3. Head of Lamprey, section, 115. Heron, the, 56. Hieracium Ptlosella hair, 241. Bolcus florets. 127, 128. Honeysuckle flowers, 63. Hornbeam-buds, 25. Horse-Chestnut-buds, 25. Humble Bee at Home, 39. Hydrallmannia falcata, 148. Hypochoeris radicata hair, 236. lanthina communis, 17. exigua, 21. , float of, 22. lingual strap, 23. , foot of, 18, 19, 20. Ideal Section, Pennine Chain, 40. Isthmia enervis, 205. Jay, the, 225. Kestrel, the, 131. Labidncera magna, 92, 93. Lamprey, Head of, 115. , respiratory apparatus, 114. , the Pouched, 1 16. Lapwing, the, 78. Larva of Ephydra, 51. Leuciscus vulgaris scale, 122. Lime-buds, 32. Linaria Cymbalaria hair, 231. Lingual strap of lanthina, 23. Live-box, 84-86. Loligo vulgaris, \J2. Lolium perenne, 129. Lonicera Periclymenum hair, 232. Lychnis dinica seed, 104. Floscuculi hair, 246. Magnetic Stage, 87. Maple-buds, 22. Marsh Foxtail Grass, 125. Mimulus moschata hair, 242. Nameless crustacean, 76. Nautilus, 170, 171. Navicula (Estiva, 178. angulosa, 176. Clepsydra, 182. crucifnrmis, 180. granulata, 173. humerosa, J 74. Lyra, 177. rectangulata, 175. retusa, 1/9- Trevelyana, 181. Nitzschia virgata, 190. vinax, 189. Nose-piece, 15. Oak-buds, 23. Obisium orthodactylum, 219. spermatozoa, 210. Octopus vulgaris, 167. Opium Poppy seed, 6. Orchestia Deshayesii, 138. littorea, 139. Orchis purpurea, diagram of flower, 73- Orobanche caryophyltacea hair, 240. Orthosira punctata, 80. Owl, Short-eared, 206. Papaver samniferum seed, 6. Parasite of Obisium, 213. Peach-flower, abnormal, 62. Pea-crab, 136. Peduncles of Geranium, 120. Pennine Chain, ideal section, 40 VI HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE- GOSSIP. [Dec. 1, 1869. Peritymbia vitisana, 42. Petromyzttn marinus, cells, 111. Phronima sedentnria, 50. Phymactes St. Helena, 163 (4). Pigment- cells, Petromyzon, 113. Pinnotheres pisum, 136. Pisa tetraodon, 133. PlantagO lanceolata hair, 244. Platyxtrmon I'ulifiirnicum seed, 8. Pleurosigma astunrii, 184. — angulutum, 187. Faeciola, 186. lan-eolatum, 185. Plocamium corcineum, 166. Podosira compressa, 202. Poly ccelia profunda, section, 110. Polygula vulgaris hair, 233. Pope, Scale of, 38. P°PPy. Opium, seed, 6. Primula vulgaris hair, 243. Privet Hawk-moth, 207. Proboscis, Cuckoo-spit larva, 82. Pterodactyle, head of, 226. skeleton wing, 229. Pupa of Telea, 222. Pyrrhula vulgaris, 121. Retribution on a Cheyi-etus, 4. Roach, scale of, 12. Rudd, scale of, 11, Sagartia coccinen, 164 (9), rosea, 164 (8). — viduata, 164 (4). Salmon, scale of, 230. Salmo solar scale, 230. trutta scale, 250. Sandhopper. the, 137. Saponana Ca lahrica seed , 102. Scale of Bream, 13. of Dace, 122. Scale of Eel, 132. of Gudgeon, 49. of Pope, 38. of Roach, 12. of Rudd, 11. of Salmon, 230. of Trout, 250. Scrophularia nodosa hair, 241. Sea Anemones, 163, 164. Section-cutter, 14. Seed, Agroxtemma cnronaria, 103. Argemone grandifiora, 7. Dian'hus barbatus, 107. sinensis, 106. Eschscholtziu Califurnica, 9- tenuifolia, 10. Gypsuphila elegans, 105. Lychnis dioica, 104. Opium Poppy, 6. Papaver somniferum , 6. Platystemon Calif ornicum, S. Saponaria Calubrica, 102. Silene alpestris, 98. Armeria, 97. Stelluria holostea, 100. media, 101. Viscaria oeulata, 99. Sepia officinalis, 1 68. 169. ' ovum and embryo, 145. Sertulariella polyzonius, 149. rugosa, 150. Sertularia abietina, 159, 160. argent ea, 161. cupressina, 162. filicula, 158. operculata, 155,156. pumila, 157. Shore-hopper, the, 139. Silene alpestris seed, 98. armeria seed, 97. Silk-moth, American, 223, 224. 144, Silver-striped Hawk-moth, 208. Siskin, the, 37. Skeleton Wing of Pterodactyle, 229. Slender Foxtail Grass, 123. Sphteroma serrutum, 143. Sphinx ligustri, 207 . Spider-crab, four-horned, 133. Spider's foot, 108. Spirorbis Nautiloides, 134, 135. Stage, magnetic, 87. Stelluria holostea seed, 100. media seed, 101. Strix brachyotus. 206. Surirella Capronii, 43, , sections, 45. Sycamore-buds, 34. Symphytum officinale hair, 234. Tulitru* locusta, 137. Telea Po'yphemux, 6" 5, 223, 224. Thuiaria thuia, 146 (7). Tingis ftystricrllus, 55. Toxonideu Gregoriana, 188. Trachea? of Geophilus. 41. Tiudescantia zebrina hair, 245. Tropaolum majus, peloria, 75. Triceratium alternuns, 201. Trout, scale of, 250. Vanellus cristatus, 78. Verbascum Thapsus hair, 239. Vine-insects, 42. Viscaria oeulata seed, 99. Wayfarivg-trbe-buds, 24. White Beam-buds, 21. Wing of Bat, 228. Wych Elm- buds, 33. Zoophytes, Sertulariav, 146-162. January, 1869. Hardwicke's Science-Gossip. THE STOEY OF A PIECE OF COAL. Br J. E. TAYLOR, Hon. Sec. Norwich Geol. Soc, etc. AN any of my lis- teners form any idea of what a mil- lion of years means ? It is very difficult, I grant, but I can- not give any more definite conception of my own great age than by saying I am many millions of years old. You must therefore take it for granted that all this immense lapse of time has occurred since I was born. Be- fore I attained my majority — that is to say, before I became really and positively coal — I had ex- isted in manifold forms, more numerous and varied than the metamorphoses of the butterfly. You cannot hit upou a greater mistake than to suppose I was originally made just what you now see me — a jetty mass of mineral. The doctrine of metempsychosis, said to be held by the Hindoos, would apply almost literally to my own biography. You may trace my career through a hundred different stages, each more widely various than the other. Nay, the process of elaboration through which I have passed is so complex that I may well be forgiven if I have not a clear recollec- tion of it myself. I am English born and bred, notwithstanding the tropical character of my antecedents. In some measure, it may be thought that I hardly partake of English characteristics as regards the climate which affected my earlier career ; but I can assure you I was never once removed from British ground In the distant ages to which I have briefly referred, my recollections go back to waving forests of tree- fern and gigantic club-mosses, as well as to a thick underwood of strange-looking plants. The name now given to this formation by geologists is termed No. 49, the Carboniferous, and you may form some idea of the ages which have flowed away since then by the fact that no fewer than nine subsequent distinct formations and periods occurred. Tbese are known as the Permian, Triassic, Liassic, Oolitic, Cretaceous (or chalk), Eocene, Miocene, Pliocene, and Quater- nary, to say nothing of the epoch comprehending the human race. To make myself still more clearly understood, it is necessary to state that the forma- tions newer than that to which I belong attain a vertical thickness of more than fifty thousand feet ! All this mass was slowly formed by gradual depo- sition along old sea-bottoms, whilst a more than equivalent period of time was taken up in the up- heaving and other processes which have elevated these rocks into their present position ! The climate and geography of Great Britain were very different from what theynow are when I was born. You must imagine a soft balmy temperature, neither too hot nor too cold, and lacking those extremes which at present characterize the seasons. There was no great necessity for extreme heat — rather it was most important to the growth of a luxuriant vegetation to be free from cold. There were few ranges of hills or mountains, for these always cause a refrigeration of the atmosphere by condensing the clouds ; thus hanging the sky with a curtain which shuts off a great deal of solar heat. True, right across what is now central England, there stretched a hilly barrier, which separated two coal-formations going on contemporaneously. Scotland and Wales were also then widely different from what these countries are at present. Instead of the grand, mountainous scenery they now possess, we had long-extended saline mud-flats, thickly studded with trees now extinct, and known to the geologist by the names of Sigillarice, Lepidodendra, and Cata- mites. In fact, all the district now considered as " coal-yielding " was then similarly circumstanced g The entire area had a geographical condition similar to the marine swamps which now fringe the coast- line of the Southern States of America. To these B HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Jan. 1, 1S69. the slowly ebbing and flowing tides bad access nearly twice a day. Around the more aged trunks of these extinct trees, standing on a muddy, shallow sea-bottom, so to speak — marine worms clustered, and their coiled tubes are now occasionally found fossilized, along with the petrified vegetation to which they clung when in life. These Spirorbi, as they are commonly termed, are tolerably plentiful in the north of England. It was owing to the semi-marine, semi-terrestrial character of the area on which the luxuriant vegetation of the Carboniferous period grew, that we now find so many fossil mussels and other marine shells imbedded in the same strata. I am told that chemists nowadays have dis- covered only one atom or particle of carbon asso- ciated with every thousand of the other gases forming the atmosphere. The atmosphere of the period when I was born hardly contained more. This small quantum was absorbed by the waving forests into their structure, and thus added to their solid bulk. Day by day, and year by year, each individual tree grew, so that the mass of solidified carbon increased, but without exhausting the original store. This was constantly being furnished by volcanoes, as well as by the lowly animals of my own time. Everything, they say, is composed of minute and cellular parts, and originally my atoms freely floated in the air as so many particles of carbon. This was before I had entered into that combination which made me part and parcel of a living tree. Once having been sucked into the leaf- pores of a Lepidodendron or Sigillaria, I started existence under a new form. I became subject to those unknown laws of vital force which philoso- phers find so great a difficulty in explaining. I had now an active duty to perform, and had to assist in the growth and well-being of the tree in whose bulk I lay. But this did not prevent me from noticing the many strange objects which surrounded me. Human beings there were none, nor did the race to which I am now so useful an auxiliary appear upon the earth's platform for millions of years afterwards. Tree lizards, not very much larger than those which haunt the sunny banks of old England, climbed up and down the sculptured branches of the forest trees, and lived upon the marsh flics and beetles, whose " drowsy hum " was the only sound that broke upon the stillness of these primeval woods. They found a shelter in the hollow trunks of Sigillaria', in association with the pupa; of beetles and other insects. In some places they have been found fossilized together, — a con- served recollection of those bygone times. Great reptiles, much resembling a frog, only as large as a small ox, waddled to and fro over the extensive beaches, and left their enormous hand-like impres- sions in myriads upon the yielding mud. As such they are now found in the flaggy sandstones which compose the strata of the coal formation. Occa- sionally, when overtaken by death, their carcases rotted on the shores, and were imbedded in the sands, to be found in long- subsequent ages in a fossil state. Several species of these gigantic batrachians existed contemporaneously. Very frequently the,salt- water reaches were visited by alligator-like animals, now termed Archtegosaurus, whose bodies were covered by hard, horny scutes or scales, held to- gether much after the manner a slater now adopts when he tiles a house. These reptiles were five and six feet long, and, together with the great frogs I have mentioned, were the principal and most power- ful animals of the age I am speaking of. The atmosphere differed little from its present condition, being neither denser nor more rarified. This you may prove for yourself by the impressions of rain- drops preserved in the Carboniferous sandstones. The great drops were driven by the wind aslant, so that even now there is indicated the very quarter from which the wind blew at the time ! The passing shower over, the sun peeped forth from behind the dark clouds, and his heat baked the mud, and cracked it, just as he does now the bottom of a clayey pond. These sun-cracks were subsequently filled up, sometimes by sand of a different colour, so that they are fossilized as truly as the shells and plants. The same sandstones yet bear the trail- markings which the marine worms left after they had crawled over them when in a soft state. Occa- sionally you may even come across their burrows or holes ; whilst the flagstones also are impressed with ripple-marks left by the retreating tides ! Although the sea-bottom was so shallow in the neighbourhood of the great forests, I should state that many miles further out it gradually shelved deeper, until there was an area where " blue water " was at- tained. Here the sea was fairly alive with animals of all sorts of natural liistory orders and classes. Coral banks, with animals putting forth their beautifully coloured tentacles, more various than the rainbow hues, stretched over many leagues of old Devonian rocks, and, as the area was slowly submerging at the time, their united labours, in the course of ages, produced no small portion of what is now termed the "Mountain Limestone." Shell-fish, allied to the existing nautilus, found in these purer waters, free from land sediment, the essentials of their well- being. In the limestones which their dead shells helped to form there are no fewer than thirty different species of nautilus ! They had relatives termed Goniatites (long since died out, for they did not possess the hardiness of their congeners), whose chambers were fashioned in a zigzag or angular manner. Then came another group of shell-fish, equally near by blood, the Gyroceras, whose coils did not lie so closely together', as those of the nautdus. One other class of cephalopods are now known as Orthoceratites. They were also chambered, but Jan. 1, 1S69.] HABDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. were straight instead of being coiled. The lime- stones of this age are crowded with immense numbers both of species and individuals belonging to these genera. Of them all the Orthoceras was perhaps the most dreaded, partly on account of its size (some of their shells being three feet long, and as thick as a man's leg), and partly on account of their voracious habits. Fancy them, as I have frequently seen them, with their last chamber sur- rounded with a fringe of long arms, each of which was furnished with suckers that would indicate no slight danger to bathers nowadays ! Hundreds of thousands of these creatures existed. Indeed, they were the scavengers of the Carboniferous seas, eat- ing up everything that came in their way, and perhaps not particular about preying upon a weakly brother when appetite prompted them. In Scot- land, in many parts of the limestones formed at this time, the strata, for hundreds of feet in thickness, are composed of hardly anything else but the ac- cumulated shells of Orthoceratites ! At the bottom of the sea in which these cepha- lopods lived and flourished there were gathered together immense shoals of a peculiar shell called Spirifera, now extinct. Scores of species of this particular shell lived and died there, for it was the period when the family attained its maximum of existence. In fact, they occupied the place in those earlier seas that cockles and mussels do now. Their anatomy was very peculiar, each shell-fish being furnished with a peculiar coiled-up apparatus which it could protrude so as to produce currents that brought to it its food. Small, but beautiful crusta- ceans, of a race then fast dying out, still swarmed the waters. Formerly they were known as Trilobites — those of this age are christened Phil- lipsia. Their family had exercised a sort of mollus- can oligarchy during previous geological epochs. But the Carboniferous period saw the last of the race, and its limestones became their tomb. I am told that the geologist knows few fossils more beautiful than these little trilobites. The cream, coloured matrix in which they are imbedded, and the perfect and ornate characters of the fossils them- selves, cause them to be greedily collected and much admired. In the same sea were hundreds of species of shells besides, all of which thronged together to enjoy a common life ; but to mention them separately would be to convert my story into a tedious detail. I should be lacking greatly in memory, however, if I were not to mention a most abundant and peculiar family, allied to the star-fishes and sea-urchins of the present day — I mean the Crinoids. The common feather-star of recent seas most resembles the upper parts of these extinct animals. But the tentacles of the latter were longer, whilst each was subdivided into branches. When at rest, these closed around the body like the petals of a tulip. Again, each was fastened to a jointed stem, which anchored itself by roots to the sea-bottom. Submarine forests of these crinoids covered many square miles of the rockier portions, and their graceful outlines and motions in the water, as well as their bright colours, were sufficient to induce admiration. In Derby- shire the limestone is almost entirely composed of their broken and aggregated stems. As these dead shells and other animal remains accumulated along the ocean-floor to form a lime- stone that should afterwards be easily identified by their imbedded forms, almost every individual was coated by minute sea-mats. No Honiton lace of the present day ever excelled in grace and elegance that which belonged to these lowly animated beings. In the solid masses of the Carboniferous limestone you may now fiud them festooning shells and corals ; and few objects afford greater delight to the geologist when he comes across them. The single torals also — that is to say, those which did not grow in reefs, but lived solitary on the sea-bottom —were not inferior in beauty to any now existing. Their fringe of gorgeously coloured tentacles made them ap- pear like so many animated flowers ; and thus the dark caves of ocean then bore many a flower that was born to blush unseen. Slowly, through countless myriads of years, the Carboniferous limestone in- creased to its present thickness, principally by the accumulation of dead shells ! The sea-water con- tained more or less of carbonate of lime, which the shell-fish absorbed in order to build then- dwellings, just as the trees did carbon that they might form wood. In this way the minute particles became ultimately condensed into rock masses. Meantime, the water was animated by little creatures that would have evaded human eyesight, although their forms were not a whit less elegant and graceful than those of their larger neighbours. Their tiny shells fell to the sea-bottom, and there formed a bmy mud, which acted as a fine cement for the bigger fossils. As time passed on, the sea actually became shallower, by reason of the vast numbers of organ- isms lying on its floor. The weight of sea-water pressed them into a solid limestone rock, such as you now behold it. Can you wonder, after this, that such a deposit should take a high polish when worked, or that the marble thus produced should be speckled and marked by so many strange forms as you see it in your mantel- pieces or pillars ? In the shallower waters of the sea, and sometimes even in the marine lagoons where the trees grew, multitudes of strangely-clad fishes swarmed. The largest of these, the Megalichthys, or " great fish/' possessed characters which linked it to the reptile family. Its teeth and jaws rendered it a formidable assailant, and its powerful build and rapidity in swimming made it the terror of its neighbours. In fact, the "great fish" occupied a place among the fishes of its time similar to that held in modern b 2 HAftDWICKE'S SCIENCE- GOSSIP. [Jan. 1, 1869. rivers by the pike ; its size, also, averaging about the same. Time, however, would fail me to enumerate the various kiuds of fish that lived in the same epoch that I did. From four or five feet in length, to thousands no bigger than the common stickleback, all were covered with enamel plates instead of horny scales. Indeed, homy-scaled fishes did not come into existence for ages afterwards. In many parts of Lancashire, in the shales which overlie the coal-seams, these shining enamelled plates may be turned up by the thousand. The smaller fishes haunted the shallower lagoons overhung by club- mosses and ferns, and the dim light that broke through these was often reflected from the sheeny mail of Palaonisci, as they wantoned and gambolled, unaware of " great fish " lying near. When the muddy bottoms of these reaches and lagoons became afterwards hardened into coal-shale, the dead fishes lying there, whose hard covering had protected them from decay, were entombed and passed into a fossil state. But what tongue can describe the vegetable wonders of the forests where I grew ? The woods were so thick, and the gloom so impenetrable in consequence, that it required a keen eye to make out individual peculiarities. Fancy Lepidoclendra four or five feet in diameter, and as much as fifty or sixty feet high, and yet nothing but gigantic " club-mosses " ! Their long leafy ribbons waved like the leaves of the aspen, and, where these had fallen off, the bark was most gracefully and geome- trically reticulated from their attachment. Thirty or forty different sorts of these immense club-mosses existed at the same time, each characterized by different leaves and bark. The gigantic Sigillaria were nearly related to them, the main difference being their longer leaves, straighter stems, and the larger marks made on the bark. The roots, also, of this latter class of trees were very peculiar, and stretched through the mud on every side, seeking a firm foundation for the tree to which they belonged. Shooting many feet above these great club-mosses were huge " mares' -tails," as easily distinguished from the rest as the wavy poplar nowadays is from oak and elm. These are called Catamites, and truly they were extraordinary objects. You have only to magnify the little "mares'-tails" growing in ditches until you see them fifty and sixty (or more) feet high, and you would have the best restoration of these Calamites that could be imagined. There were many species, characterized by fluted joints, and by difference of foliage. Here and there, but more sparsely scattered, were graceful tree-ferns, whose former fronds had left great scars on each side the trunk. The higher grounds were occupied by peculiar species of pine, bearing great berries as big as crab-apples. The humid morass was densely covered by a thick underwood of smaller ferns, which grew there in rank abundauce. The equable temperature, rich soil, and humid atmosphere were just the needful accessories to the growth of vegeta- tion of the class I have mentioned. It consequently flourished at a rate of which we can form but a poor idea from the present. The accumulated trees, ferns, &c, were very great, and these gathered in immense quantities over the entire area. I men- tioned before that there was a slow sinking or sub- mergence going on. Well, occasionally, the tides brought up silt and strewed it over the decomposing vegetation. In fact, many of the forests were actually buried thus, and their trunks are frequently met with standing erect in solid sandstone rock. But though the covering-up of the vegetation pre- vented the liberated gases from escaping, it also obstructed for a time the growth of other trees. The latter could not well flourish on sand-banks, and so they were limited to conditions elsewhere similar to those I have mentioned. But as time elapsed, the old circumstances returned. Another forest grew on the site of the older, to be buried up in its turn. During countless ages this alternate growth and covering-up went on, until in some places, as in the South Wales coal-field, there are no fewer than one hundred different seams of coal ! After this vegetation had been thus collected, chemical changes began to take place. The mass heated and turned black, just as a stack of hay does now when it has been packed in a damp state. By- and-by, it was transmuted into a pulpy condition, wherein almost all traces of vegetable structure be- came lost. It afterwards changed into a solid sub- crystalline mass, and obtained the jetty, semi-cubical character it now presents. As many of the tissues of coniferous trees contain more or less of silex, which is indestructible, it follows that when coal is burned, this drops out of the grate as a white ash. Wheu the microscope is applied to it, the peculiar spiral and dotted vessels of these ancient trees are plainly visible. But notice the associations which cling to a piece of coal ! It represents a more solid condition of carbon than is to be found in mere wood. And here I should state that though various conditions of fossil fuel are met with, from green wood to culm and anthracite, their vegetable origin is never once lost sight of; whilst chemistry steps in with an easy statement of how these changes occurred! The ancient vegetation of the Coal period grew by virtue of the stimulus of the sun -light. The heat and light induced growth, and thus even a piece of coal represents so much fossil sunshine t And now, when men light their fires or manufacture their gas, they are but setting free the light and heat of the suu which poured down on the old Carboniferous forest, and were stored up by the vegetation in their tissues. Nay, more, botanists will tell you that the three primary colours of light are sure to be developed at some time or another in the history of every plant or tree— in the blue aud Jan. 1, 1869.] HARDWICKE'S SCIEN CE -GOSSIP. yellow which form the green of the leaves, and in the red of the fruit or russet of the bark. Just so with the fossil vegetation termed coal. The very- aniline colours which are obtained from coal tar are nothing more or less than the restoration of the primary colours which the ancient vegetation stored up from the light ! Such is a portion of my history, briefly sketched; but the broad traces of design manifested in my preparation are too palpable to be overlooked. The age in which I was born was a special one, like to none other which went before or came after ; and it is to me that modern progress is indebted. In my mass is stored up a . force that saves the wear and tear of human muscle and sinew, that does away with the fearful toil which makes simple slaves of men, and enables them to gain daily bread by easier means. But through the vast ages during which I have been silently stowed away, plutonic disturbances have repeatedly broken through and cracked the solid strata, and have thus brought them to the surface to enable men to work the coal they contain. Meantime life in its manifold phases has never once been absent ; whilst its up- ward progression culminated in a being endowed with moral and mental as well as physical perfec- tions, and it was for him and his kind that I was specially prepared, to surround him with the means of social happiness and comfort, and to enable him to rise higher in the scale of intellectual being. CHEYLETL* THESE arachnids, some species of which, ac- cording to the " Micrographic Dictionary," are found in books and museums, are thus described in that work: — "Rostrum prominent, palpi thick, resembling arms, and falciform at the ends, antennal forceps (mandibles?) didactylous."t My acquaintance with them began in the early part of December 1866, when I was searching in a cellar for microscopic curiosities, chiefly Podurae. To the naked eye they appeared as little orange- coloured mites % on the surface of the damp wood and amid the spiders' webs, &c.§ A lens revealed something of their outline, and I thought I recog- nized certain characteristics of the creature so ably described by Mr. Richard Beck in the Journal of Microscopical \Science as "a new species of acarus," whose agamic reproduction offered an interesting field for study. Accordingly I eagerly collected all the specimens I could, amounting to about eight, and prepared to watch them in confine- ment. Like Mr. Beck, I soon found that the Cheyletus was partial to a diet of cheese-mites ; so * Read at the Quekett Microscopical Club, 23 Oct., 1868. f Micrographic Dictionary. J Possibly the species is new. § [Cheyletus venustissimus (Koch.) is an orange species found in stables, &c, which this somewhat resembles. — Ed.] in a supply of these my captives were speedily indulged. After coursing round and round their prisons, seeking in vain for a means of escape, the Cheyleti at last settled down to a quiet life, dividing their time between satisfying their appetites and laying eggs. Both these processes were extremely curious, and displayed a degree of intelligence which to me seemed surprising in so minute a creature. The hungry Cheyletus would start forth from its hiding-place in the cell, the first pair of legs (which, by the way, in some species are never used to walk upon) extended as if groping. As I cannot discover any eyes in the creature, I am led to conclude that this is the sole function of the first pair of legs. Their branched structure favours this inference. By-and-by, after poking them into various holes and corners, they would touch a Fig. 1, Cheyletus, x 30. moving cheese-mite ; I say moving, because if the cheese-mite remained still, it seemed to escape the notice of the Cheyletus altogether, even though it were repeatedly touched by these groping organs. But if it moved, the Cheyletus actively turned itself in that direction, placing its head at right angles to the cheese-mite's body, and lowering it towards the mite's legs ; then it suddenly seized hold of a leg with the mandibles and falces, the former piercing, and the latter holding it steady. Having made an aperture in the skin of the mite, the Cheyletus pro- ceeded to suck into its own body the contents of that of its prey. With a two-third inch objective the passage of the fluids by constant jerks down the leg of the mite, and into the Cheyletus could be clearly seen. Unless greatly disturbed, it would not relinquish its hold till its appetite was satisfied, but it would carry or drag the mite with it as it retired from suspected danger. Whether the bite of the Cheyletus is venomous to the cheese-mite, is an open question— Mr. Beck thinks it is venomous. Anyhow, the mite ceases to move in about a second after it is bitten, doubling up its legs immediately, HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Jan. 1, 18G9. as if paralyzed. After the meal is despatched and the shrivelled-up skin of the mite is cast away, the Cheyletus returns to the spot in the cell which it has appropriated as its home, and prepares to deposit an egg. Before and after doing this, it is at great pains to spin threads (apparently from its mouth) crossing each other in various directions at one point, to prevent the egg rolling away from the selected spot, and also to afford the young Cheyletus, when hatched, some slight protection. The young (as with acari hi general) have only six legs, and they remain, for some little time after leaving rthe egg, under the shelter of the silken cords which formed its support before it burst. The cheese-mites that were enclosed in the cell with the adult Cheyleti, being hunger-pressed, commenced their depredations on the eggs of their Fig. 2. Egg of Cheyletus, § in. and A eye-piece. enemies, and were so successful in this under- taking that from the early part of December till the end of January, when the mites were in much diminished force, not one of the eggs of the Cheyleti, though many were laid, was suffered- to hatch. They all disappeared under the mandibles of the cheese-mites, whose voracity till then I was not well acquainted with. One even had the temerity to attack an adult Cheyletus, and was successful in the attempt. Somehow it got round to the rear of its enemy, and, having thus obtained the advantage, it made the most of its opportunity, by climbing up and then cutting furrows in the unfortunate prisoner's back, and transferring the fragments of viscera to its own interior economy, till at last the Cheyletus gave in, and submitted to its fate. After the captor had glutted itself, it left the prey quivering in agony, and waddled off. When I took another glance, two hours afterwards, five other cheese-mites were busily occupied clearing away the remains of the feast, and they steadily persisted till nothing but the horny feet and mandibles re- mained. These they rejected ; and I observe they always leave these parts uneaten after a cannibal feast, which is not an unfrequent occurrence in the life of our friend Acarus domesticus. About the middle of February the eggs of the Cheyleti were hatching too rapidly for the cheese- mites to keep down the race effectually, and it was most interesting to witness the early development of ferocity towards cheese-mites in the young Chey- leti. They would attack individuals much larger than themselves by gripping the cheese-mite's leg fiercely, and keeping hold long enough to obtain some slight nutriment from the juicy prey. In almost all cases, however, a few kicks compelled Fis 3. Head of Cheyletus ; mandibles holding leg of Cheese-mite, \ in. obj. the young tyrant, whose strength was not equal to its desires, to relinquish its hold very soon. An hour or two afterwards it would try again, and suc- cessfully obtain some refreshment after a similar struggle. Thus these little mites prolonged their existence, and gradually grew larger. The conduct in confinement of this Cheyletus, which, from comparison with Mr. Beck's drawings, I take to be a distinct species from that he describes, is probably just the same in its natural state. I generally notice it in the dark cellar alluded to, either in some crevice in certain pieces of wood, or protected by an old forsaken spider's web ; and in its neighbourhood I observe, often in considerable numbers, an active species of mite, certainly not a cheese-mite, but probably the species figured in Hogg's book on the microscope as a flour-mite. Occasionally I have caught a Cheyletus in the act of making a meal off one of these. But it seems to me that the Cheyletus is by no means restricted in its diet to one species of acarus, for in confinement I have observed it devouring several. Not long ago a person called my attention to a large birdcage, which was much infested by the bird -mite (Derma?iyssus avium). A close ex- amination of the nests of that creature revealed a mass of mites of all sizes, their cast skins and eggs, Jan. 1, 1869.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. and also numerous Cheyleti, Avhich bad so freely imbibed tbe contents of the bodies of tbe Der- manyssi as to acquire tbeir colour, — a very deep red, almost black. These remarks would be extremely incomplete if no allusion were made to the species of Cheyletus that Mr. R. Beck described, and which I have lately been fortunate enough to find. The three or four specimens which came in my way had taken up their abode on the cover of a book that had lain in a cupboard for about a year undisturbed. They were each sitting on the top of a small heap of eggs in various stages of development, some being already hatched, and some only just laid. At short dis- tances off, also, on all sides, there were numerous cast skins of the creature, and discarded remnants of unlucky acari that had fallen a prey to them. Fig. 4. Retribution on a Cheyletus by a Cheese-mite. The most remarkable and interesting discovery in connection with this Cheyletus was the fact that he obtained several generations from the first indi- vidual, without the intervention of a male, leaving the question, "whether the creature is really her- maphrodite, or whether, as with Aphides, one act of fertilization by the male produces an indefinite series of generations ? " to be decided by some expert microscopic physiologist in the future. He says, " On July 10th of this year, a young acarus of this species was taken from a trap, in which there was only a mature female; it was completely isolated, and on the 29th of the same month it laid eggs, which hatched on the 4th of August. One of these on the day it was hatched was removed to a trap, and also completely isolated ; by the 13th of September it had laid eggs, and some had hatched. On the 19th of September, two of the young from the last-mentioned trap were separated and secured. Since then, one of these specimens was killed ; the other laid eggs, which hatched on the 29th of December, and one of these young ones is still alive, but isolated in the same way as its pre- decessors. " The securing a succession of three generations, including some accidents, has with me extended over a period of about five months, and I am quite prepared to admit that the proof of agamic repro- duction in this acarus would have been more satisfactory if continued through a longer period ; but after reading Professor Huxley's paper on the Agamic Reproduction of Aphis, in part of which he states that cin Myriapoda and Arachnida the Fig. 5. Mr. R. Beck's Cheyletus. process is not known,' I have thought that the few facts I have just given were of sufficient value to bring before your notice." * This Cheyletus has shorter legs than the other that I have alluded to in the early part of my notes ; it has a smoother skin, and its palpi and head are much larger relatively to the rest of its body. It also is of a paler yellow ; but it is possible that the colour may be greatly influenced by its diet. The first pair of legs are more highly developed as organs of locomotion than in the other species, but it appears, notwithstanding, to be less given to roam- ing about. As it has been in my possession but a few days, I have not been able to verify the obser- vations of the distinguished microscopist I have quoted; but at some future time I may be able to communicate further information. S. J. MTntire. * Journal of Microscopical Science. HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Jan. 1, 1S69. FRESH-WATER PLANARLE. rpHESE little Hat-worms, common as they are, -*- have been little noticed among the numerous objects which come under the aquarium-keeper's eye ; and, with the exception of Mr. Kay Lankester's paper in the Popular Science Review, I can find no systematic account of their habits. I have there- fore set down the following disjointed notes of my own, in the hope of suggesting a more extensive history to others who have greater facilities for ob- servation than I possess. The Planaria?, which are included in the class of Plat-worms (Platyelminthes), and are members of the order Tushellasia, may be found abundantly in our streams and ponds, either gliding about or clinging in a quiescent state to the inferior surfaces of stones, water-lily leaves, &c. In size they vary from nearly an inch in length to a mere speck, and their colouring presents different tints, — rufous, orange, white, black, and olive green. Locomotion is effected by a continuous over gliding, similar to that of the Bubble- shell (Pkysa fontinalis), but swifter. The white varieties, which are far more sensitive to touch than their coloured congeners, will, when alarmed, contract and relax their bodies violently in the attempt to progress like a leech, but, though they can proceed in this way, no true sucking-disc is present. Apropos of the sensitive- ness of the Planarise, they often fall foul of the Hydra?, but seem nowise incommoded by the contact, though sometimes escaping with difficulty from the grasp of the tentacles. Like many molluscs, these creatures will frequently launch themselves on the surface of the water with the ventral aspect upper- most. When thus travelling, any disturbance of the water will send them tumbling down; and I have often seen them break their fall, or even remain suspended by means of a delicate thread. This cord is probably spun, as Dalyell and others mention spinnarets as present in some species ; but it may be due merely to the mucous secretion which covers the body and causes the fingers to adhere slightly after handling a Planaria. They are active night and day ; but if the weather be cold they contract themselves and cling to sheltered stones or bury themselves in the ooze. In the absence of such shelter they suspend themselves from the surface of the water, much as the hydra is wont to do, by hollowing the ventral aspect into a kind of boat. The Black Planarians may be found in cold weather huddled together in great numbers and in almost any water ; for they are by no means particular in the latter respect, and will bear changing from fresh to putrid water without injury. I have not ob- served, however, that the fresh-water species enter the brackish water at the mouth of the same river ; and on transferring some individuals from fresh to slightly brackish water they apparently lost all power of locomotion, feebly erecting themselves on either extremity and writhing about. They were dead on the expiration often minutes ; and, curiously, they became tough and shrivelled like shreds of leather, though naturally of a semi-gelatinous consistency. In common with the hog-louse {Asellus) and the fresh-water shrimp (Gammarus), the Planaria plays the role of scavenger. A dead mollusc is speedily black with feasters ; and on one occasion 1 found them attending the funeral of a relative, when, the orthodox " baked meats " not being forthcoming, they devoured their deceased friend. At another time a living stickleback was attacked. The fish in question was affected with a disease in the form of white glandular swellings. Being placed for a few minutes in a jar containing Planarise, an individual of the black variety (Polycelis nigra) fixed itself on one of the excrescent swellings ; nor was the fish, though evidently troubled by its presence, able to shake it off. I presently pushed the worm off, whereupon a thin stream of blood issued from a wound visible as a slight puncture on the ball. Having left the fish for a short time, I found it on my return covered with Planarians and, if not exactly sucked dry, at least minus its natural fluids. The aliment of these creatures is received into the stomach through a suctorial pharynx, which is cap- able of extension, and serves also for the ejection of the non-assimilated food. The latter falls as white flosculent matter. In one specimen, which I cut transversely, this pharynx remained hanging to one of the halves of the body in an extended state, and did not fall off for about ten days, when doubtless a new organ had been formed. It is well known that the Planaria; rival the Hydra; in their susceptibility of reproduction by artificial division ; but the power of spontaneous fission possessed by them is yet hardly proved. I have cut many both longitudinally and transversely, and severed them partially or wholly, and they usually formed perfect animals, but I have not witnessed an instance of spontaneous separation ; nevertheless the white species (Planaria lactea), after being partially crushed, will discard the wounded portion, and supply its place by a fresh growth. The same species, if the frontlet be slit so as to form two heads, presents a strange sight, each head striving to pursue a separate course, which is mostly diametically opposed to that of the other. A slight sketch of the characteristics of the com- moner species may be found in the " Micrographic Dictionary," where, in addition to the black and white varieties, a dark grey species (P. torva) and a dusky-brown species (P. brunned) are mentioned. These are essentially similar in habits to the Black Planaria, but are more locally distributed. Besides these I have found several of an olive colour, which Jan. 1, 1SC9.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. are of large size, very broad in proportion to the length, and show a rudely dendritic " water- vas- cular" system. This variety is much less active than the above-mentioned, and far less abundant. Like the "White Planaria, it has the habit of pucker- ing its body into folds when at rest. It has been a matter of doubt whether the Planariae possess the faculty of sight, although they exhibit eye-spots varying in number from two to sixteen, and even more. I incline to think they do derive some aid from these eyes in their progress. In a jar in which my Planariae are kept, the weeds hang above a large stone, up which the worms crawl, and, immediately lifting up their bodies on the posterior extremity, they pass on to the over- hanging weed without pausing or feeling about for a hold ; thus proving that they are conscious of the presence of the weed, though it is nearly half an inch above them. A. Hakt Evebett. ELORAL GIANTS. THE two largest flowers in the world hold very distinct places in the vegetable kingdom; inasmuch as one is a water-plant with leaves pro- portionally large, the other a parasite on tree trunks, without any leaves at all. In short, the one is the representative giant of aquatic, the other of land plants. The aquatic is the elegant Victoria regia (the Irupe or water-plate of the natives of Guiana, the Royal Water-lily), which for beauty, size, and sweetness of scent stands without a rival. Its enormous flowers, measuring not less than 15 inches across, open each evening, of a pure white, but gradually assume a pink hue, diffusing, as they mature, a delicious odour. As is the case with our own water-lilies, the flowers are accompanied by several floating leaves, each 5 or 6 feet in diameter : but these leaves, to meet the necessities of the case, are of a very peculiar construction : the edges are turned upwards, forming a ridge 3 or 4 inches high the whole way round, giving the leaf the appearance of a huge platter. The lower surface, which is of a purplish-red colour, is traversed in every direction by stout projecting ribs, strengthening the material of the leaf to an incredible extent. This glorious plant, an inhabitant of the Amazon and some of its affluents, was first discovered by a German traveller, Thaddeus Haenke, in 1S01; it was soon after seen by Bonpland, but was first described by Poppig in 1S32, and named by him Euryale Amazonica. Five years later Sir R. Schom- burgk again fell in with it in the river Berbice, and from the examination of specimens sent home by him it was removed by Professor Lindley from the before-named genus and re-named Victoria regia. Schomburgk describes so graphically his feelings on first encountering this stately plant, that I cannot resist inserting the passage : — " While contending with the difficulties that nature opposed in different forms to our progress up the river Berbice, we arrived at a point where the river expanded and formed a currentless basin. Some object on the southern extremity of this basin attracted my attention. It was impossible to form any idea of what it could be ; and animating the crew to increase the rate of their paddling, we were shortly afterwards opposite the object that had raised my curiosity— a vegetable wonder ! All calamities were forgotten ; I felt as a botanist, and felt myself rewarded : a gigantic leaf, from 5 to 6 feet in diameter, salver-shaped, with a broad rim, of a light green above and a vivid crimson below, resting on the water. Quite in character with the wonderful leaf was the luxuriant flower, consisting of many hundred petals, passing in alternate tints from pure white to rose and pink. The smooth water was covered with the blossoms." Sir Robert has himself told me the story in a similar strain, and has mentioned how he has seen large heavy water-birds standing, three or four together, on the broad leaves, supported by the net- work of ribs on the lower surface.* The other giant, Rafflesia, has none of the graces which distinguish the lovely Victoria: it is note- worthy, however, both for its enormous size and for the extraordinary circumstance that the solitary flower constitutes the whole plant. There is literally neither stem, branch, leaf, nor in fact any organ whatever, except the flower itself and the rootlike processes by which it is attached to the trunk of the tree on which it grows and by whose juices it is nourished. Let the reader imagine a great dull red corolla fixed to the side of a tree — generally some species of Cissus — undistinguished by a stem and unrelieved by leaf or verdure of any kind, and he will have some notion of this singular production of the islands of the Indian Archipelago. Clifton. W. W. Spicek. Local Names, whether of birds, beasts, or fishes, and of all vegetable organisms, will be of service if sent either to Mr. James Britten, of High Wycombe, or Mr. Robert Holland, of Mobberley, Knutsford, Cheshire. * It is worth recalling to mind that the late Sir J. Paxton, the architect of the Great Exhibition building-, 1851, borrowed his plan of construction from the leaf of the Victoria. He says : " It was here (Chatsworth) that this singularly beau- tiful aquatic flowered for the first time in this country, on Nov. 9, 1£-19. You will observe that Nature was the engineer in this case. If you examine this and compare it with the drawings and models, you will perceive that Nature has pro- vided it with longitudinal and transverse girders and sup- porters, on the same principle that I, borrowing from it, have adopted in this building." 10 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Jan. 1, 1S69. ASSOCIATION POR THE PROTECTION OP SEA-BIRDS ON THE ENGLISH COAST. IT is well known that the English coast, on some of its loftiest cliffs and boldest headlands, has from time immemorial been the favourite haunt— during the breeding season— of a variety of gulls and other sea-birds; and so long as railways, steamers, aud other means and motives of locomotion did not invade their privacy, they were secure from all but those smaller chances of loss arising from the occasional visit of a sportsman or a tourist. Those days of seclusion and security are now, unhappily, among the things of the past; and a systematic destruction of sea-bird life has become so completely the abnormal state of things that it is felt that, unless steps be immediately taken to protect them from harm— and, if possible, secure them from molestation — during the incubating period, by some stringent legislative enactment, there will soon be no birds left on the English coast. It was recently stated in the leading journal that one person alone had a contract for 10,000 birds, the wings being largely used as an article of com- merce ; it seems, however, to be quite overlooked— or, if foreseen, to be a matter of indifference— that, even in an economical point of view, the supply must soon be followed by scarcity, with no source left to which to look for its possible renewal. There are other grounds, however, of more im- perial interest than the mere decoration of female attire, upon which an appeal may and must now be made on behalf of the sea-birds of Old England. It is understood to have been already proved before the Manx authorities, in procuring a special Act for the Isle of Man, that the cry of the birds in foggy weather will more effectually warn the seaman of his danger as he approaches the rock-bound coast, than either the fog-bell or the beacon-light could do; while the fisherman, earning his honest liveli- hood among the finny tribes of the deep, is often guided where to cast his nets, or where to drop his line, by the hovering of the sea-birds over the tbickest of the shoal. Other arguments might be adduced why these birds should have the fostering care of our country's laws, instead of being left to what must otherwise be their speedy and cruel fate ; a plea might be put in hi favour of that which constitutes, to every lover of the beautiful, one of the charms of the wildest parts of our coast scenery; but it is hoped that enough has been said to warrant the publication of this ad- dress, inviting co-operation and support for an asso- ciation, the object of which is to endeavour to carry an Act through Parliament, in the ensuing session, for the purpose of preventing the destruction of sea- birds during the breeding season. The following facts and figures were communicated by Commander H. H. Knocker, R.N., to Land and Water, and will show the necessity for prompt action. It takes only "the Yorkshire coast-line between Scarborough and Bridlington, a distance of about IS miles, and which includes Piley, Speeton, Bempton, and Flamborough, North and South. The lowest estimate of numbers has been taken, that there may be no charge of exaggeration." Time which the birds are on the coast (say from the middle of April to the 10th of August), llOjdays. Say 25 boats daily (Scarborough, Piley, Plambo- rough, Bridlington), with 2 guns in each boat (many take 4 or".,6), will make 50 guns ; then 15 guns on shore" (Mr. Dobson, guumaker, has let out himself as many as 21 per day) gives a total of 65 guns. Allowing 15 birds to be shot or wounded per gun, this will give 975 birds per day, or 107,250 for the season. Add to this number 12,000 birds per season destroyed by professional bird-killers, and we have a total of 119,250 birds killed for pleasure and gain. Take also into calculation the egg -collectors, and compute them at 8, each of which would collect 100 eggs per day for 42 days, and we have a total of 33,600 eggs taken annually. Allowing that two-thirds of the birds shot have young ones or eggs, this gives 79,500 young birds or eggs lost by their parents being destroyed. This does not include the numerous ones lost when the birds are frightened off the rocks, and sweep off the young or eggs they are sitting on. We then have 107,250 birds destroyed by pleasure parties, 12,000 birds destroyed for gain, 33,600 eggs taken, 79,500 young birds starved to death or eggs lost. 232,350 birds and eggs shot, wounded, die, and taken in the breeding season, or between the middle of April and early in August. Those who wish to join the association are requested to send their names and addresses to one or other of the honorary secretaries — viz., the Rev. H. P. Barnes, the Vicarage, Bridlington ; and Mr. Harland, Bridlington, Yorkshire. A subscription of five shillings or upwards con- stitutes membership. THE PAST YEAR, 1868. AS one of the objects of Science-Gossip is to record the variations which each year pre- sents, a few observations on the past season, in addition to those which have been abeady recorded, may not be out of place. In the spring of last year I referred to the variegated leaves which had even then become noticeable from their frequent occurrence; and I may remark, in passing, that the variegated elder, which I then mentioned, bad its later leaves of the usual colour, although the earlier ones were green Jan. 1, 1869.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 11 and yellow until the end of the season. As the year •went on, these variegated leaves became more re- markable ; so much so that, were I to give a list of all that I have observed, I should enumerate nearly a hundred species. Perhaps the most ornamental was a plant of the Ribwort Plantain {Plantago lanceolate?) which I found near Knutsford : each leaf had a broad lohite — not yellow — border, throw- ing up the green centre with great effect. At Llanfairfechan, North Wales, I found a plant of Silverweed {Potentilla anserina) with the leaflets half yellow and half green. Doubtless many readers will call to mind additional examples. Again, the general drought which prevailed in the summer months produced a curious effect upon the autumn vegetation. We shall notice, almost every season, that a few odd plants of certain species will put forth a second crop of blossoms in the autumn ; but I have never observed this second crop so general as it was last year. While in Cheshire, at the end of September, I noticed that the Meadow Crowfoot {Ranunculus acris) was every- where coming into flower ; and on my return to Wycombe the same occurrence was equally conspicuous. The Dogwood (Cormis sanguinea) flowered twice ; how many times the honey- suckle blossomed I am quite unable to say ; certainly three, probably four. The Marsh Marigold {Call ha palustris) and Wood Stitchwort (Stellaria nemorum) were in flower at Mobberley at the end of Sep- tember ; the Garlic Mustard [Alliaria officinalis) blossomed again, in October, at Wycombe ; and a turnip-field near Great Marlow was in the middle of November almost filled with Erysimum cheiran- tho'ides and Penny Cress (Thlaspi arvense), just coming into bloom. These, and many other instances, suggest that a complete second crop was produced, the first having seed sufficiently early to allow of such an occurrence. As to monstrosities and malformations, they have been unusually abundant ; but an abler hand than mine has undertaken to describe them. Many aquatic plants, deprived of what would seem their natural element, have, contrary to what might have been expected, flourished most luxuriantly. I first noticed this near Aylesbury in July, where the Arrowhead [{Sagittaria sagittifolia) was growing in large masses in the almost dried-up bed of a stream. Water-lilies (Nymphaa alba and Nuphar luted) were similarly benefited by this change of circumstance. Mr. Holland states that Utricularia minor, growing in pools containing but little water, was flowering freely at Oakmere ; this species seldom blossoms in ordinary seasons. The Pillwort (Pilularia globulifera), in the same locality, formed masses, green and luxuriant as grass, many yards in extent. Many bog plants, however, had been seriously affected ; on Lindow Common, Cheshire, the Sundews {Drosera rotundifolia and D. anglica), except in a few places, did not put in an appearance ; Andromeda polifolia flowered three, if not four, times.* On the road between Mobberley and Knutsford are three or four beech-trees ; these had, apparently, been killed by the heat ; their leaves were in august shrivelled and brown. At the end of September, however, after the showery weather, I observed young green leaves appearing at the ends of several of the branches. Mr. Holland has referred (Science-Gossip iii., p. 249) to the growth of fresh shoots from the axils of the leaves on the dead main stem of many plants. Here, at High Wycombe, the same thing has been noticeable. In the Field of September 19th a correspondent says that there were two regular swarms of bees on September 1st in a garden in the parish of Shiplake, Henley-on-Thames. The editor thinks that these were cases of desertion of the hive for want of food, and that the correspondent was mistaken. It seems, however, quite likely that the bees were mis- taken in the season, and did swarm, as many plants had put on an appearance of spring. In fact, the bees probably did not swarm before, because of the scarcity of food ; but they did then, because there was a new supply. Bees do not generally desert a hive en masse, but dwindle away, usually leaving a considerable number of dead ones behind. Other entomological occurrences— such as the great number of " whites " recorded from many places, the absence of wasps, the appearance of rare moths and butterflies — I leave to be recorded in detail by those who devote themselves to their observation. B. POPPY-SEEDS. FN continuation of the theme of "Microscopic -■- Seeds," commenced in our November number, we offer figures and descriptions of a few seeds from the Poppy family, known to botanists as the Papaveracea. There is undoubtedly a great simi- larity in the seeds of the true Poppies themselves, or at least in all we have had the opportunity of examining, but the different genera of the order present peculiar types, which will be seen to differ entirely from those of the Poxglove family (Scro- phulariacece) already described. The Opium Poppy {Papaver somniferuni) has two varieties of seeds, the one called "white-seeded," with pale buff-coloured seeds, and the other " grey- seeded," with pale slate-coloured seeds. Micro- scopically, there is no difference, save in the colour. The form is kidney-shaped, and the surface reticu- lated, so as to leave shallow hexagonal pits, which * See Science-Gossip iii., p. 162. 12 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Jan. 1, 1869. again are more minutely reticulated with faint hexa- gonal veins, more distinct in the grey than in the white variety (fig. 6). Fig. 6. Seed of Opium Poppy, x 40. The Laege-flowered Argemone {Argemone grandiflora) is a cultivated plant. The seeds are larger than in the Poppy, of a brownish-black colour, nearly egg-shaped, pointed at one end, and reticu- lated in a similar mariner, but the pits are deeper, and more distinctly concave. The secondary reti- culations are almost obsolete (fig. 7). Fig. 7' Seed of Argemone grandiflora, x 40. Californian Platystemon {Platystemon Call- fornicuni) is another cultivated plant. The seeds are very distinct from those of the Poppies, being brownish-black and shining, elliptical, with a longi- tudinal furrow on one side. The reticulations are very faint, irregular, and elongated (fig. 8). Fig. 8. Seed of Platystemon Cali/ornicum, x 40. Common Eschscholtzia (Eschscholtzia Calif or- nica), found in nearly every garden, has rather large ovate seeds, bluntly pointed at each extremity. They are of a dull grey colour, deeply and coarsely reticulated. A distinct furrow usually traverses the seed longitudinally. The depressions are irre- gularly hexagonal, the ridges irregular at the margin, and striate from the base upwards. Se- condary, small, faint, hexagonal reticulations are just visible at the bottom of the pits (fig. 9). Slender-leaved Eschscholtzia {Eschscholtzia tenuifolia). — The figure of this seed, furnished by Mr. E. Marks, is so distinct in its character from Fig. 9. Seed of Eschscholtzia Califurnica, x 40. the foregoing that one feels almost disposed to doubt its identity. The form is irregular, almost spheroidal, and the surface, instead of being reticu- lated, is covered with large, prominent, conical Fig. 10. Seed of Eschscholtzia tenuifolia, x 40. projections (fig. 10). If truly an Eschscholtzia, and we have no other reason to doubt, it serves as a caution, not only against hasty generalizations, but also against the supposition that the seeds of all allied plants are very much alike. THE RUDD AND ITS SCALES. rpHE Rudd, or " Roud," as it is locally called, is -*- a common fish in the Norfolk Broads, and in the rivers which run through them. Zoologists recognize it as a distinct species under the name of Cyprinus erythr ophthalmitis. Anglers know it well in those waters, not only when they see it, but before they see it, by the manner in which it takes their bait. No angler who has been accustomed to this fish would ever dream of regarding it as only a local variety of some other fish, as the roach, or as a hybrid. Yet some persons have of late given ex- pression to a doubt whether the Rudd is not a hybrid between the Roach and the Bream. The supposition is ingenious, but, as I believe, utterly groundless. The habits and personal appearance of the fish condemn such a hypothesis. When cooked, its flesh is much firmer than either of the others of which it is supposed to be the offspring. At any rate, it is a truly fertile hybrid, and in the brightness of its colouring, and its edible qualities, is far superior to either of its supposed progenitors. The forms of scales in the three species are here figured for comparison, and we doubt whether they Jan. 1, 1869.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 13 can be adduced as any evidence of hybridization. Lubbock, in his "Eauna of Norfolk," says that, although often in company with the roach, "the Rudd, on the whole, prefers the broad, and the roach the river ; is very lively and active, rises freely at flies, and is fond of sporting on the surface; is most Fig. 11. Scale of It u del, x 10 diameters. vivid in colour, sometimes nearly rivalling the gold fish ; does not often exceed two pounds* but is commonly met with a pound and a half in tig. 12. Scale of Roach, x 10. weight ; is much better to eat than the roach or bream. I have seen marshmen select Rudd for their own cookery, wThilst they carried bream and roach home only forthe dogs or the pig." To these observa- tions we can bear evidence, founded upon many and many a day's pleasant sport amongst them, and sundry breakfasts at which a dish of Rudd was smoking. Although so plentiful in Norfolk, this is undoubtedly a local fish, and in many parts of the British Isles is wholly unknown. It has, however, been recorded from other localities than those in which we have made its acquaintance, as Yorkshire, Fig. 13. Scale of Bream, x 10. Lincolnshire, and Oxfordshire, to which I believe Cambridgeshire may be added. The scales figured are from fish taken last August, on the same day, and within a few yards of each other, in the neigh- bourhood of Barton Broad. C. CHRISTMAS BERRIES. Heap on more wood ! the wind is chill j But let it whistle as it will, We'll keep our Christmas merry still ! CHRISTMAS Berries. What are they ? what do they include ? Looking back to former days, and many a right merry Christmas long gone by, I should certainly say that the holly, the laurel, the ivy, and the mistletoe are most undoubtedly Christ- mas berries, for the plants and shrubs on which they grow have been, and still are, those most generally used for the decorations in fashion at Christmas-time in private houses. Church decorations is another matter. Many persons object to the Ivy soft and meek of speech, as the old carol has it, because it was considered sacred to Bacchus; and as to the mistletoe, a lady of my acquaintance read some young relatives of hers a long lecture on the Druidical rites performed in con- nection with this parasitical shrub, when they faintly hinted that its smooth white berries would form a pretty contrast to the coral-like red of the holly fruit, in an elaborate piece of floral embroidery, which they were making for a pet curate's especial delectation. But, as I am not particularly up either in clerical millinery or church ornamentation, I shall confine my description to those old home favourites, which we doubtless all remember as associated with our earliest recollections of Christ- mas day. Nay, ivy, nay, it shall not be I wys ; Let holly have the mastery, as the manner is. 14 HAHDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Jan. 1, 1S69. Our holly is the Ilex aquifolium, a tree possessed of many valuable properties, but far inferior, neverthe- less, to its SouthAinerican cousin, the Mate, the native tea-tree, I may call it, of the country. There are three different sorts of tea made from this species of holly, and brought into the markets in South America : one called the Caa-cuys is prepared from the half-opened leaf-buds, roasted and powdered ; the other, Caa-mire, is the leaf in its green state, de- prived of its midrif and veins ; whilst the Yerva de Palos of the Spaniards is the entire leaf, petioles, and small branches dried and beat up into a fine dust. A teaspoonful will make a large cupful. Boil- ing water is poured on it, and it is drunk when cold, or I should say sucked through a tube, after the fashion in which the Yankees imbibe cold drinks. It contains the same principle as tea — theine. The unripe fruit of some of the holly genus abounds in tannin, and Erench physicians are of opinion that the Ilicine (medicinal principle) is a most efficient substitute for Cinchona bark. There is little doubt but what the dressing up of houses at Christmas-time was derived from a heathen custom, for we read that the Romans ornamented their dwellings with green boughs during the Saturnalia ; but I do not see why this should afford any just cause of objection to our introducing ever- greens into our houses, for, if there is a Pagan pre- cedent, there is also a Biblical sanction. The Jews employed evergreens in their Feastof Tabernacles, and Christ entered Jerusalem over strewn Palm branches. Have you ever heard it said that if the evergreens put up at Christmas-time are not taken down before Caudlemas-day, there will be a death in the family who occupy that house before the year is out ? Ivy-berries are smooth and black ; they hang on all the winter, unless picked off by the birds. Wood-pigeons, especially, are devoted to them ; and I have heard it said that the resin which exudes from old branches will attract fish. If this be true, then fish do smell, which some writers in Land and Water appear to doubt, and have lately been dis- cussing with considerable facetiousness. By the way, it is as well to observe that the Irish Ivy, which is considered by some to be a variety of the common, bears red berries. Ivy formed the poet's crown in days gone by. Horace in his ode to Mecaenas, and Virgil in his seventh Eclogue, both refer to this custom. In- deed, the plant appears to have been a very great favourite with all the poets — so many of our own writers, ancient and modern, abound in beautiful allusions to it. The wood of the Ivy being so soft and porous, it obtained the reputation of being able to separate water from wine when the two were mixed together. Pliny mentions this, and gravely says that the water filtered through its pores, leaving the wine in the vessel. Garlands of Ivy are decidedly very pretty, and the ancients displayed good taste when they deco- rated the statues of their gods with it. There are over fifty species of Ivy. The Laurel was first brought over to Constan- tinople from the Caucasus by the name of Trabison cumasi, or " date of Trebizond," in 1576 ; but it was not cultivated in England before 1629. A London merchant, a Mr. Cole, first cultivated it at Highgate. He had a single plant of it, which he used to cover in winter time with a blanket in order to protect it from the frost. Who that has ever seen our beautiful evergreen Laurel hedges and banks at Christmas-time could possibly imagine this to have been the case with their first English ancestor ? The fruit of the Laurel is an ovate, shining, purple-black berry ; and, singular to relate, al- though the leaves, inner bark, and seeds contain a poisonous principle, the pulp of the fruit does not, and a preserve is made of it. The Mistletoe (Viscum album) produces a smooth white berry. The plant is a parasite, growing chiefly on Apple-trees, and rarely on the Oak, although persons generally imagine that most of the Mistletoe-berries seen at Christmas-time are found on Oak-trees ; but we must know, when we reflect on the superstitious reverence with which the Druids regarded the Mistletoe on the Oak, it was even a rare thing in those days to find the plant on that tree, for we are told that a search was made for it even in an age when this island was covered with forests of Oak. The berries were certainly, in the days of Shake- speare, considered poisonous, for he writes of it as the " baleful Mistletoe " ; but birds devour them very readily, and it is mentioned in a natural history of Prussia, by Boek, that the branches and leaves of Mistletoe had been dried and pounded in times of scarcity, and made into bread mixed with rye-flour. There are some singular old superstitions con- nected with this plant, originating, doubtless, in the Druidical customs before alluded to ; and the peasantry in some parts of England even now believe that an amulet made of the wood and hung round the neck would preserve the. wearer from witchcraft. My Christmas berries are described ; and, having commenced with a line from Scott, I will e'en con- clude with more : — And well our Christian sires of old Loved when the year its course had rolled, And brought blithe Christmas back again With all his hospitable train. Domestic and religious rite Gave honour to the holy night ; On Christmas-eve the bells were rung; Oa Christmas-eve the mass was sung ; That only night, in all the year, Saw the stoled priest the chalice rear. The damsel donned her kirtle sheen ; The hall was dres>ed with holly green; Forth to the wood did merry-men go, To gather in the mistletoe. Helen E. Watney. Jan. 1, 1869.] HAUDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 15 APHIS LION AND LACEWING ELY. IN the latter end of August last year my attention was attracted to an ivy-leaf, in the centre of which was something white. I gathered it, and on nearer!inspection found that there were about twenty or twenty-five small white bodies elevated on an ex- ceedingly fine footstalk, which again was attached to the centre of a small glistening circular disc on the upper surface of the leaf. Each was about the third of an inch long, and the space they covered did not exceed the size of a fourpeimy piece. I had never seen anything of the kind before, and, fearing lest I should not meet with it again, I took all the care possible of it, and immersed the end of the leafstalk in water. It put me more in mind of the fructification of some of the new mosses than any- thing else, and I imagined it was a minute fungus. I looked at it from day to day, but it remained just the same, even after the ivy -leaf dried up and became brown. It did not seem to suffer from the loss of moisture, but each little oval body stood up as stiff and erect as ever on its tiny footstalk. Eor ten days or a fortnight there was no change at all, and then I had to go away ; fortunately, I returned just as the mystery was being solved. Coming in within a week, and in the middle of the day, I went to the shelf on which they stood, and there, upon the mar- ble and close to the bottle, I saw two or three little black bodies crawling along. There were some on the bottle, more on the old brown leaf, two were leisurely descending the stalks from their elevated cradles, and one was just emerging from its shell. I was just in time to see the little colony burst into life ; had I been a day later I should have felt satis- fied it was a vegetable organism, as when the eggs were open, the regularity of their toothed margins tended to favour that idea. I had very little time to spare, but popped a few into a pill-box ; and as the microscope stood on the table ready 1o hand, I put one into the live-box, so as to get some means of identifying it subsequently ; I found it covered with black hairs, and the possessor of an enormous pair of jaws. . As I hurried away again, I wondered what it was, when it occurred to me that such a singular egg as this could never have escaped the notice of Kirby and Spence. On turning to that work, I was enabled to identify it as containing a larva called the Aphis Lion. Not very long before, out in the garden one evening with the same object which led me to discover these eggs, just as it was getting dusk, I noticed some fairy-like insect flitting about, and scarcely visible. I made several inef- fectual attempts to catch one ; and when at last I succeeded in getting my hat over one on the grass, and cautiously raised it, I was not clever enough to prevent its getting away. At length I saw one fairly settle on the palings, and having a small box in my hand, I took off the lid and inverted the box over the creature, then dived into my pocket for an envelope, which I slipped underneath the box, and then gradually withdrew it as I put on the lid. I conveyed it indoors, and exa- mined it beneath a gas-lamp, and I found an insect with a beautiful green body, large brilliant eyes like polished copper, and two pairs of large membranous wings, pale green, and reflecting the prismatic co- lours. Its wings were folded together ; and as I took hold of them to remove it from the box, I became conscious of a most disagreeable smell ; so that I popped it at once under a wineglass, and put in also a bit of paper steeped in chloroform. The smell is so pungent that you can taste it in your mouth as soon as you can smell it ; what to compare it to I do not know, but it reminded me of sul- phurous acid. Bad as it was, I was rather gratified by it than otherwise, for I thought so beautiful a creature with so foul an odour was sure to be in Kirby and Spence' s book, and there I found it, under the name Chrysopa perla. Wonderful as it is for its beautiful colour, for the brilliancy of its eyes, for the lustre and delicate structure of the wings, and also for the villainous nastiness of its perfume, it is no less wonderful as producing the singular eggs which 1 have before described : the Aphis Lion is the larva of the Chrysopa perla. They spin themselves a silken shroud, that they may die to the winter, from which they rise as the perfect insect in the following sum- mer. It is curious that an insect so gorgeously got up should fly only in the twilight, when its beauties cannot be appreciated; perhaps, however, there are eyes which can see more than ours ; but if there are, I am afraid the owners, instead of admiring it as a beautiful object, would admire it more as an article of diet ; and doubtless for that reason it is supplied with the means of emitting an odour which would deter any created being, I shoidd imagine, from en- tertaining such a thought for a moment. If any of the egg clusters are found, it would be quite worth while to transfer them to a conservatory, especially if infested with aphides, as these form the principal food of the larva in question. As soon as hatched, they start off in their search of the in- sects, and are said to require only half a minute to suck all the juice out of the biggest aphis. They are very voracious, only ceasing to eat when the supply fails, and then they not unfrequently attack each other. When gardening becomes more scien- tific, and it is considered necessary to have some little knowledge of the insects that are beneficial as well as prejudicial to plants, the eggs of the Chrysopa perla will doubtless possess some market value, and will be carefully collected for the express purpose of placing in greenhouses ; and then the progeny of a dozen of the insects will perhaps be found to rid a house of aphides more effectually and more economically than all the tobacco-paper that has ever been smoked. — F. H. Ward. 16 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Jan. 1, 1S69. ZOOLOGY. Sphinx Convolyuli.— The following paragraph has been going the round of the papers :— " A lady informs the Leamington Chronicle that she has recently seen the humming-bird (!) in , Staffordshire, Cheshire, and Warwickshire. The plumage was of a reddish brown, speckled upon the back with white." Is it not possible that S. convolvuli was intended ? This rare moth has been taken this year at High Wycombe and at Great Marlow. In the latter neighbourhood several specimens of the pale Clouded Yellow (Colias hyale) have been captured this season. C. edusa has this season occurred in the north and south of Buckinghamshire, and seems to be gradually becoming more frequent in the country.— B. The Cuckoo. — A correspondent of Science- Gossip asks for information concerning the cuckoo, and perhaps the following facts, mostly gathered from Montague's "Dictionary of British Birds" (see Introduction), may be interesting. The cuckoo generally arrives about the first or second week of April, but it has been heard on the 27th of March, as already mentioned in Science-Gossip; but it may be mentioned that one must be careful not to be taken in by some small boy who endeavours to April-fool his friends by imitating the notes so easily copied. Montague observes that the cuckoo has probably the power of retaining its eggs in the ovarium, and the reasons for supposing so are the following : — It would be often necessary, on account of the difficulty of always finding a nest ready for the cuckoo's egg, as it is highly improbable, if an egg were laid in an unfinished nest, that a small bird would continue incubating ; yet it has been frequently observed that in cases where the cuckoo's egg has been dropped the last into the nest it has been the first to hatch. This causes a supposition that the egg may have been retained in the ovarium, and therefore is already partly incubated by the in- ternal heat of the cuckoo's body. But, at the same time, that the cuckoo is unable to retain the egg beyond a certain time is evident from the account given by Mr. Harper, of Norwich, who shot a cuckoo with its egg in its beak searching on the ground for a nest to deposit it in. This bird had another egg in the ovarium of the same size, but without the calcareous covering. This also proves a question which has been much mooted — namely, that the cuckoo does not " lay " her eggs, but deposits them with her beak, and the nest has so often been found in positions where the egg could not have been laid, that it seems that there is no doubt about the fact. The nests chosen appear to be of many kinds — -amongst others, the hedge-sparrow's, red- breast's, pied wagtail's, linnet's, redstark's, titlark's, meadow pipits, and reed bunting's are mentioned. It has been stated that when the young cuckoo's foster-parents are unable to feed it sufficiently, they call all their neighbours to help them ; but it is much more probable that they mistake it for a hawk, and assemble round it as swallows and other small birds do round rapacious birds. That the young cuckoo throws other young birds out of the nest after being a day or two old is undoubted; but is it not possible that the old cuckoo may assist at first, as it has been stated that a young cuckoo is too weak for some days to stand up, much less to throw out other birds ? Young cuckoos have not been as yet successfully reared: the one kept longest died, not inappropriately, on the 1st of April. Should I have made any mistakes, 1 only hope any other correspondent will kindly correct me, as I shall be glad of all communications on the subject ; and if any abler person will enter further into the subject, he will oblige many who with myself take much interest in the history of the cuckoo. — E. G. W. Gnats. — About thirty years ago I remember an extraordinary flight of gnats; it consisted of a column about a foot in diameter, which rose nearly perpendicularly to the height of about fifty feet ; it waved about in the wind, lost its perpendicularity, and was finally dispersed by the wind. The column itself Mas at first tolerably compact, and contained probably a quarter of a million of insects. A more extraordinary flight occurred at Nottingham, on the 4th of October, 1S58 ; I say more extraordinary, inasmuch as I have heard and read of single columns of gnats, like that just mentioned, but I have never seen or heard before or since of a flight similar to that I am about to describe. It was between four and five o'clock, as I was crossing the little river Leen, below the castle rock on the western side, that I noticed a series of perpendicular lines extending for nearly a mile over the gardens along the bank of the stream, giving to the clouds and the smoke of a tall chimney in the distance a most extraordinary appearance. On a nearer inspection I found these lines to be columns of gnats. The base of each column was about six feet from the ground, and extended upward to the height of from twenty to one hundred feet ; the columns were all cigar shaped, that is, tapering at each end, and having a diameter in the centre of about eighteen inches. The columns appeared to be distant from each other about thirty or forty feet, and extended over a space about thirty or forty yards in width, by nearly a mile in length. On standing beneath one of the columns, the gnats were seen to be in rapid motion, and performing the most complicated gyrations, but constantly preserving the peculiar cigar-shape, and not altering the position of the columns, which appeared to be stationary. How long they remained in that position I am uimble to Jan. 1, 1S69.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 17 say ; I watched them for more than half an hour, and as I returned home could see them distinctly half a mile distant. On a rough calculation I suppose there would be about ten millions of insects. I have never read of a similar flight, and, not having seen any notice of the above, I thought that the fact ought to be recorded.— H. 0. S. Glossy Ibis in Norfolk.— A fine specimen of the now rare visitor to the Norfolk coast, the Glossy Ibis {Ibis falcineUus), was shot near Stalham last month.— E. A., Norwich. The Smew {Mergus albellus). — A beautiful spe- cimen of this bird was shot by the late Robert Hawking, Esq. It was disporting on the river Ouse, eleven miles above York. The figure (44) in Science-Gossip gives a very correct idea of the bird, and is very life-like. The bird was preserved, and is now in the possession of W. D. Hawking, Esq., of Laiton. — Jno. Hanson, Linton-on-Ouse, York. Maigre at Brighton {Scicena aquila.) — On Sunday morning, November 22nd, as a labouring man was strolling along the beach in front of the Marine Parade, his attention was attracted to a large fish which was floundering about in shallow water, where, doubtless, it had been driven by the high gale and rough sea of the previous night. With the assistance of some other loungers, he secured the prize, which excited the admiration of all who saw it by the splendour of its colour. Its scales, which were of a large size, shone and flashed in the light like burnished gold. The fins, which were large and extended, were of a deep crimson colour. In shape it was like a salmon, with small head, of elegant shape, and above five feet long. In weight it was about 701b. It proved to be a very rare fish, the " Maigre," of the Mediterranean, and Peis rei or Royal Eish of Rome, only four specimens of which (including the present one) have been known to be caught in the British seas. The fish was still alive when brought to Mr. Wright's, on whose slab it was exposed during the whole of Monday, and attracted admiring crowds, the colours continuing very brilliant to the last, though, of course, less so than when the fish was first caught. The "Maigre" is much esteemed at Rome as a delicacy of the table, and we can speak from experience on the point, being indebted to R. Peak, Esq., who became a purchaser of the fish, for an opportunity of tasting this visitor from the south. — Brighton Herald, Nov. 2S. Tern at Sydenham. — I lately noticed a Tern or Sea-swallow skimming over one of the ornamental waters in the grounds of the Crystal Palace. — W. H. Tate, Grove Place, Denmark Hill. Legal Zoology. — The following cutting is from the police report in the Times of December 9th : — " A gentleman applied to Mr. Vaughau to ascertain if there were any means of punishing a street hawker of birds under the Act for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or any other Act. Having noticed that the bird-vendor in question was in the habit of illustrating the tameuess of his canaries, &c., by exhibiting them openly on his hand, without any apprehension of their flying away, the applicant had the curiosity to purchase one. He then discovered that the pinions under the wing had been snapped asunder and completely drawn away, so that the birds were unable to fly at all. It was obvious that this process of 'taming' the birds was attended with great cruelty, and the man, who lived in Shore- ditch and constantly visited the Strand, ought, if possible, to be summoned. Mr. Vaughau, after consulting the statutes, said that a bird was not an animal within the meaning of the Act for the Pre- vention of Cruelty to Animals, even if the specific act of cruelty alleged in this case could be proved. The applicant remarked that it is illegal to encourage cock-fighting. Mr. Vaughau said that there was a special enactment with regard to cock-fighting, but it did not apply to an offence of this kind." Another illustration of the familiar saying about driving a stage-coach through an Act of Parliament. A man might with impunity roast an Ostrich alive under the very nose of authority. — W. Cole, Clapton. Woolwich Mosquitoes. — At the Entomological Society of November 2nd, " the Secretary exhibited a specimen of the so-called Mosquitoes sent from Woolwich, which proved to be a species of Chrysopa" Hence it will be evident that two or three different insects have been confounded together under the one name of "Mosquitoes" in that locality, and none of them the genuine article. Clouded Yellows.— I can assure your cor- respondent " H. H. O'FarreU " that the Clouded Yellow Butterfly {Colias edusa) is not uncommon near London in certain seasons : I have taken it at Tooting, Wandsworth Common, Dulwich, and Forest Hill. It has been taken plentifully in clover fields near Bromley, Kent. The pale-clouded yellow butterfly {Colias hyale) has been taken occasionally at Eorest Hill.- 6'. Wood. The Pill Millepede, or wood-louse, as it is here called, comes into my house in the autumn, and is a perfect pest. They congregate on the walls, and run on the floor under the carpets, and on the carpets, so that we can hardly take a step in the room without crushing them. Finally, as the weather grows colder they all disappear, hiding behind the skirting board and under the floors, to emerge again when the temperature rises in March and April. Can you or any of your readers suggest a method by which they may be got rid of ?— W. B. C. [Consult the Notes and Queries in prior volumes of this journal.] 18 HARDWICKE'S SCIEN CE-GO SSIP. [Jan. 1, 18C9. MICROSCOPY. Sections of Fossil "Wood.— Having been asked by several readers of Science-Gossip how I cut and grind my sections of fossil wood, &c, I will, with your permission, give my method. Eirst, I will begin with the cutting. To the framework of an ordinary foot-lathe I attach an upright spindle (see the accompanying sketch) ; on this upright spindle I drive, by a band passing over carry pulleys from the wheel below. On the top of this spindle I fix my cutting disc, which is made from a very thin piece of sheet iron, and is about six inches in diameter ; the edge of this saw I charge with diamond powder ; to the edge of the saw I hold my specimen, and as it cuts I lubricate the edge with a small brush dipped in turpentine. With this method I have cut sections of fossil wood so thin that all its structure has been well defined and required Fig. 14. Section Cutter. nothing but mounting in balsam : this has been silicated fossil wood ; in cutting calcareous fossil wood, I have to cut the sections thicker, and grind them down. My grinding apparatus is composed of leaden laps, which I make to revolve in a hori- zontal position on the same upright spindle on which I fix my cutting saw ; I use two laps, one for rough grinding, and the other for smoothing. I use No. 1 emery and a little water with the first lap, and flour of emery with plenty of water on the second lap. In preparing a specimen, I first grind a smooth surface on one side, and then fix it to a plate of glass (of such a size as will suit my specimen) with Canada balsam ; I then reduce it in thickness on the rough lap, till I begin to see the light through it ; then I begin with the smoothing lap, and reduce it with flour of emery until every part of its structure is distinct. If I choose to polish the specimen, I do so on a lap made of plush cloth, or cotton velvet, and putty powder ; I then float them off the slide on which they have been ground, and fix them on another with Canada balsam. I prefer, were it practicable, to mount them in balsam under a thin cover in the usual way, as I am satisfied that the structure is better brought out. If any of the readers of the Gossip are simi- larly engaged, I shall be glad to correspond with them on this subject. — John Buttenoorth, Mount Pleasant, High Crompton, near Oldham. Substitute for Nose-pieces. — Will you allow me to lay before the microscopical portion of your readers a suggestion for the more ready attaching and detaching of object-glasses ? I take it for granted that all who work much with the in- strument have found inconvenience in changing the powers rapidly, particularly when examining objects with which they are unacquainted. Nose- pieces (especially when made to hold more than two powers) are inconvenient, heavy, and costly, and are much in the way. My plan is as follows — Fig. 15. Upper end of Object-glass. Lower end of Object-glass. a. Thread untouched. b. Thread removed. viz., Divide the circumference of the screw, both of the "object-glass" and "body," into four equal parts ; then file away all the thread in two opposite quarters, leaving the remaining two opposite quarters intact (it is better in practice to remove slightly more than one-fourth on each side, so as to allow free clearance. The object-glass may now, by placing it so that the remaining portions of thread come opposite the corresponding gaps, be passed into the body, right up to the shoulder, without turning it round at all ; and about one-eighth of a turn fixes it in its place as firmly as if screwed in. The adoption of this plan does not prevent the use of the altered object-glasses with other instruments, nor does it preclude the use of unaltered object- glasses with altered bodies. — James Fogan. Jan. 1, 1869.] UABDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 19 Microscopic Collecting-Case. — A new de- scription of collecting-case for professional or amateur microscopists, made by Mr. Stanley, of London Bridge, was exhibited at the Quekett Microscopic Society's meeting on the 27th of No- vember last, by Mr. Earmer, and met with general attention and approbation. The description of this article, of which an illustration is given below, will no doubt be interesting to many. In outward form it much resembles a rather large japanned tin sandwich-box, being similarly constructed to fold in two equal parts, the only outward addition being a leather strap, omitted generally from sandwich- boxes, which enables it to be carried suspended from the neck, to rest under the armor upon the loins, to the taste of the wearer. So far as concerns the exterior, it appears light, rather professional-looking, and not inelegant. As regards the practical part, the interior consists of several divisions, or compartments, which we think from position and other circum- stances may contain choice diatomacese or other ob- jects of our research ; we secure bottle a to the brass clip, and screw it to our walking-stick or rod ; thus secured, the bottle will dive for mud, water, or weed, which we continually examine by the aid of one of the dipping-tubes, microscopic slide and lens. If our objects are satisfactory, we reduce the bulk as much as possible by straining off or dipping, and examine and place the quantity we wish to save in one of the vials, commencing with No. 1 ; or, if very full of good things, we save a quantity in bottle d ; or if we wish some special choice speci- men, we isolate it in vial No. 2. At the end of our search in this spot we place in our note-book the locality and particular objects we have collected, as nearly as we know, with number of bottle or vial in which we have placed them, and plod on our journey. And thus with other spots and other objects, wet or dry, until we are satisfied with our results, sometimes filling only the seven bottles for evening examination, at other times selecting and discarding as time and inclination suggest.—/. S. Fig. 16. Collecting Case. which are fitted with the simple useful collecting- apparatus to be described. The first, or upper com- partment, contains three wide-mouthed bottles, each capable of holding three fluid ounces : these are lettered a, b, c, respectively, and are each fitted with a varnished cork. The second compartment con- tains four similar bottles of a smaller size, and let- tered respectively d, -t to J. C. Hutcheson, 8, Lansdowne Crescent, Glasgow. Pollen of Lilium lancifolium, punctatum, or ru- brum (unmounted), exchanged for unmounted microscopic objects of interest (named).— Address, enclosing stamped envelope, C. E. Osborn, 28, Albert Road, St. John's Ville, Highgate, N. Eggs of North American Birds (46 eggs, 14 species) offered for Eggs of British Birds.—" Maine," care of the Editor. British Lichens (90 species) and European Grasses (27 species) for exchange.— W. H. G., 15, Thomhill Road, N. Exchanges. — We must caution exchangers against send- ing out such slides as we have lately seen under the descrip- tion 01 " good slides," that are not worth the unground glass on which the objects are mounted. Persons permitting such slides to leave their own cabinets have very little regard for their reputation, and deserve to have them ieturned.— Ed. S. G. BOOKS RECEIVED. " Scientific Opinion." Nos. 4, 5, 6, and 7. London : Wjman & Sons. " Proceedings of the Bristol Naturalists' Society." Vol. III., No. 8, November, 1863, Bristol. "' The American Naturalist." Vol. II., Nos. 9 and 10, November and December, 1868. Salem: Peabody Academy of Science. " Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution for 1866." Washington: Smithsonian Institution. "The Gardener's Magazine." Part XXXVI., for December, 1868. London : E. W. Allen. " The Quarterly Journal of the Folkestone Natural History Society." No. 1, December, lbtis. Folkestone: Express Office. " Sciography, or Radial Projections of Shadows." By R. Campbell Puckett, Ph.D., Head Master of the Bath School of Art. London : Chapman & Hall. " Fifth Annual Report of the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club," 1 867-8. Belfast: Field Club. "Land and Water." No. 152, December 19. 80, Fleet Street. "The Naturalists' Circular." For December. Communications Received.— J. E. T.— J. B. C— J. B. — G. H.— G. H. H— W. L. W.— J. M.— T. H. O. W. E.— H. E. W.— T. W. W.— J. V. H.— H. G.— W. G— W. M.— W. Murrell — C. W.— S. S— C. (Barnsbury).— G. B— J. H.— J. S.— W. E. S.— G. H.— T. P. B— A. A., jun— J. G., jun.— J. M. H. — H. H. K.— W. H. D.— G. N.— A. B.— E. A.— J. R. S. C— B.— J. V.— L. G. M.— F. W. B.-H. E. W.— T. W.— P. H. H. —A. P.— H. H. K— W. C.-A . B— J. T. Y— H. C. S.— J. D. H. — T. B. H.— F. R— G. G.— C. L. C— A. B. H.— T. McC— S. S.— E. W.— W. P. M.— A. J.— A. A.— J. R. E.-T. P. B.— H. L. W.-J. C. H.— J. H. M.— G. B.— G. D— C. E. O.— J. W.- W. W. S.— J. W.— W. P. M. (too late).— B. T. H. M.— G. R.— H. M.-S.-J. H.— W. H. G— F. A. H.— R. B. Feb. 1, 1S69.] HARDWICKE'S SCIEN CE -GOSSIP. ENGLISH PLANT-NAMES. What's in a name ? That which we call a rose, By any other name would smell as sweet. Shakespkare. MONG the many quotations from the works of our great dramatist which are con- tinually " crop- ping up " in our conversation — which, as it were, have so fixed themselves upon our memory that we cite them all unconsciously, sometimes not even knowing whence they come — there is not one more hackneyed than that which heads this paper. So hackneyed is it, that we have come to regard it, not only as stating, in its literal sense, an incontro- vertible fact, but as containing an insinuation at least, that there is really little or nothing in a name after all. In the present paper, I am going to attempt to show that there is, in many cases at least, a great deal in a name. I deprecate most strongly a state- ment which appeared in a recent number of 'Science-Gossip, that "an examination of the com- mon or vulgar terms applied to plants and animals will at once introduce us to a complete language of meaningless nonsense, almost impossible to retain, and certainly worse than useless when remembered — a vast vocabulary of names, many of which signify that which is false, and most of which mean nothing at all." I have for some time been engaged in col- lecting the local names of plants, and, as far as they are concerned, I find very few which have no signification, — and doubtless even these few will, in ■course of time, be explained ; while, in the majority of cases, there is not only a meaning, but a very good and appropriate reason for the name. It is only those who have given, at any rate, some slight attention to this subject of local names, No. 50. who can at all comprehend the multiplicity of sources from which they have been derived. The names of our birds are less numerous, and, to my mind, less interesting ; although doubtless Mr. Hol- land, to whom the lists sent to Science-Gossip have been intrusted, will show that among them there is ample food for reflection : but the varied uses and associations of plants— religious, medicinal, ornamental, poetical, domestic— have each contri- buted to swell the list, and the result is both curious aud instructive. When, in the earlier days of this magazine, the Editor intimated his willing- ness to become curator of any lists of names which might be sent, until it should be decided how to make use of them, he probably did not expect so hearty a response to his proposition. Many of the lists sent are far too copious to include in a paper short enough for insertion; a whole number of Gossip might be filled with them alone, without note or comment. This will, I hope, be considered a suffi- cient apology for the non-appearance of much inter- esting information in the present paper ; a second one is in preparation, which will include many names here omitted ; but a volume is needed to do the subject justice. Mr. Holland and myself hope at some future period to publish such a volume : and any contributions or suggestions addressed to Robert Holland, Mobberley, Knutsford ; or to James Britten, High Wycombe, will receive due attention. The thanks of all who may find iu this paper anything worthy of note, are due to the following contributors: — "R. W.;" "C. A.;" " M. H. ;" " G. B. C. ;" ",J. S., Jun. ;" " E. G. B. ;" " J. B. ;" " T. E. W. ;" " G. S. ;" " E. M. H. ;" " R. E. D. ;" " V. A. S;" " W. B ;" " W. S ;" " L ;" "J. B." (Cockan) ; "L. S.;" "T. S.;" and others; for from them many of the names referred to have been received. Mr. Hollaud's assistance has been of especial value to me ; and for much of the infor- mation regarding the derivation of plant-uames I c 26 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Feb. 1, 1S69. am indebted to Dr. Prior's interesting work " On the Popular Names of British Plants." With these necessary, if tedious, prefatory remarks, I will enter upon my subject. It must be remembered that it is no argument against the appropriateness of these common names that the reasons for which they were given are now forgotten by those who use them ; and that the names themselves are often so corrupted that it re- quires some ingenuity to discover what they were originally. They were doubtless expressive and comprehensible to those who first invented and used them ; and the wide distribution of many of them is sufficient proof that they were generally accepted as such. In the first place, then, I will endeavour to show what languages enter into our English plant- names, illustrating each by a few examples, types of numberless others, which might be cited, did space permit. We are all familiar with the Hawthorn (Crataegus oxyacantha), and we call its red fruit "haws." Eurther north, however, as in Cheshire, Lancashire, and Yorkshire, they are known as " haigs " or "hagues." Eor the meaning of these words, we must refer to the Anglo-Saxon, where we shall find hawthorn rendered hagaSorn, hag&om, or hege^orn, which closely corresponds with the German hagedorn. Erom this we may gather that the Hawthorn was employed from very early times in the manufacture of our hedges (A.-S. haga, or hcege, perhaps from the Icelandic hegna, to fence round) ; and possibly its general use for that purpose may have led to the application of haga, first to the shrub of which the fences were formed, and, in later times, to the fruit of that shrub. Mr. Holland, however, thinks that A.-S. hag, a hedge, was derived from the tree, and not the name of the tree from the place of its growth ; for this simple reason, -hagcc&orn would meau "the thorn-tree bearing luegs ;" and in A.-S. times hags probably referred, as they do still, to the fruit rather than to the shrub bearing them. Hag, or haga, then, would be A.-S. for the fruit ; hcrg^orii, the tree bearing the fruit ; and that being used in the making of fences, a fence was therefore called haga or /urge. In Cheshire and Lancashire the origin of Hawthorn is more apparent, as it is there called " Haythorn ;" and in Norfolk a hedge is a "hay." Haguebush or Hagbush Lane, in the north of London, formerly a favourite resort for artists, but now doubtless covered with bricks and mortar, meant originally Hawthornbush Lane. But we have not yet done with haga. The Great Mullein (Verbascum Thapsus) is, in modern books, called High-taper, and this name is explained as referring to the resemblance of its tall yellow spike to the candles which formerly stood on the altars of our churches. Here we have an illustration of the readiness with which a reason may be invented to account for a name. Gerarde and our older herbal- ists spelt it Hig-taper, which, being incomprehen- sible to some, was transformed into High-taper, and the above meaning added. Yet Hig-taper, or Hag- taper, was the original word ; the " taper," perhaps, referring to the tall stem of the plant, the affix " hig " being A.-S. for hay, or if we take "hag" as the correct form, referring to the usual place of growth of this Mullein — viz. hedgebanks. The Buckingham- shire names, "agg-paper" and " agg-leaf" counte- nance the latter notion : here we observe another cor- ruption, that of " taper " into " paper." "Agg-leaf," however, is a sensible name enough ; the plant is a biennial, and the prominence of its rosette of large flannel-like leaves on the hedgeba.\\k during the first year of its existence, would attract observation, even though without blossom. Every one knows the long hooked stems and small burs of the Cleavers, or Goosegrass (Galium Aparine), which fasten upon and persistently adhere to our clothing. In the northern and midland counties this has a very curious name, spelt by different correspondents heriff, hayriff, herriff, ayriff, airup, aireve. Here, again, we have hreg entering into the composition of the name of another hedge-plant ; for all these forms are from the A.-S. hegerife. Dr. Prior derives the second half of this word from A.-S. reafa, which, he says, " significantly enough, means both a tax-gatherer and a robber." A writer in the Athenceum, however, prefers to take the verb reafiau, to seize, to lay hold of, as its origin. In either case, no one will deny the suitability of the epithet ; but it is worthy of note that here we have an example of the transferring of a name from one plant to another ; as the Burdock (Arctium Lappa) was the original hegerife (Prior). The term is equally appropriate to both ; but, curiously enough, while it is applied to the Cleavers in many lists, I haye not noted a single instance of its connection with the Burdock. It has been attempted to show that the word herriff is merely a contraction of hair- rough, referring to the rough hairs with which the plant is clothed ; but the derivation from the A.-S. above given is the more satisfactory. It receives a curious confirmation in the Cumberland names of the plant : " Rob-run-up-dyke," and " Robin-run- up-dyke ;" and the Dublin one, " Robin-run-the- hedge ;" which look very like translations of hegerife, robber-run-up-hedge ; robber having been corrupted into Robin, or abbreviated into Rob. Haga, ovJurg, enters into the old names Haymaids and Heyliovc for the Ground Ivy (Nepeta glechoma), into Hag- berry (or, in Cumberland, Heckberry) for the Wild Cherry (Pruims avium), and others which we can- not now stop to consider. That most troublesome weed to farmers, the Couch-grass (Triticitm repens), has a variety of names. In Cumberland and Essex it is Twitch ; in Cheshire and Shropshire, Scutch ; in North Buck- inghamshire, Squitch ; in South Buckinghamshire, Feb. 1, 1869.] HARDWI-CKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 27 Couch- or Cooch-grass ; all evidently having the same derivation, but an obscure one. In the Norfolk " Quicks," and the Warwickshire " Quicken-grass" we have a clue. No plant is so retentive of vitality as this Triticum repens ; the smallest piece left in the ground will grow. All these names are but forms of the A.-S. cwic, living, a word with which we are familiar as occurring in the Apostles' Creed in the English Prayer-book, where " the quick " are referred to in opposition to " the dead." The words " quicks " and " quickset " are applied to living hawthorn hedges as distinguished from dead-wood fences ; civic-beam, the living tree, was, according to Dr. Prior, the A.-S. for the Aspen {Populustremula), on account of its ever-moving leaves ; and Quick- in-hand was an old name for the Touch-me-not {lm- patiens Noli-me-tangere), from the suddenness with which its seeds discharge themselves when handled. The Kentish name for the Early Purple Orchis {Orchis mascula) is " Skeat-legs ;" this is also, but less generally, applied to other orchids. The A.-S. word scat, or sceat, meant any description of wrap- ping, or swathing, clothing, such as a sheet, which is from the same word ; sceata meant a woman's skirt, or the lower napping part of a sail, and scad, a loose sheath. The appropriateness of the name Skeat-legs to most of our orchids, but especially to 0. mascula, will at once be readily recognized ; describing the stem, or " leg," partially enveloped in a sheathing leaf. This is an excellent example of the way in which a name, apparently meaningless, may be shown to have really arisen in a natural peculiarity of the plant to which it applies. I am indebted to Dr. EitzGerald, of Folkestone, for its explanation. Many north-country names are derived from Swedish and Danish sources. The black heads of the Ribwort Plantain {Plantago lanceolata) are, in the northern counties, called kemps. We find the origin of this in the Danish Icampe, A.-S. cempa, a warrior. Children often play with the flower-stalks, each endeavouring to knock the head off the other's mimic weapon ; and this game is still known in Sweden, where the stalks are called kampar (Prior). The same game is very popular with the Cheshire children, who term it " playing at conquerors ; " the heads themselves they call "fighting cocks." Pushes {Junci) are called sivs and seaves, from the Da. siv, Sw. saf, a rush. The name Roan, Ran, Royne, or Rowan-tree, by which Pyrus aucuparia is known in Scotland and the northern counties, comes from Da. ronn, Sw. runn, which is traceable to the " 0. Norse runa, a charm, from its being supposed to have power to avert the evil eye " (Prior). Vaccinium Myrtillus is, in Cumberland and Yorkshire, known as Blue-berry, in Scotland Blae- berry, from Sw. bloa-bar, or Da. bollebar, a dark berry ; its more ordinary name, Bilberry, is probably from the same source. Space will not allow us to do more than glance at the names derived from the Welsh ; these do not occupy a prominent position in our lists, and may therefore be dismissed with a short reference. Grig, the Shropshire and Cheshire name for the Ling {Call una vulgaris), is the Welsh grwg, which is so pronounced; Gromwell {Lithospermum) is in Welsh grwmmil, a contraction of grawm-yr-haul, "grains of the sun," the bright shining seeds of L. officinale and other species having probably given rise to the name. Dr. Prior, however, favours a different derivation. From the German and Dutch we obtain several of our commonest plant-names. Buckwheat {Poly- gonum Fagopyrum), for instance, is from Du. boekweit, G. buchwaitzen, beechwheat, " from the resemblance of its triangular seeds to beechnuts, a name adopted with its culture, from the Dutch" (Prior). The Figworts {Scrophularia aquatica and S. nodosa) take their name, Brown-wort, from G. braunwurz, pro- bably in reference to their dark foliage and brown stems and flowers. Dr. Prior thinks it more pro- bable that it is from the plants " growing so abun- dantly about the brunnen, or public fountains of German towns and village;" but the former deriva- tion seems to me the more likely, especially as neither species is peculiar to these localities. In Devonshire the name Brunnet is applied to one or both species : this is probably a corruption of brown- wort, or possibly an abbreviation of brown-nettle ; the word Burnet is not very different from this, and that is applied to a brown-stemmed plant {Poterium Sanguisorba). Names of French origin are yet more frequent. The Dandelion {Leontodon Taraxacum) gives us a familiar example; it is in French dent-de-lion, lion's tooth, although the reason for the name is not satis- factorily known. At Glasgow the Gooseberry {Ribes Grossularia) is called groset ; in other parts of Scotland, grosert, grose, and groser : the Black Currant {R. nigrum) is gazles in Sussex ; and in Kent the same name is applied to the White Cur- rant. We find the origin of all these words in the Fr. groseille. In the Ayscough MSS., as quoted in Notes and Queries (Series IV. i. 532), we read that the Raspberry {Rubus Idaus) is called framboise by the country people in Dorset ; and the S. George's Mushroom {Jgaricus Georgii) is known aschamperon to the people about Abingdon. Mushroom itself, by the way, is but an anglicised form of Fr. mousseron, formerly mouscheron. " One of the most conspicuous of the genus {Agaricus), the A. muscarius, is used for the destruction of flies, mousches; and this seems to be the real source of the word, which, by a singular caprice of language, has been transferred from this poisonous species to mean, in the popular acceptation of it, the wholesome kinds exclusively " (Prior). Tutsan {Hypericum Androscemum) is from Fr. toute saiue, a name by which it has been known c2 28 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Feb. 1, I860. since the time of Gerarde, who gives this explana- tion of it. In Buckinghamshire a corrupted form of this is still in use iu the words Tipsen-leaves and Touch-and-heal ; in Hampshire it is Touchen-leaves. In the second of these we have an example of the tautology so frequently found iu English names where foreign words have been translated, and then both original and translation have been combined. The " Touch-and " is the same as Touchen, aud is evidently a corruption of toute saine ; the " heal " is a translation of toute saine. It has been converted into Touch-tf#f/-heal to make sense of it: and the word is now, perhaps, supposed to indicate the rapidity with which the healing properties of the plant take effect. Many Latin and Greek names, introduced, like the knowledge of the plants bearing them, by the monks, have become anglicised. Eroni the former we derive Plantain, Bistort, Medick, Rose, Saxifrage, Violet, Feverfew, Sanicle, Vervain, Centaury (and its corrupted form, Sanctuary); from the latter, besides the Latiu originals of many of the foregoing, we have Leopard's Bane, Coral-root, Coriander, Swallow-wort, Spleenwort, Daffodil, "Mazalion" (by which name Daphne Mezereum is known in Buckinghamshire), Celandine or Saiardine, and many more. Besides these, we have some which, apparently English, are really corrupted from the Latin : Herb Bennet {Geum urban um) is an ab- breviation of lierba benedicta, the blessed herb, a name given on account of the many virtues formerly attributed to it : Mill-mountain (Linum catharticum) is, according to Dr. Prior, a corruption of Cha-mcel- inum montan-um, the old scientific title of the plant. The first half of the Dumfries name for the Coltsfoot, " Tushy-lucky gowan," is doubtless from the Latin Tussilago. From Latin names, the transition to another class, in a measure connected with them, and introduced by the same agency, is an easy one ; I refer to what [ may term religious plants, such as have been in some manner associated with, and have taken their titles from, the pious observances of former times. The Church taught by the eye as well as by the ear ; and by natural objects sought to recall not only, as we shall presently see, her more solemn seasons, but the saints whose festivals she kept. The coincidence, for example, of the flowering of a plant with the feast of a saint led to a connection between the two, and eventually, in many cases, the name of the latter was bestowed upon the flower. A natural feeling of reverence seems to have prevented, at any rate in England, the dedication of plants to either person of the Blessed Trinity ; and the few exceptions to this rule with which I am acquainted are associated with our Lord in His human nature exclusively. The Blessed Virgin, however, who held a foremost place among the saints, is commemorated, under the title of " Our Lady," by which she was formerly most generally known in England, iu the Lady's Bedstraw or Bedestraw {Galium rerum), Lady's Smock {Cardamine pratensis), Lady's Finger {Anthyllis vulneraria), Lady's Tresses {Spiranthes autunmalis), Lady's Comb [Scandix Pecten), Lady's Mantle {AlcJiemilla vulgaris), and very many more. During Puritan times, it became the custom to substitute the name of Venus for that of the Blessed Virgin. Thus, Lady's Comb became Venus's Comb, and so on ; and this substitution was fostered by the false classical spirit which became fashionable during and after the reign of Charles II. The Bev. W. Jones, of Nayland, a celebrated Anglican clergyman of the last century, refers in terms of severe reprobation to this alteration, in his " Reflec- tions on the Growth of Heathenism among Modern Christians." It must not, be supposed that "lady" always has the above signification; Lady Fern, for example, is simply a translation of Filix famina. The names Marygold and Marybud are generally supposed to have a similar allusion, but Dr. Prior doubts this ; Virgin's Bower {Clematis Vitalba and 0. Flammula), and Virgin's Thistle {Carduus Mariamis), however, undoubtedly refer to the Blessed Virgin. In Hampshire the Lungwort {Pulmonaria officinalis) is called "Joseph and Mary." At first sight, this might seem difficult of explana- tion ; but a little investigation soon enlightens us as to its meaning. It will be noticed that the flowers of this plant are pink or red when they first expand, becoming blue when they arrive at maturity. In mediaeval paintings and stained glass, aud hence doubtless in the once popular miracle plays, S. Joseph was represented chiefly in red, and the Blessed Virgin in blue. The union of the two colours in the blossoms of the same plant will account for the name. Lords-and-Ladics {Arum, maculatum) is thought by some to be a corruption of " our Lord and our Lady," the resemblance of the spadix, enshrined, as it were, in the spathe, suggesting the idea of a statue of the Virgin and Child beneath a canopy. Mr. Holland, however, writes, "I think most country people who use the name Lords and Ladies think that the plant is so called because the spadices are sometimes red and sometimes white, the white ones representing ' ladies,' the red, ' lords.' If this name were derived from a statue of the Virgin and Child, it would probably have been called Lord-and-Lady, and not by these words in the plural form. In Cheshire, on the 29th of May, children thus distinguish between the reddish leaves of the oak and the green ones, the red ones being called ' girl's oak,' the others ' boy's oak.' "Girls decorate themselves with the former, boys with the latter." Among plants popularly dedicated to other saints, we may notice S. John's Wort {Hypericum, especially H. per- foratum), in many places corrupted into Sinjonswort, which blossoms about St. John the Baptist's day, Feb. 1, 1869.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 20 June 24 ; St. James' Wort (C'apsel/a bursa-pastoris), and many more will be found in herbals. In some cases, however, we must admit that names, referred by modern writers to a similar dedication, have really a very different origin. Herb Bennet, for instance, is said to commemorate St. Bennet or Benedict, although, as I have shown, it has a very different origin ; Timothy-grass (Phleum pratense), which really took that name from being brought into cultivation by one Timothy Hanson, is supposed to have been dedicated to St. Timothy ; Paul's Betony (Veronica officinalis), which, according to Dr. Prior, refers to an old author, Paul iEgineta, who described it as a betony— to St. Paul ; and. so on. In the floral kalendar, the Church's seasons were duly noticed. The Holly (Ilex aquifolium), from its use in church decoration at that season, is in many places still called Christmas ; the Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis), in its old name " Fair Maid of February," comme- morates the feast of the Purification (Feb. 2) ; Lent brings its Lent lilies (Narcissus pseudo -Narcissus) ; Palm Sunday its "palms," as the willow catkins are pretty generally called ; Easter, its Paschal, or Pasque, flower (Anemone Pulsatilla) ; the days preceding the Ascension are referred to in ltogation- flower or Procession-flower (Poly gala vulgaris), which received its name from its use in the garlands which were carried in the religious processions which marked llogation-week ; Herb Trinity (Viola tricolor) pointed to Trinity Sunday; the Virgin's Bower (Clematis) to the Assumption; and the Michaelmas Daisy (Aster) to the feast of SS. Michael •and All Angels. In these enlightened ages we are not supposed to need such aids to faith ; but let us not despise the efforts made in bygone days to bring religion into the daily life of the people by means of the objects which God Himself had created, and which He Himself has told us to " consider." But we must pass on to the consideration of another class. Many plants take their names from a resemblance, real or imaginary, to animals, or parts of animals. The tail-like inflorescence of some has suggested many names ; amongst which are Mouse-tail (Hyosurus minimus), with the carpels arranged on the long slender receptacle ; Cat's-tail (Typha latifolia), with a thick stout spike, a name applied also to Phleum pratense (in Cheshire this grass is called Rat's-tail, a title given, in Cumberland, to the Plantain (Plantago major) ; Hare's-tail (La- jgurno ovatus), remarkable for its soft flowerheads ; Squirrel-tail (Hordeum maritimuni) ; and Dog's-tail (Cyuosurus cristatus). The jHorse-tails (Equiseta), flowerless plants, have their loug slender branches growing in whorls up the barren stem : the name is particularly appropriate to E. maximum. The gaping corolla of the Snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus) has suggested, not only that appellation, but the allied ones, Babbit's-mouth, Lion's-snap, and Dog's-mouth ; in Buckinghamshire the Toadflax (Linaria vulgaris) is called Dragon-bushes. Dr. Prior says that " snap " is from the Dutch sneb, a snout ; so that Snapdragon means simply Dragon's- snout. In Sussex some of these names are trans- ferred to the Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), which is known at Brighton as Tigcr's-mouth, Dragon's- mouth, and Lion's-mouth ; the wide-open spotted corolla having suggested the titles. The names Geranium, Erodium, and Pelargonium, with their English equivalents, Crane's-bill, Heron's-bill, and Stork's-bill, originated in the long beaked carpels which characterise the various species of those genera. The Hart's-tongue Fern (Scolopendrium vulgare) took its name from the shape of the fronds; in Dorsetshire it is called Hoss (or horse) tongue : the narrow slender spike of Ophioglossum vulgatum accounts for its name, Adder's-tongue : according to Dr. Prior, the Sneezewort (Achillea Ptarmica) is Goose-tongue, "from its finely serrated leaves;" the Hoary Plantain (Plantago media) is Lamb's-tongue; Helminthia echio'ides is Ox-tongue, " from the shape and roughness of its leaf;" while the softness of the foliage of Cynoglossum officinale probably suggested its Greek name, of which the English, Hound's- tongue, is but an equivalent. The shape of its leaf shows the appropriateness of Colt's-foot, as applied to Tussilago Farfara; in Cumberland and Yorkshire this is called Foal-foot, by which it has been known since the time of Gerarde : other names for it are Bull's-foot and Horse-hoof. It is not so easy to explain the meaning of Crowfoot, by which various species of Ranunculus are known ; for if we imagine it to have originated in some fanciful resemblance in the shape of the leaves, the same reason will not account for its application, in Yorkshire and Cumberland, to the Early Purple and Green-winged Orchids (Orchis mascula and 0. morio), unless we suppose that, from the buttercups and orchids growing together, the name may have been extended from one to the other. The Bird's-foot (Oruilhopus perpusillus), and Bird's-foot Trefoil (Lotus coruiculatus) point to the likeness, in the former a very striking one, of the heads of seedpods to a foot or claw : in Buckinghamshire the latter is called Cat's-claws; in Warwickshire, Lambtoes; and elsewhere, Crowtoes. The long projecting nectary of many species of Delphinium suggested the name Lark's-spur, or Lark's-claw ; a name which is ap- plied in Buckinghamshire to the Toadflax (Liuaria vulgaris), from a similar peculiarity in its blossoms. The soft heads of Trifolium r//w#.s\ Fig. 24. Beech. Fig. 25. Hornbeam. The study of buds may also be turned to account in other ways. It is of great importance to be able to recognize our trees and shrubs in the winter season, when devoid of leaf, flower, and fruit. This may perhaps be done by observing the conformation of the branches and twigs, and the colour and sculpture of the bark. It will, however, be greatly facilitated by an intimate knowledge of buds. It is not unfrequently desirable to be able to assign i'small stray branches and twigs to their parent orms ; and for this purpose a thorough knowledge Fig. 26. Hazel. Fig. 27. White Beam. Fig. 28. Maple. of the form, colour, and arrangement of buds, if not essential, is of very great value — a cursory in- spection, in such case, being often all that is neces- sary in order to determine the question. Feu. 1, 1SC9.] HARDWICKE'S SCI ENC E-GO SS1P. 37 A few illustrations are given, with brief notices. They are intended rather as incentives to study than as valuable for their teaching. Fig. 29. Oak. Fig. 30. Wayfaring Tree. Beech (Far/us sylvatica), fig. 24. — The buds of this noble tree are highly characteristic. They are long, lanceolate, with acute apex, and are placed at a pretty constant angle of about 45° with the stem. They are covered with closely imbricated, shining, brown scales. Hornbeam {Carpiuvs betnluH), fig. 25. — This tree, whose leaves have a stiong resemblance to those '?!' Fig. 31. Grey Poplar. -ci Fig. 32. Lime. of the beech both in form and manner of unfold- ing, has buds also not unlike those of the latter. They are, however, sufficiently separated from them by their erect manner of growth, being mostly closely pressed to the stem upon which they 3S HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Feb. 1, 1S69. grow, and by their more numerous and shorter scales. Hazel (Cori/l/es aoellaiui), fig. 2G. — This tree and the hornbeam are generally grown together in our Kentish woods for hop-poles, firewood, &c. Their leaves on first expanding are very similar, and may n n Fig. 33. Wych Elm. o, leaf-scar. • Fig 31. Sycamore. form and colour ; so that the trees are more easily separated in winter than summer. The buds are obovate, laterally compressed, particularly the axil- lary ones ; margin of scales with fine streak of reddish brown. easily be confused. At this time the great difference in the colour of their stipules is sufficient to sepa- rate them at a glance : those of the hornbeam are quite red. Their buds are widely different, both in Fig. 35. Horse Chestnut. Fig. 36. Ash. Wych Elm (Ulmus monianus), fig. 33. — The buds of this tree arc broadly ovate or elliptical, dark, and shining. Feb. 1, 1809.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 39 White Beam (Pyrus aria), fig. 27. — These buds, in addition to the difference of arrangement, are very dissimilar to any of the foregoing. They are of an obscure green colour, with few scales, with reddish margins. They are very broad at the base, or point of insertion with the stem, thence tapering to a point, having thus a triangular appearance. They are slightly compressed laterally, and some- what cariuated at the edges. Oak (Quercus robur), fig. 29. — Buds small, ovoid, reddish ; scales numerous, very closely imbricated. Grey Poplar {Popuhis canescens), fig. 31. — Buds reddish, shining, very glutinous. Outer pair of scales enclosing, or nearly enclosing, the whole bud. Terminal bud large, and outer scales proportionately less. Figs. 30, 34, 35, 36 are specimens of the simplest case of whorl-structure. They are sufficiently cha- racteristic, and need no remark. The scars left by the falling leaf are also worthy of some study. In form they vary greatly, and are frequently good marks by which to recognize the branch or twig upon which they are found. A reference to the scars of the ash, the horse-chest- nut, the grey poplar, and the elm, as indicated in the foregoing figures is sufficient to demonstrate the truth of this statement. In conclusion, we may add that there is no part of a tree, be it leaf or leaf- scar, stem, branch, or root, bud or bark, that will not amply repay in pleasure and profitable in- struction any amount of labour that may be ex- pended in its examination. St. Mary's Vale, Chatham. J. IlErwonTH. Mistletoe Culture. — I am constantly seeing accounts in Science-Gossip of unsuccessful at- tempts to grow the Mistletoe. Four years ago I planted some berries, and have now about a dozen nice plants. If your readers will adopt my plan, I think they will have no difficulty in growing it. I squeeze the berry on to the under side of a smooth- skinned bough of apple, thorn, or any of the trees on which it generally grows, and bind it there with the mucus that surrounds the seed. In a few days the seed will adhere to the bough as firmly as if it were glued. The following summer it will send out a small shoot, which will curve over to the bark, and press into it, causing the bough to swell slightly. I think it is a mistake to cut the bark, as it causes it to open, leaving nothing for the seed to root into. I generally tie a piece of white tape a few inches from it, to keep birds away, and mark where the seed is planted. My seeds planted at Christ- mas, 1S67, are all growing, and those planted this Christmas are now quite firm on the bough. If any of your readers wish further information on the subject, I shall be pleased to give it them.— S. C. Hi neks. THE SISKIN. (Fri)igilla spinus.) "\TTHEN November comes, like the pioneer of ' ^ winter, to cut down the leaves, and scatter the seeds of the forest trees, then is the time to look for the Siskin. Follow- the winding stream till the last homestead has been left far behind, and creep stealthily to the nearest alder or birch. The seeds of these two trees form the favourite food of the Siskin, and it is here you may expect to find him, if he happens to be in your neighbourhood. If the season be a favourable one, and there be abundance of seeds, the greater your chance of success. The Siskin comes to us as a winter visitor from the north, but the date of his arrival is very uncer- tain, apparently depending as much upon a sudden change of temperature, as upon an abundance or scarcity of his favourite food. The elm and maple supply him in turn with a change of diet, and in the pine and larch plantations he is almost sure to be found at the proper season, although from the ever- green nature of the two last-named trees, and the denser growth of their foliage, he is not so readily seen there. Our own acquaintance with the Siskin was made where the alder and elm best nourish and the larch and pine are scarce. It is therefore upon an alder- tree that we shall introduce the bird to our readers. In size no larger than a Linnet, but with shorter wings and tail, the male bird may be at once dis- tinguished by his black cap and chin, his greenish- yellow breast and rump, spotted flanks, and black and yellow wings. The tail is forked, and with a brownish-black tip. The female, more sombre in appearance, yet sufficiently like her mate to be recognized, is of a general greenish-grey above, suffused with longitudinal streaks of brownish- black, and the dark streaks, which are con- spicuous on the flanks of the male, extend further in the female, to the sides and the whole of the breast. She has no black on the head or chin, but shows the greenish-yellow rump which charac- terizes the other sex. We have remarked that in young males the black colour is confined to the head, and does not appear on the chin until they are fully mature. The variety of attitudes which the Siskin assumes in his busy search for seeds, is very striking, and reminds us a good deal of the Tit family. We have often seen the Siskin and the Marsh Tit on the same branch vieing with each other in their acrobatic feats, and have been struck with the similarity of their movements ; now clinging to a catkin which sways with the weight ; now hanging head down- wards, the more easily to extract a seed or lurking insect ; anon, swinging by one foot upon a bending 40 HABDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Feb. 1, 1869. spray preparatory to a new flight, or descending jerkily to some tall reed or thistle-head only to return to the favourite tree. A prettier sight than a little flock of Siskins thus engaged, can scarcely be imagined, and while the eye is pleased with their ever-varying attitudes, the ear is charmed with their incessant merry notes ; for they are by no means silent at their work. A pleasing twitter, uttered, as it were, half aloud, serves as much to keep the flock together, as to express the high spirits of the individuals which compose it. A great friend of the Siskin is the Lesser Redpole, and the two species are frequently to be seen in company, but we must confine our attention for the present to the former bird. Although as a general Scotland." In Ireland the Siskin has only been noticed as an occasional winter visitant.* The nest and eggs resemble those of the Goldfinch upon a smaller scale, and some authors, taking into consideration the structural similarity of these two birds have separated them from the true FrinyiUidtP and placed them in a genus by themselves under the generic name Carduelis. Meyer has found the nest of the Siskin so near London as Coombe Wood, Wimbledon Common; and as the eggs taken were afterwards hatched under a canary, there was no doubt about the identity of the species. In the third volume of his "Illustrations of British Birds and their Eggs " (p. 97) the above-named Eig. 37. The Siskin. rule remaining with us only from November to April, there are many instances on record of the Siskin having remained to nest in England, and we are satisfied that in some parts of Scotland, this bird breeds regularly every year. Mr. A. G. More, who has been at considerable pains to ascertain the distribution of birds in Great Britain during the nesting season, says of the Siskin :* " The nest has been found in Lancashire (Yarrett) ; near Walton Hall (Waterton) ; in Durham {Hancock and Rev. II. B. Tristram) ; and in Westmoreland (Bolton quoted by Montagu). In the South of Scotland, the Siskin breeds occasionally in Dalswinton Woods, Dumfriesshire (Gibson) ; in Kirkcudbright {Yarrett); within two miles of Glasgow (R. Gray) ; in Perth- shire perhaps regularly; in Argylcshire; and, though not numerous as a species, may be considered to nest regularly in most of the northern counties of * The Ibis fox I860, p. 129. author gives an interesting account of two other nests of the Siskin which he found, — the one at St. Anne's Hill, Chertsey, and the other "in a wild straggling hedge in the open plain bordering the Thames, at no great distance." In both cases the parent bird was distinctly seen upon the nest. To this account, and to some remarks by that excellent observer Charles St. John (which may be found in his "Nat. Hist, and Sport in Moray," p. 110), we refer such of our readers as seek further information than we have given. To those who know the Siskin only as a cage-bird, we say, study him in his proper haunts ; steal quietly to the alder, pine, or birch tree ; watch his merry antics, and listen to his sprightly song ; and we ven- ture to say that the pleasure to be thus derived will far outweigh any that can arise from the contem- plation of a solitary captive. J. E. Harting. * Thompson's " Nat. Hist, of Ireland," vol. i. p. 264. Feb. ], 1869.] HARDWICKE'S SC 1EN CE-GOS SI P. 41 GUDGEON SCALE. "TX7E give a magnified figure of the scale of tbe ™ * Gudgeon {Gohio fluviatilis) because it is one of the " common objects " which is not so well known to microscopists as it ought to be. There is a great similarity in the structure of this scale and that of the Perch, but the differences are quite sufficient to make both of them equally desirable for the cabinet. The scales are small and beauti- Fig. 38. Scale of Gudgeon x 12. fully transparent, so that they can scarcely be sur- passed, even by the scale of the "Sole" as objects for the polariscope. The magnifying power under whicb the woodcut is drawn is slightly higher than that of the scales figured at page 13. THE WINTER HOME OF THE HUMBLE BEE. T T is a very pleasant thing for a lover of nature -*• resident iii the country to have a friend with tastes somewhat similar to his own, to join him in his evening walks, and with him to explore favourite haunts in search of some of the treasures of natural history. One evening, late in the month of August, in company with such a friend, I enjoyed the pleasure of an agreeable search in a very pleasant and ex- tensive demesne. My special object was to obtain beetles, as I was then engaged in the examination of the gastric teeth of some of the Coleoptera. While searching in a sheltered grove that bordered upon a meadow, we happened to turn up a large stone that was slightly embedded in the earth, and, from its position and appearance, had evidently lain a long time without any disturbance of place. We found that the under-surface of the stone was quite flat, and that it lay upon a smooth bed of clay, to which it fitted very closely. Near the centre of this bed, and about eight inches from its nearest margin, there was a spot, nicely hollowed out, of rather more than an inch in length ; the width and depth were each about three-fourths of an inch. In this hollow bed there was a humble bee. The bee was lying on its side, and was alive, but not very active (fig. 39). The flat bottom of the stone had formed a close covering for the cell, and we Fig. 39. Humble Bee at home. could not discern any marks of the passage by which the bee had found access to its place, nor could we see any traces of the earth that had been removed by the bee when forming the cell. The shelter and protection of the spot were very complete. We concluded that we had happened upon the winter quarters of a female bee, where the period of her comparative torpidity would have been passed until the return of the warm days of the following spring ; and from her position in her winter home, we recognized an applicability in the specific name of the bee as the Bombus terrestris. Armagh. Lewis G. Mills, LL.B. Microscopic Objects — February. — Water- fleas and the Green Hydra may be found in pools and ditches. The pollen of Tussilago frugrans, very pretty. That of Corylus avellana exhibit the pollen tubes when treated with weak sulphuric acid. Hairs of Senecio vulgaris. The stellate and com- pound hairs of the ivy and the torulose hairs of Lamitim album. — H. G. G. 42 HAEDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Feb. 1, 1S69. ZOOLOGY. Duration of Animal Life. — I was reading some short time since in a periodical, observations almost assertions, relative to the above subject, wherein the writer gave the maximum length of life to birds as ten years. This, from actual expe- rience, I know to be a great mistake. I had a pigeon for twelve years, and he was two years old when I bought him, and thus he was fourteen years old at the time I lost him, and then he was appa- rently as active as ever he was. A relative of mine has a canary, stuffed, that died at nearly eighteen years of age. An acquaintance of mine had a parrot that when I last saw it was ninety-five years old. It was an heirloom from one branch to another, and may be alive now, for aught I know. Poll, like the canary, gave strong evidences of age in her ragged attire. — G. Bullard. Gold Crest.— This morning, while sitting at breakfast, I was surprised to see two of those pretty birds, the Golden-crested Wren (Regulus cristatus) come and pitch on a small fir-tree in front of my window, and I watched them with much pleasure, whilst they busily searched the shrubs for their insect food. Is it not a rare occurrence for this bird to approach so near to the haunts of man ? It may interest some of your readers to hear that on the 7th of last month I saw a flock of Fieldfares (Tardus pilaris), or Redwings {Tardus iliacus), pass over this locality; they flew too high for me to distinguish with certainty whether they were birds of the first or second named species.—/. R. E., Downshire Hill, Hempstead. New Entomostraca in a Coal-mine. — Mr. Thomas Atthey has discovered a new and interesting species of Entomostraca on the roof of the Low Main, "West Cramlington Colliery, near Newcastle. Under the name of Canthocamptus cryptorum it is described by G. S. Brady in the Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science for January. New British Moth.— At the meeting of the Entomological Society of London (December 7th), Mr. Edward Saunders exhibited a new British Moth (Crambus myellus), allied to C. pinetellus, captured near Aberdeen by Mr. D. E. Brown.— Gardeners' Chronicle. Orange Fly (Ceratiles citriperda) has been found at Peckham in Marie-Louise Pears; and no wonder that it has settled in England, seeing how many "maggoty" oranges have come over of late. Lovers of good pears will not be glad to hear that in the absence of oranges this fly accommodates itself with pears. It may in the course of a few years prove to be a real pest. — See Newman's "Entomologist" for January, with figure of the fly. On Physalia. — With regard to the remarks of Mr. Gosse, F.R.S;, on my note in Science-Gossip for December, on the Physalia, I would observe that I did not imagine that Mr. Gosse doubted the discharge of a fluid, but that he doubted that the stinging sensation was caused by the fluid alone. I was inclined to think that he was uncertain as to this point from his remarks quoted in my note ; and I felt that my face had borne testimony to very " sensible observation " when smarting from the effects of contact, 7iot with the Physalia, but with my hand, which had been applied to its disc, and had received therefrom the poisonous secretion which it communicated to my face. I can, there- fore, have no doubt, after this, that the symptoms of poisoning are due to an irritant juice emitted, and that it does not require the penetration of any barbs to make its influence felt. Mr. Gosse would appear to imagine that I brought up my experience to prove that contact with the Physalia produces severe irritation of the skin. Such a well-known fact required no further testimony. What I wished to show was, that there is an acrid juice emitted, and that this juice causes the irritation without actual contact with the Physalia ; and therefore I hold that my experience is an additional proof of the pain being caused " by means of an acrid juice discharged " from the animal, which latter quotation from Mr. Bennett was the original cause of the argument. I regret that my former note at p. 279, vol. iii., was not sufficiently clear to prevent a mis- understanding. I had no intention of attempting to prove Mr. Gosse's doubts, but to add an " iota " of evidence towards the support of Mr. Bennett's statement, which latter I think I have done, not- withstanding that Mr. Gosse is of a different opinion. Unhappily, I do not possess Mr. Gosse's valuable work on " Sea-Anemones," so I may be ignorant of a similar circumstance having occurred under that gentleman's own observation. — IF. Wykeham Perry, II. M.S. " Caledonia," Malta, Dec. 22, 1SGS. Trichina spiralis.— Dr. Virchow's treatise on the life of Trichina, translated by Dr. 11. K. Browne, is appearing in consecutive numbers of the American " Dental Register." Queen of Spain Fritillary (Argynnis la- thonia). — A beautiful specimen of this rare insect was caught by myself in a field at Milton next Gravescnd, the latter part of September last. — II. J. M. Todd, Gravescnd. Protection of Sea-birds, &c. — A meeting has recently been held at the Zoological Society of Lon- don, in which the llev. H. B. Tristram, Professor Newton, and others, took part, to carry out the views propounded at the British Association meeting, and to place themselves in correspondence with the Yorkshire Society (see p. 10). Eeb. 1, 1SG9.] IIARDWICKE'S SCIENCE GOSSIP. 43 BOTANY. The Glastonbury Thorn.— There is, in Wy- combe Park, a tree of this variety, known as Cra- taegus oxyacuntha precox, which usually buds, but does not blossom, in December. This season, how- ever, many blossoms have fully expanded, induced by the mildness of the weather to put in an appear- ance ; their perfume being quite as powerful as that of those which expand at the more usual time. — Quart. Mag. of High Wycombe Nat. Hist. Society. The Wood Sorrel (p. 20).— Mr. Holland in- tended to .draw attention to the fact that Oxalis Acetosella produces seed from " apetalous flowers ;" not from " a petalous flower," as your printer has made it appear. Mr. Watson, in his " Compendium of the Cybele," notes " summer flowers apetalous, as in Viola." — B. Wood Sorrel.— Mr. Holland will find a notice of the manner in which this pretty wild plant produces its seed, in Barton & Castle's "Elora Medica."— Helen E. Watney. Cholera Eungus. — After a series of long bota- nical researches, Professor Ernest Hallier, of the University of Jena, has convinced himself of the presence in the excreta of cholera patients of a microscopic fungus which exists in them in con- siderable quantities. On submitting this minute plant to a careful microscopical examination, the distinguished botanist found that it has all the characters of Urocistus oryza, which in India is found sometimes in the rice plantations. Professor Hallier then manured some rice plants with the excreta in question, and finds that they perish rapidly. A whole plantation may be thus destroyed by the Urocistus in a very short space of time. — Scientific Review. [Our contemporary, like Professor Hallier, has leaped to an unj ustifiable conclusion. The researches alluded to have assumed too much, and proved too little. Scientific men do not believe in them, and many months since we gave our grounds for reject- ing wholly the supposed fungoid origin of cholera, in " Country Life." — See also Dr. Thudicum's remarks in the first Number of the Monthly Microscopical Journal. — Ed. S. G.] Scurvy Grass. — This plant (Cochlearia offici- nalis) is rare on the southern coast, at least I have never found it there ; in the north, it is said to be plentiful on the shores of creeks, and frequent on the highlands of Wales and Scotland. Will any one who has an opportunity of observing it give some information as to its habits of growth? The authorities differ. It was once cultivated, and Miller, in his " Gardener's Dictionary," says it is an annual, because, when sown in July, the proper season, it completes its growth by July following; a reason not quite satisfactory. Loudon, another gardener, describes it as biennial. Withering, the same. Hooker, in his " British Elora," 4th edit., 1S38, marks it annual, in common with all the sister plants except C. armoracia. Bhind, in his "Vegetable Kingdom," says it is perennial. My experience is limited to one specimen of C. offici- nalis found, with others, on a dry bank (to which the plant seems confined in that neighbourhood), near the town of Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, and removed in September to a garden in another county, where it flowered strongly two years, and had a perennial character, throwing up several flowering stems. It perished in the drought of last summer. I am led to think that Bhind is right. It is bold to challenge the authority of such a book as Hooker' s " British Elora," but itself furnishes strong evidence that an error has crept into it. The species named Greenlaiulica, which Hooker suspects to be only a variety of C. officinalis, and which Miller, under the name of Welsh Scorpion grass, describes as biennial, is marked annual in the "British Elora ;" but it is highly improbable that an annual plant should be able to maintain itself on the edge of the Arctic Circle, among the dwarf willow and birch, as its name implies, and it is known to do. The plant is interesting, but fallen into general disuse, both as a salad and a medicine ; though Loudon says it forms, mixed with orange-juice, an ingredient in the popular remedy called " Spring Waters." C. armoracia, the horse-radish, a sister- plant, does not seem at all likely to be so much neglected. — S. S. Monograph of Thuja.— I ask permission to cor- rect a typographical error in my recently published Monograph of the Coniferous Genus Thuja {Linn.), and of the North American species of the genus Le- bocedrus (Encll.) (Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, vol. ix. pp. 35S-378). The parallel columns containing the characters of the genera on p. 363 ought to be transposed, and the superfluous "the," last word 15th line from the foot of p. 3G2, deleted. The error was made after the paper passed from my hands ; and though I have corrected it in a number of separate copies, and the context and preceding and succeeding statements make it at once self-evident, yet the memoir may pass into the hands of some who have not seen these corrections. — Robert Brown. Elotvering of Whin in December.— When strolling along the southern slope of the Ochil Hills, near the village of Blairlogie, on Christmas morn, I was much surprised and pleased to find the top- most sprigs of the whin clustered with its yellow- flowers. The stony slopes of the hill reflect the sun, while the mountains shelter from the N. andE. wind, so that, on a fine day in December, you have the temperature of April.— Wm. Hacldon. 44 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Ffb. 1, 1869. MICROSCOPY. Christmas and the Microscope — Nee jam sustineant onus, Sylvre laborantes, geluque Flumina constiterint acuto, might well be said of Canadian woods and streams at this season of the year. The earth has pnt on her winter robes, and under them she hides most of those objects which in summer please and delight us so much. A cheerless prospect for microscopists, one would think. So I thought, as on Christmas afternoon I sallied out with bottles and stick in search of diatoms, infusoria, snow-peas, &c, though I did not expect to be very successful. After wandering about for some time, searching vainly for an unfrozen stream, I was about to return home with empty bottles, when I suddenly bethought my- self of an old spring which supplied several families with water, and which I knew therefore would be unfrozen. In this country, wherever there is a good spring some kind individual sinks a barrel for the benefit of the community at large, and thereby benefits microscopists in no small degree, for in these you are generally sure to find a good supply of microscopic objects. When I got to the spring the first thing that greeted my sight was a piece of alga; floating on the top of the water, and on a closer examination of the barrel I saw that the sides had a dark-brown coating, in which I knew diatoms and infusoria would be found. Scraping some of this oft', I placed it in a bottle and retraced my steps homeward, well satisfied with my afternoon's walk. Getting home at that unfavourable time for work- ing, just as the light is beginning to fail, I had to exercise my patience and wait till evening to see what my bottle contained. 1 had not long to wait, as darkness soon succeeds the light here : so when I had got a lamp lighted, I proceeded to examine my spoils. A short account of the things 1 found may not be uninteresting to English readers of the Science-Gossip, as it will give them some idea of what lovers of science meet with in this country. Upon putting a slide under the microscope before I had it properly focussed, I saw the dim outline of some little creature kicking and struggling as though it were caught in a net. It turned out to be one of the Tardigrada, or little water-bears, that had got its feet entangled in the gelatinous tube of the Encyonema prostratum. It was with great difficulty that it freed itself from the jelly, and then it began its slow and stately walk, which formed such a con- trast with the quick, lively movements of the animalcules with which it was surrounded. The little water-bears are by no means common objects with us, but it only makes them the more accept- able when we chance to get them. The Encyonema prostratum seems to delight in these quiet water- barrels, though it is occasionally fouud on the wave-washed Cladophora of our lakes. They always remind me of the manner in which peccaries sleep, packed closely together in hollow logs. I have seen the Encyonema shoot out of its tube, but whether it can find its way back again or not I do not know. Two species of Euglence were very plentiful, viz., the E. viridis and E. acus. They are found here in the spring in such numbers as to give to the water they are in a dark green colour. The Paramecium aurelia and Kolpoda cucullus were in great abun- dance. Among other Infusoria were the Amphileptus anser, two species of VorticeU'uue and the Leueophrys pat/da. Of Desmids there were three species : Closterium acerosum, Cosmariitm undulatum, and Scenedesmus quadricauda. Of Diatoms, besides the Encyonema, the following species were present : Gompj/ionema coronation, G. minutissimum, Melosira varians (Thwaites), Fragillaria rhabdosoma, Meridon vernale,Navicula amphirhynchus, N. lib rile, Hyalosira rectangida, Synedra splendens, Cymbella gastroides, and some others. — W. Osier, Dundas, Ontario. Object for Polariscope. — The skin and scales covering the legs of a pheasant make a very pretty object for the polariscope. The scales should be cleared from fat by immersion in ether or dilute liquor potassae, dried between slips of glass, soaked in turpentine until quite transparent, and finally mounted in balsam. The colours are very bright if a selenite stage is used. — /. II., Cheltenham. CoRDYLorHORA lacustris.— The only habitats I find recorded for this interesting zoophyte are docks in London and Dublin, where there would, I suppose, be some admixture of salt water some- times, though Professor Allmann says he kept spe- cimens for a fortnight in fresh water. Last June a specimen was found by a friend of mine on a piece of old caual-boat, which we were examining for polyzoa, lying on the Birmingham Canal at Tipton. I subsequently found this zoophyte in the Stour- bridge Canal, close by the town ; and I also ob- tained a luxurious gathering from a pool near Pensnett, Dudley, where it was lying close to the side, attached to a small stick, and exposed to the full glare of the August sun. I transferred this colony to my aquarium, where it is still (Nov. 16) flourishing. The zoophyte does not seem therefore to avoid light, though, I suppose, when so exposed, it is frequently destroyed by the more rapid growth of Conferva?. Johnston only gives a short account of it in his 2nd edition, and derives the name from Kop$v\oc (a water-newt) instead of KopcuXi] (clava, a club).— {See Professor Allmann's admirable paper in Philosophical Transactions, 1853.) An interesting account of it also, by the Rev. T. Hincks, is to be found in Ann. and Mag. Nat. History, 1853. — W. Madeley, Pensnett, near Dudley. Feb. 1, 1869.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 45 NOTES AND QUERIES. Fumart.— The Pole- cat is called Fumart in Cum- berland, which is evidently a corruption of Foul- marten, so called on account of the horrid stench it emits when attacked ; and also to distinguish it from the Beech-marten, or Sweet-marten (Mustela martes), or, as it is generally called there, " Mart." The Stinkhorn fungus (Phallus impjidicus) is known here by the name of Pow-cat, which is doubtless a corruption of Pole-cat. It is not uncommon to hear a person say, when speaking of anything causing a disagreeable odour, that it stinks iike a Pow-cat. -J. B. Similar replies have also been received from E. T. Scott, W. Tyrer, Fred. Smith, &c. Fumart.— At p. 22, W. Gain makes inquiries about this word. The only light (if light it can be called) that I can throw on the subject is an extract from Thomson's "Etymons of English Words," 1826. He speaks of the "Jumart" as "an animal absurdly supposed to be produced from a male ass and a cow. F. (French) Jumart, from A. (Arabic) Hummar, a red ass, which is held in disrepute as degenerate." One is almost tempted to correct the word with the Latin " Jumentum, a beast of burden." Of course, such a monster as the Fumart or Jumart never existed. — IF. W. Spicer. Weather-wise Glowworm. — There is a weather proverb to the effect that, — " When the glowworm lights her lamp Then the air is always damp." Can you inform me why this is the case ? Sometimes on a warm night in summer, when walking in the neighbourhood of Lyme, I have seen glowworms in abundance, but on passing through the same place a i'ew nights afterwards I have scarcely observed any. How far north is the insect found ? and does it inhabit the Isle of Man and Ireland ? — F. J. D. Hintori. Snow-bunting. — Can any of your readers in- form me where I can get a female snow-bunting. I have two males, and should be glad to exchange one of them for a female, or am willing to buy. I have had my birds two years, they are healthy and in good feather. I should like the female to have moulted in confinement. — A. Pickard, Wokingham, Darlington. Drying Leaves. — In drying leaves for a speci- men-collection of " winter leaves," I find the leaves of the laurel (either common or variegated) become invariably spotted with black, which spreads until the whole leaf is discoloured, every precaution having been taken, such as changing the drying- papers. Can any of your correspondents explain this, or assist me with their experience ? — H. P. Lamperns. — "L.S." would be glad to know if the little fish caught in the Severn and sold by the name of Lampern, or Lampron, is Petromyzon fluviatilis, _ and whether it is the same fish that Henry I. is said to have died from indulging in ? She would be glad to know if Lamprey is its proper name, or whether the country name of Lampern or Lampron is right. She has heard that the lamprey is a much larger fish. What's in a Name?— The remarks made by " M.G." in Science-Gossip last month remind me of an amusing incident somewhat a propos of his little anecdote. A new gardener of mine said to me one morning, when I was giving him some directions respecting a few shrubs I wanted re- moved, " A couple of those ' Our angels ' would look beautiful there, if you 'please, ma'm." — "A couple of what ? " I asked. " ' Our angels,' ma'm. Those blue 'our angels,' like your mamma, Mrs. Raby, has at Beyn M or," was the reply— " 'Our angels,'" I repeated. " Yes, ma'm ; we have pink ones here : there is some over there," pointing, as he spoke, to a clump of hydrangeas. — "Why, those are hydrangeas, Jenkins," I exclaimed, nearly dying of laughter. " Well to be sure ! Mrs. Raby called them by some foreign name, and I thought it was ' our angels.' ''—Helen E. Watneij. Acorns.— It is a fact— no "folk lore" at all— that when pigs are killed without being put up to fatten on barley-nieal, peas, &c, after feeding on acorns the flesh will not make good pork or bacon. 1 know this to be the case. — Helen E. Watney. Humming-bird in England. — I must beg leave to dissent from your correspondent's inference with regard to its being the Sphinx convolmdi which was mistaken by the lady at Leamington for the Hum- ming-bird, for I think everything points to the sup- position that it was the Humming-bird Hawk-moth (Macroglossa stel lata rum) which she saw. For in- stance, S. conrolculi is a nocturnal insect, and the probability is that no one would imagine it was a Humming-bird which was seen flying at night. M. stellatarum being diurnal in its habits, flying in the hottest sunshine over flowers, with that peculiar darting, hovering motion (which has earned for it its common name) when about to dive its long haustellum into the nectaries of petunias, pelar- goniums, or other flowers, might well be mistaken by a person ignorant of natural history for the veritable Humming-bird. The description, too, tallies with M. .stellatarum, inasmuch as the "plumage of reddish brown, speckled upon the back with white," is as the two bars of white upon the rufous ground-colour of the body would appear when the moth was poising itself over the flowers. — A. 31. B. Silurian Maps. — I believe there have been pub- lished some approximate geological maps of Europe at the Silurian period. Will you inform me where they are to be obtained, and the price of them ? Can you also inform me if there are any other than the Silurian maps ? — H. W. Richardson. Laurel-leaves. — I noticed the four, rarely only two, spots at the back of the leaves of the common laurel many years ago. I was in a garden on Mus- well-hill, Hornsey, and my attention was drawn to the spots by noticing a number of bees, not the common honey-bee, alight on the leaves in a steady business-like way, and run rapidly down the middle of the leaf, turn briskly under to the side where the spots are found, suck the juice from the four ending spots in succession, and fly away. I have since ex- amined these spots, or (?) excretionary glands. At some seasons of the year they exude each quite a respectable drop of a sweet juice; at other times the spots are dry and brown. I have never seen them on any other save the common, laurel-leaves. Fshould be glad to know what species of bee it is that seems to know and like so well this nectar or syrup. When I first observed the spots I was more interested in them than my little guides, and so lost the opportunity of settling the question as to their species. — S. M. 4G HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Feb. 1, 1SG9. Piece of Coal. — Allow me to correct two glar- ing mis-statements in the "Story of a Piece of Coal," with which your fifth volume commences. The Honorary Secretary of the Norwich Geological Society there states "that, during the carboniferous 5>eriod, there stretched across what is now central England, a hilly barrier, which separated two coal- formations going on contemporaneously.''' A rough sketch (fig. 40) will show the fallacy of this hypo- thesis better than mere description. The coal-mea- sures were deposited conformably over the Millstone Grit, and it was not till after the close of the car- boniferous period that the upheaval of the range occurred. It is easy to imagine the continuation of the beds which have been cut off by denudation subsequently. But the next error is still more glaring. I refer to the statement that the moun- tain limestone was formed simultaneously with the coal-measures ! Considering that the mountain limestone underlies the latter by several thousand feet of Millstone Grit, I think it is needless to comment upon this most novel hypothesis. — W. II. Button, Geol. Survey. January, 1669; Quarterly Journal of Geological Society, vol. xxii., pp. 590, 470, 599 ; M. Agassiz, Poissons Fossiles, 8 vols. ; Ditto, Du Vieux Gres Rouge ; Transactions of Manchester Geological Society, vol. i., p. 10; Transactions of Tvneside Naturalists' Field Club, vol. vi., p. 231; Owen's Odontography ; Owen's Palaeontology ; Owen's Homology of the Vertebrate Skeleton ; Buckland's Geology and Mineralogy ; Pace's Handbook of Geology; Page's Geological Terms; Chambers's Encyclopaedia; Proceedings of the Palseontographical Society ; Acadian Geology by Dawson, pp. 179, 353; Proceedings of North of England Institution of Mining Engineers ; Sedgwick and McCoy's British Palseozoic Fossils ; Miller's Footprints of the Creation ; Science - Gossip ; Scientific Opinion. From any of the works enumerated valuable infor- mation may be derived. — T. P. Parkas, Neiocastlc- on-Tyne. Substitute for Nose-pieces. — There is an error in the description of my sketch (fig. 15, in the number for last month). I wrote, or should have Coal-mearures. 2. Millstone-grit. The Nightingale. — I read in the Western Morn- ing News of this day (January 11th) that " the valley between Liskeard and Moorswater (in Cornwall) is now tenanted by a nightingale, which warbles enchanting, but untimely music." Is it not a very unusual occurrence at this season of the year and in that locality?—^/. J. Davy, Torquay. Gkowtii in Greengage. — In the month of July last year, I was preparing to eat a fine-looking greengage, when on opening it to remove the stone, [ found the kernel had germinated, and a radicle had appeared at one end of the stone, which was partly open, and a delicate primule at the other. As it looked healthy, I carefully closed the fruit around it, and planted it en masse, but am sorry to say it perished, 1 believe owing to the continuous rain. —II. P. Books and Pafebs on Carboniferous Faun.e. — 1 have had numerous applications to recommend works in which information may be had respecting carboniferous faunae, and as there is no single work in which the information at present possessed has been condensed and illustrated, L beg that you will permit me to refer your readers to some of the many sources from which valuable information may be obtained : — Annals of Natural History, February, April, May, June, 1S0S ; Proceedings of the Geo- logical Society, vol. xviii., p. 2'.)1 ; vol. xix., p. 03; Transactions of Royal Irish Society, vol. xxiv., p. 351, plate 19; Memoirs of Geological Society, 1859, p. 52 ; Ditto, Decades vi. and x ; Transactions of Geological Society, series ii., vol. vi., plate 43, fig. 1; Owen's Dental Characters of Genera and Species of Fishes and Reptiles from Low Main Coal-seam, Northumberkmd ; Geological Magazine, vol. vi., pp. 323, 378 ; Ditto, Aug., Nov., Dec, 1S0S, and done so, lower end of " body," and 'not, as printed, " object-glass." (Of course the upper end of object- glass goes into the lower end of body.) — James Vogan. [It is printed as our correspondent wrote it; hence the error is his own.— Ed. S. G.\ To repair Corallines. — Can any one inform me how to mend a piece of coralline from the Mau- ritius ? Arabian cement and plaster of Paris have been tried, but without success. — F. II., Eastbourne. [Is it a coral or a coralline ? — Ed. S. G.] Dendritic Spots. — I have for a length of time been puzzled to know what these are. They cer- tainly look like some fungoid growth, but I cannot feel so sure about it as " J. T. G." I have often tried, but can find no spores, neither can I make out that the spots grow, nor yet increase in number, as they would do were they a kind of fungus ; ana I cannot find them on all sorts of paper. 1 have now by me two kinds of foolscap which have been kept in the same place. One sort abounded in spots when I had it, but they have certainly not become more numerous during the past year or more. On the other lot of paper, about half a ream, I can find none. May they not be some crystallization which takes place in the making of the paper ? I have looked into some old books which have got rather discoloured with damp, but do not find them, though there is a black fungus of quite a different appear- ance which is produced, and does grow and increase. Perhaps " J. T. W." can procure and figure the spores, which would set the matter at rest as to the vegetable nature of the spots. — E. T. Scott. Luminous Centipede.— While walking in the garden one night with a friend, we observed a luminous appearance on the walk by the side of the lawn. It looked like a number of luminous grains Feb. 1, 1SG9.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 47 of sand arranged in a row, and all moving about very quickly. We took it up and carried it to the light, and found that it was an animal like a centi- pede, only a good deal longer, more slender, and with many more legs. It is very common in the kind of places in which centipedes are found. On going to the British Museum I saw an animal that I thought was the same, called Geophilus carpophagus. The luminosity did not seem to proceed from a wound, as it was all over from head to tail. — A'. W. An Ejectment for Ants. — A lady for many years has had the misfortune to have her best plums and pears infested with ants, so that the inside of the ripe fruits has been partially filled with these little creatures. Boiling water, lime, salt, tobacco- water, aloes, guano, were tried and failed ; indeed, as one of your correspondents said, those articles appeared to agree with them, and made them more lively than ever. An old gentleman gave informa- tion that train-oil would give ants a clear ejectment. On going to purchase the oil, the druggist said it would be a more certain mixture if one ounce of the flowers of sulphur were mixed with two pints of the train-oil. This mixture was applied with a whitewash brush on the wall and on the trunks of the trees for the height of two yards. The effect has been that only one ant has been seen during the last summer, and none of the fruit infested by them.— John Higginbottom , F.B.S.J., Nottingham. Laurel-berries, &c— The question asked by Mr. E. J. Battersby, in a recent number of Science- Gossip, is one attended witli much interest, and relates to a subject but little attended to by botanists generally. It is a well-known fact that the common Laurel (Cerastes Lauro-cerasus), which must not be confounded with the true Laurel of the ancients (Laurus nobilis), contains a virulent secretion— prussic acid— in large quantities. It is also well known that the fleshy portion of its dark purple berries, as they are erroneously called, is edible when perfectly ripe; in fact, I have eaten them myself in large quantities without experiencing anything unwholesome; still I have doubts as to whether the kernels do not contain a poisonous principle, as do those of the delicious peaches, nectarines, &c, of our gardens. Instances are on record of death having been occasioned by partaking of them in quantity. I am of opinion that Laurel- " berries" (drupes) are poisonous whilst in a young state, their flavour at that period being similar to that of the leaves. Why any particular plant (or order) should absorb and secrete in itself prussic acid, as the Laurel ; Solanine, as by the Solanums : Atropine, as by the "Deadly Nightshade (Atropa Belladonna); 1 'heiue, as by the Tea shrub (Thea), &c, is a mystery difficult to explain. Why should apples, pears, and other of our common fruits differ in flavour ?_ Take apples, for example. There aie in cultivation several thousand named varieties; yet_ out of this immense collection scarcely two varieties can be named as possessing exactly the same flavour. In the case of varieties, as in the example already named, it is highly probable that all the natural secretions are present, such as malic acid, sugar, &c. ; but that they exist in different proportions in nearly every variety, and thus occa- sion differences of flavour. It may be asked, What causes the secretions to exist in different proportions in separate varieties ? I have asked this question many times ; 1 have put it to some of the leading horticulturists with whom 1 have had the oppor- tunity of conversing; and never yet received a decided answer. It is only by patient observation that we can wrest many of Nature's secrets from her grasp. Some of her problems are difficult to solve, and can only be thoroughly mastered by con- tinual observation and well-directed study.— F. W. Burbidge, Somerby, Oakham. October Lilac. — "During the past autumn, I have, on two separate occasions, observed the com- mon Purple Lilac in bloom. In one instance, it is but fair to state that the plant had been forced the previous spring. In the other case, the plant com- menced its growth very early in the spring, being in a warm, sheltered situation, and the summer being hot and dry, the wood became ripened early. The autumnal rains _ started some of the most prominent buds, and it produced several clusters of beautiful and delicately-perfumed purple flowers, which, according to rule, ought not to have ap- peared' until the succeeding spring.— F. W. Bur- bidge, Somerby, Oakham. Spiders suspending a Stone.— Might not the stone referred to by " J. E. D.," p. 2S3, as sus- pended from a spider's web, have been used by the spider appertaining thereto as a means of keeping its web distended, or to steady it from the effects of the wind ?— F. W. Burbidge, Somerby, Oakham. Luminous Worm. — One evening in September last I observed and captured a centipede, which emitted a light so much similar to that of a glow- worm, that at the time (it being nearly dark) I mistook it for one. I was surprised, upon examin- ing it in the light, to find it a centipede. After having had it in my hands some minutes, I placed it under a glass for future examination ; and upon going into a dark room my hands shone as though I had rubbed them with a piece of phosphorus. This luminous appearance I found resulted from a minute quantity of viscid matter which had adhered to my fingers whilst I was examining the polypodian luminary itself. The specimen I observed was to all appearance perfect and uninjured, and shone brightly at times as it moved quickly along a gravel path. In reply to the re- marks of Mr. G. J. Dew, I would say that I believe the "insect" he refers to in the December number of Science-Gossip does naturally emit a light, although such light may shine much brighter when the "insect" suffers from a fracture, as Mr. Dew states was the case with the specimen he observed. The luminous centipede observed by myself, and which I have no doubt is identical with the one seen by Mr. Dew, was nearly two inches long, slender, very active, and of a pale yellow colour. Probably some of the correspondents of this periodical may have observed this luminous pheno- menon, and be able to furnish us with its scientific appellation. — F. W. Burbidge, Somerby, Oakham. What are the specific Differences between Potent ill a tormentilla and Potentilla reptans? — Potentilla reptans, the common creeping cinquefoil, has a filiform creeping stem ; Potentilla tormentilla (tormentil) an ascending dichotomous one. P. reptans has quinate leaves and obovate leaflets ; the P. tormentilla ternate leaves and elliptical lanceolate leaflets. They are not quite so serrated (toothed) as those of the P. reptans. These are, I believe, the chief specific differences between the two plants, for we often find a tormentilla with five petals and a ten-parted calyx, and the different species of Poten- tilla are sometimes found varying with four or five petals. — Helen E. Wutuey. 48 HARDWICXE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Feb.1, 1869. NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. Lbighton's Anoiocarpous Lichens and Monograph of British Graphidere, wanted to purchase.— Address, J. Bow- man, Cockan, Lamplugh, Cockermouth. E. C. J.—Enca/ypta streptocarpa. — R. B. J. B. L. — 1. Bruchytliccium albicans. 2. Grimmia triilio- phylln. 3. Racomitrium ellipticum. — R. B. H. C. Lkslik.— The Cynips is C. lignieola, Hartig ; and the Ichneumon is Callimone Deroniensis, Parfitt. — C. 0. W. J. Mc C— The Blue Bee is Xylocopa violacea.—C. 0. W. D. H. S.— The leaf, fig. 249, is that of Crataegus uxyueun- thoides, evidently. F. G. B. — We cannot revive the subject again after so long delay, especially to add nothing new. J. G. O.— Your observations should have been sent to the journal in which the discussion is conducted. E. J. — The circumstance is not at all uncommon. R. G. — We cannot attempt to name larvae, &c. Why not rear them yourself, and save us the trouble? R. B. — Asplenium Adiuntum-nigrum. A. L. — We can find two or three similar instances within five minutes' walk of our own domicile. G. H. A. and J. B. K.— As a controversy has been going on in Scientific Opinion on this subject, we decline commencing it. Errata. — Some correspondents, who complain of errors in printing their communications, are in the habit of writing such execrable scrawls, that it is no wonder the P. D. gets puzzled. S. S.— English Books printed in India are many of them a disgrace to their authors, and contain more errors than any other books in the language. " Balfour's Cyclopaedia " is no exception, and though only a compilation, and a careless one, it would be difficult to say which preponderates, the right or the wrong. The only satisfaction we can afford you is, that it is the only one published. Carfoi.ogical Books.— Our correspondent (" H. S.") will perhaps find the following list answer the purpose : Parsons, " The Microscopical Theatre of Seeds." London, 1/45. 4to. — Gaertnkr, J., " De Fructibus et Seminibus Plantarum." 3 vols. 4to. Stuttgart, 1/88-1807. — Dumoktier, " Essai Carpographique." 4to. Brussels, 1835. — Couverchel, " Traite des Fruits." 8vo. Paris, 1839. — Richard, " Demon- strations Botaniques, ou Analyse au Fruit considere en general." 8vo. Paris, 1808.— Ralph, T. S., " Icones Car- pologicse." Parti. 4to. London, 184<). A. B. — The common Custard Apple is Anona reticulata, and the Cherimoyer is Anona cherimolia. The zoophyte on the Shrimp is Laomedea dichotoma, common on various sub- stances within tide-marks. There is no reason to suppose that the volunteers have anything to do with it. I. T. — At Wheldon's, Great Queen Street, Lincoln's-Inn Fields. P. B.— No ! especially the binocular. A. C. — Undoubtedly they were little " Hermit Crabs." H. P. — Mr. Pike, of Brighton, furnishes seaweeds for the herbarium. G. J. D.-We could not undertake such a task. A. A., Jun. — Cleaner and better than before, but still capa- ble of improvement. T. A. H. — The fern is Polystichum angular e, var. grandidens, Moore ; see also var. oxu, Lowe. — J. G. B. R. G.— The case-bearing larva? on Junats are those of Coleophora cespititiella, a very common species on the seeds of various kinds of rush. — H. McL. Cossev. — We are decidedly opposed to the use of assumed names, inverted initials, and all subterfuges for disguising the true name or initials of correspondents. If the truth be spoken it needs no disguise. "Timothy Twaddle," in- stead of writing to us may devote the time to his own im- provement, and save postage stamps. J. D. H.— Asplenium bulbiferum what you term parasites are young plants of the fern, produced upon the fronds. T. A. H. — Probably a large variety of Lastrea Filix mas, but from its condition, and absence of fruit, not safe to deter- mine.— J. G. B. H. C.S. — An infinitely better account of the seventeen year locust has just appeared in the American Entomologist. Plana ria.— The following misprints occurred at p. 8. For "Tushellasia," read " Turbellaria ;" for "over gliding," "even gliding;" for " flosculent," " flocculent;" and for " diametically,'' "diametrically." — A. H. E. J. B. may obtain cardboard boxes of all kinds of Mr. Cutter, 35, Great Russell Street, corner of Bloomsbury Street, w.c. Too Late.— Communications not received until between the )2th and 15th of the month, containing specimens for naming, or queries requiring answer from the editor, cannot receive attention until the following month. This notice is occasioned by the great increase of correspondence, especially at those dates. March. — Notes of microscopical objects to be sought for during this month are solicited from our correspondents. EXCHANGES. Minerals in exchange for British shells or others of the same.— Send list of desiderata and duplicates to G, S. Tye, 58, Villa Road, Handsworth, Birmingham. Conchoi.ogv. — Correspondents and exchanges wanted in Terrestrial Conchology. — H. Freedley, Norristown, Pa. U.S. Lepidoptera. — Southern for Northern species. — E. II. Walland, 19, Oakley Street, Chelsea. Sections of Wellingtonia (mounted) Gigantea and Cuticle of Yucca for other objects (mounted). — J. Carpenter, Waltham Cross, Herts. Chalk Fossils (mounted) in exchange for other objects of interest (mounted or unmounted).— Send lists to Rev. J. B. Bartlett, Watton-at- Stone, Hertford. Fossil Infusoria from Kieselguhr, district of Soos near Eger, Bohemia.— Pollen of Lilium Lancifolium Punctatum, or Lilium Lancifolium Rubrum (mounted), in exchange for other (mounted or unmounted) microscopic objects. — Address, inclosing stamped envelope, to C. E. Osborn, 28, Albert Road, St. John's Ville, Highgate, N. Scales of Podura, Lepisma, Atropos, and Hair of Dermes- tes larva (mounted), in exchange for other objects (mounted or unmounted). — J. Shelton, 52, High Street, Bedford. Sections of Heath stem, Oak, and Datura, offered in ex- change for other mounted objects. — Address James Green, jun., 16, Pump Street, Londonderry. Mosses. — PaludellaSquarrosa for any rare species. — Samuel Anderson, Albert Chambers, Whitby. BOOKS RECEIVED. " Popular Science Review." No. 30, January, I869. Lon- don : Robert Hardwicke. " The Quarterly Magazine of the High Wycombe Natural History Society." Vol. II., No. 3, January, 1869. " The Monthly Microscopical Journal." Edited by Henry Lawson, M.D. No. 1, January, J 869. London: Robert Hardwicke. "Young England's Almanac and Naturalists' Calendar," for I869. London: Tweedie. "The American Entomologist," No. 4 (No. 3 not received). St. Louis, Mo. : Studley & Co. " Scientific Opinion." Nos. 9, 10, 11. London : Wyman & Sons. " Land and Water." Nos. 154, 155, and 156, January, I869. London : 80, Fleet Street. "The Garden Oracle and Floricultural Year Book, I869. Edited by Shirley Hibberd, F.R.H.S. London : Groombridge & Sons. " The Dental Register." Edited by J. Taft and G. Watt. Vol. XXII., No. 11, November, 1868. Cincinnati: Wrightson &Co. "American Bee Journal.'' Vol. IV., No. 7, January, I869. Edited by S. Wagner. Washington, U.S. "Newman's Entomologist." No. 61, January, I869.' Lon- don : Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. "The Gardener's Magazine," for January, I&69. Edited by Shirley Hibberd, F.R.H.S. London: E. W. Allen. " Descriptive Catalogue of Flower Seeds." By William Thompson, Tavern Street, Ipswich. " The Canadian Naturalist and Geologist." Vol. 3, No. 4, January, 1868 (sic). Montreal: Dawson Brothers. "The American Naturalist." Vol. II., No. 11, January 7, I869. Salem : Peabody Academy of Science. Communications Received. -J. B.— J. M. C. (ineligible). — S. C. H.--R. B.— E. J.— W. H.— J. G. O.— J. Y. H.— W. W. S.— R. C. B.— C. O. G. N.— W. G. B. (too late).— F. H. — G. S. T.— F. S— H. W. R.— A. A., jun.— J. V.— A. B.— J. W. P. — F. G. B. — W. T.— E. T. S.— S. B.— R. G.— D. H. S. — J. H. — H. J. M. T. — W. K. — J. R. S. C. — — B. T. H. M.— G. R.— S. M.— J. B. J.— J. L. M.— R. T.— H. E. W— L.S.— A. C.-T. P. B.-H. P.— T. A. H.— J. C— J. B. L.— A. P.— W. W.— J. H.— C. E. O.- A. H. E.— J. B. K. —J. B.-B.— H. S.— J. B.-B.— R. H.— W. O. (Dundas).— A. B. F.— A. A., jun.— H. F— C. C. W.-A. B.— W. M.— H.S. — R. W.— J. E.— M. A. J.— O. S— M. F. D.— E. H. W.— T. H. H.— W. H. D.— W. J. D.— A. M. B.— F. S.— F. A. K.— A. J. D.— J. G., jun.— T. S.— R. S.— H. C. S.— H. W. R.— J. S. T— J. W.— J. S.— H. B. B.— H. G. G.— L. A. G.— M. M. —J. R.— E. B— J. G. B.— R. R. W.-E. I.— E. P. H.— S. A.— S. and S.— I. T.— P. B.-H. H. K— J. D. H.-H. H. M.— P. P. A.— S. M.— R. A. S.— S. H.— J. J. S.— W. R. T.— W. H. -T. S.— G. H. A.— J. R.— G. E. F.— F. F.-E. C. J.— E. P. H. —A. M. March 1, 1369.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE -GOSSIP. 4!) MYBIAPODS. By MAJOR HOLLAND, R.M.L.l. LEASE, sir, here's one of them nasty mis- chiefull many- legs as I told youpisened the melon-bed so as we never got nothink off of 'em. Nobody can't say as they wasn't took care of, for I was a waterin' and a water- in' on 'em mornin', noon, and night, all along the droughty summer. It stands reasonable-like to natur' as water-melons should take a sight o' water : t wasn't my overdoin' on 'em with mis- ture as rotted the roots off ; 'twas these here plaguey varmint " ! ! Having delivered this oration, and proved to his own entire satisfaction " as how he was right all along, and master was mistook" about poor Curcurbita citrullus having been drenched to death with icy pump-water, the obstinate old gardener deposited his writhing scape- goat on the study table, and retired triumphant to the coach-house, where he whistled loud paeans of victory to the Bramahs and Cochins of the stable- yard. What yellow-brown Myriapod is this ? His flexible body, which he is tying into all manner of knots, is composed of no fewer than eighty-one dis- tinct segments, to say nothing of the odd one at the end of the tail, aud the five which have coalesced to form the head. If we count these five fused segments as one (as we do the four which Pro- fessor Huxley tells us combine together to make up our own human brainboxes), then his body is made up of eighty-three somites, of which the cephalic, the anterior-thoracic, which bears that terrible pair No. 51. of hooked maxillipedes, and the anal are the only three presenting any marked differences from each other, and from the eighty others which are as " strictly uniform " as the helmets of the metro- politan police. How the fellow shuns the light ! Does his con- science trouble him ? Does he feel himself guilty of "pisenin' " the melons, that he wriggles so uneasily until he succeeds in burying himself out of sight in the silk tassel of the penwiper ? A burrowing- troglodyte by nature, I suspect, and on closer ex- amination he proves to be such — Geophilus sub- terraneus (underground earth-lover), of the family GeophU'uhc, of the sub-division Chilopoda (foot feeders), of the order Myriapoda, of the class. Articulata, according to Newport. He has no eyes ; he doesn't want any ; he passes- his life in the dark, underground, tearing up old shreds of farmyard manure and vegetable matter,, always preferring scavengers' work when he can. get it, and doing good service by eating up the helpless, soft, succulent larva? of the hosts of insects that prey upon our crops. The sins of the wire- worm have been laid to his charge; his third cousins the hdidce do undoubtedly steal our potato "sets," and bore into young peas, or rather into old peas just "spritting" and about to send up. young ones ; but it seems doubtful if he himself ever attacks fresh or living vegetables : he seems to be one of nature's many vidangeurs, and because he is found minding his business and eating up rottenness, he is accused of producing it. As well might we say that our sewer-men produce typhus and cholera. But he has even been charged with having caused the potato disease ! because he was found labouring to remove the affected tubers. Beware,, ye brave surgeons who fight with zymotic demons and risk your own lives to lilt up stricken humanity, lest ye be arraigned for producing all the long cata- logue of human ills that figure in our sanitary statistics. Our captive has no eyes ; he has, however, an D 50 HAllDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [March 1, 1869. ' ocellus," a mere pigment speck behind the base of each of his fifteen-jointed antenna?, and he has the smallest possible tlireadlet of an optic nerve. I ex- pect he cannot see, in the ordinary sense, but can dis- tinguish between the light with which he has nothing to do, and the darkness in which he feels his way about with his antennae when doing his duty like a humble vegetarian jackal, or adjutant. The Myriapods have been placed at different times in different classes of the animal kingdom : in one famous system we find them under the head of Crustacea ; another, in remote times, ranged them with the Hemiptera and Orthoptera as "insects which only undergo a partial metamorphosis.5' They have slight affinities with both, and even with the Annelids ; like the latter, they grow in length by the successive addition of new segments between the penultimate and anal. The lower subdivision, the Chilognatha, by the situation of their repro- ductive orifices, seem to betray Crustacean relation- ships ; but we remember that in the first phase of their development they displayed three pairs of legs only, like the typical hexapod insect. They appear to stand out the strong, well-marked, first link of that long chain which bridges over the mighty gulf which rolls between the creeping worm and the flying insect. The Myriapod is the lowest articulate animal, the Annelid the highest annulose — i. e., according to the old scheme of classification, the latter term has recently been used with a widely extended signification. Ten years ago the sub- division Ckilopoda consisted of four families, including ninety-four genera ; and the lower sub- division, Chilognatha, of four families, containing seventy-five genera; a tremendous total of variations of a type ; but since then they have been shuffled and cut, and lumped and split, like the German States, till nobody knows which is which. " An articulation complete in all its mechanical appliances is not produced in the animal kingdom below the Myriapod. A joint is the symbol of organic superiority ; it is not an arbitrary symbol ; it is a unit in an assemblage of signs which proclaim a newer and higher combination in the arrangements which constitute 'life.5 At this limit in the animal series the fluids and the solids of the organism undergo a signal exaltation of standard. The system of the chylaqueous fluid exists no longer in the adult organism, it is present only in the embryonic. It is supplanted by that of the blood proper. Coinciden- tally with the 'joint' at the frontier of the articulate sub-kingdom there occurs a heart to circulate the blood, fibrine, and with it an order of floating corpuscles more highly organized in the fluids ; a wondrous development of the muscular apparatus, stria; in the muscle-cell, a rapid increase in the dimensions of the cephalic gangliaj and in those of the organs of the special senses. It is here in the history of the reproductive system that the dioecious character is first unquestionably assumed. These are noteworthy events in the ascensive march of organic architecture." — Dr. Williams, Mag. Nat. Hist., 1854. The armour-plates of the cylindrical lulus are composed of a semi-crustaceous hard substance, but in the Scolopendridce, which our " false wireworm " closely approaches, the integuments are of a flexible chitinous substance, the back of each segment is covered by a plate, the ventral surface by a some- what smaller plate, the epimeral portions, as well as the interspaces between the somites, are covered by a loosely fitting coriaceous membrane of much thinner texture. The circulating system has been a battleground for men with great reputations. The nervous and reproductive systems, and the development day by day from the ovum, have been drawn out with elaborate minuteness by Newport — in Philosophical Transactions for 1841 and 1843— but I have not yet fallen in with a drawing of their tracheary system, which is well worthy of careful study. The spiracular orifices are not placed as in insects between the segments, but in the side of each, a little below the dorsal plate ; they are not minute apertures, nor vertical slits, neither are they furnished with " guards " of setse, or hairs, to exclude dust aud foreign bodies ; but they are circular openings, each with a well-defined hard- looking ring, over which the tough but pliable lateral membrane passes, lining the entrance, which is directed slightly backwards, and can be closed by a sphincter muscle. The tracheae are very large in the anterior segments, occupying no small portion of their internal cavities, but they decrease in diameter in proportion as the segments recede from the head ; possibly there may be ueed for a more abundant supply of oxygen in the region of the brain, and in the first formed portions of the body, than in the equally large but more remote additions which are from time to time developed near the caudal extremity. Let us detach half a dozen pairs of spiracles, with their tracheal appurtenances complete, from the dissected tail end of Geophilus the much maligned, float them on to a slide, and bring the " two-thirds objective " to bear upon them. (Fig. 41.) A ladder of shining silver, a very Jacob's ladder, bright and beautiful enough to have been let down from heaven for the feet of angels. The six uprights aud the cross rungs are all constructed of the same tubular wire rope glistening with a dazzling metallic lustre, and without a flaw anywhere. The tubes are composed of an outer and an inner coat, containing between them the spiral coil, to which they are closely attached ; a delicate membrane also connects the turns of the spiral with each other. It is interesting to compare these animal breathing tubes, with their March 1, 1869.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 51 analogues the spiral vessels of the vegetable kingdom ; the latter are easily extracted from the young shoots of asparagus, or from the leaves of the hyacinth. The spring-like coil ensures a free open passage for the air which rushes in by the spiracular orifices, expiration being effected by the contraction Fig, 41. Trachea; of Geophilus subterraneus, x 140. of these elastic channels, by which the effete air is forcibly expelled through the openings by which it originally entered. The main tracheal pass down the axes of the blood- channels, floating in the vital fluid, which they revivify with the oxygen which they thus carry to and through the life-stream. We are told that the air-pipe does not terminate where the wiry-looking spiral comes to an end ; the latter dwindles away imperceptibly to nothing, but the trachea from thence becomes membranous, and, dividing into innumerable branches, which bear to the main trunks the same rektion that the capillaries bear to the arteries, penetrates the substance of the muscles, inconceivably fine branches having been traced accompanying the nerves, while the ultimate plexiform extremes of the system aerate imme- diately the solids. "In all the transparent struc- tures of insects every observer may prove for himself that the blood-currents travel in the same passages as the tracheal, but this is only the case with the primary and secondary branches, never in the capillary tracheal ; the blood corpuscles of the myriapod exceed by several times in diameter that of the extreme capillary membranous tracheal ; it is perfectly marvellous to what inconceivable minute- ness the air-current is reduced in travelling along these tubes." What a simple and efficient plan, what an economy of space is this arrangement of tube within tube, for aerating the blood in a class of lowly creeping things of earth that do not attain to the dignity of lungs ! There is a saving of time too, for the blood is made arterial while on its journey, and thus travels direct (without the delay of passing off to special pulmonary organs) to the performance of its functions, removing, replacing, renewing, sustaining, building up, absorbing. Having accomplished these, and become as it were venous, it passes into the intervisceral spaces, and there, receiving an increment of fresh globules, the products of digestion, completes its circuit by returning through distinct valvular openings into the dorsal vessel from which it was first distributed. " Among the Chilognatha" says Siebold, "the hdidcewce notice- able for the very simple character of their trachean apparatus ; their air-canals neither ramify nor anastomose. With the Glonicriua the tracheal are branched, but do not anastomose ; but those of the Chilopoda are very ramose, and their large trunks intercommunicate at their origin by longitudinal and transverse anastomoses, so that each stigma can introduce air into the entire trachean system." It was chiefly with the view of drawing attention to this last-mentioned fact (a most striking evidence of design) — to this remarkable, example of the exquisite adaptation of the creature's construction to the condition of existence ordained for it by the Creator— that I began this bit of simple gossip about Geophi- lus. In his subterranean career he constantly meets with accidents which link him up in sympathetic association with Brunei and Stephenson, and the Bedouin of the desert. He never bored a practicable highway beneath the bed of Isis, nor made firm the foundations of an iron road across the quaking surface of Chat Moss ; neither has he braved the d2 52 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [March 1, 1S69. burning sand-blasts of the Simoom ; yet in his degree he has met with such like critical experiences a hundred times. One day the roof of his tunnel crashed in upon him, and buried a dozen of his segments, squeezing the very breath out of them ; on another day the rain had saturated the rubbish heap he was toiling in, a score or two of his somites were under water, and he had to " batten down " the stigmata belonging thereto to save those portions of himself from drowning ; and yet again, in the scorching dog- days, a hot wind swept the earth, and a dry and thirsty clod, crumbling away, discharged an avalanche of dust which overwhelmed nine-tenths of him : in each and all of these catastrophes Iris life would not have been worth ten seconds' purchase, even with his many spiracles, but for the anasto- mosing branches of his wind-pipes, the cross rungs of his air-ladder, which enabled the air received by the unchoked segments to pass in every direction through the whole system. That there is perfectly free communication from any one spiracle to the whole network of air-passages may be seen by examining the figure which I have given, and if any reader has still a doubt on his mind he may remove it, if he is a dexterous manipulator, by dissecting out the tracheary apparatus of the first chilopodous myriupod he can lay hands on, and, stopping the orifices of all the spiracles but one, he will find that through that one he may inject the whole labyrinth of air-vessels with carmine. I observed that a correspondent, J. G. D., in December last, was much surprised at the display of a phosphorescent light by a centipede he had found. Geophilus electricus, a member of the same family and a near relation of our Subterraneus, must have been the pyrotechnist he chanced upon. " The caustic brown fluid which most Myriapoda when touched emit from a row of orifices, foramina repugnatoria, situated on the sides of the segments of the body, and which exhales an odour like that of chlorine, is secreted by small pyriform glandular follicles situated immediately beneath the skin ; it is from glands upon the sides of the body analogous to these that G, electricus emits a luminous liquid." It would be most interesting to ponder over the three varieties of breathing apparatus mentioned by Siebold, and to note their special adaptations to the life conditions and necessities of the three distinct genera provided with them ; and there are other wonders in the ways and mechanism of each and all of them that one longs to dwell upon ; but we are not essayists here, only cheerful " gossips " of the wayside, who seek to be merry and wise, accurate though simple and amusing. We have run to the end of our tether, and must say good-bye to Geophilus subterraneus and all the myriapods. Bury Cross, Gosport. , J. Y. II. THE CELANDINE. TTTHEN John Gerarde, about three hundred and " * fifty years ago, published a catalogue of the plants in his botanic garden on Holborn Hill, two appeared in it under the names of the Greater and the Lesser Celandine, — names which they have re- tained ever since, though the plants have been widely separated by later botanists. It is not easy to see why they should have had a common name ; and this instance may show us what difficulties Eay and other early English botanists had to overcome in disentangling the confused arrangements of the herbalists— " Celandino," or " the Swallow " so the word signifies, these plants being supposed to flower about the time of the return of that bird ; a fancy not exact in this instance, but beautifully adapted by our great dramatist to the illustration of another flower : — Daffodils, That come before the Swalluiv dares, And take the winds of March with beauty. It may not be uninteresting to contrast, as we cannot compare, the appearance, the qualities, and present position of the Greater and the Lesser Celandine, thus unaccountably linked together. The Chelidonium ma jus of Gerarde, Eay, Linnseus, and all succeeding botanists to this time, now pro- perly placed among the Papaveracecp, is a perennial plant common in the neglected cottage-gardens, where it may be recognized by its umbel of small yellow flowers, its glaucous, pinnated leaves, and the copious, yellow, foetid juice which exudes from every part when broken. Its properties are so active that it is figured by Rhina among poi- sonous plants. He describes it as acrid, stimulating, aperient, diuretic, and sudorific ; if we add the narcotic principle, found in all the poppies more or less, we have a wonderful combination indeed. Botanists and herbalists, from Gerarde to Withering, have all foretold great thmgs of the medical efficacy of this plant ; but it has fallen into total neglect, except among the cottage poultry-keepers, who chop it up for their chickens to make them more lively ! The future of this plant may, however, yet be great. It may prove a specific for some com- plaint which now baffles all known remedies ; but the enthusiastic young physician, after such long disuse, must commence a new series of experi- ments—upon himself first, of course (as Sir H. Davy did with the newly-discovered gases), before he ministers it to his patients. The Lesser Celandine {Chelidonium minus of Ge- rarde, and Ranunculus ficaria of Linnaeus) has no such formidable array of attractions. Its charms arc summed up in very few words — it is our earliest Buttercup. On the verge of winter, long before the Swallow dares, and before the Daffodils dance in the March winds, the Lesser Celandine opens its March ], I860.] HAHDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. flowers in the transient sunshine, and closes them again under every passing cloud. It is found almost everywhere on humid soils, in the laues and hedge- rows, on the edge of coppices and among the grass ; but it is on the banks of streams and watercourses, where the tuberous roots can strike deep, that its chief beauty is seen: there the star-like flowers, resting on a bed of deep green foliage, are, in the early season, conspicuously large and bright. Ere a leaf is on a bush, In the time before the thrush Has a thought about its nest, Thou wilt come with half a call, Spreading out thy glossy breast Like a careless prodigal, Telling tales about the sun When there's little warmth or none. So William Wordsworth addresses this flower of his adoption : — There's a flower that shall be mine, 'Tis the little Celandine. It was near middle life with him before this poetic attachment commenced, for which he seems to reproach himself : — I have seen thee high and low Thirty years or more, and yet 'Twas a face I did not know ; Thou hast now, go where I may. Fifty greetings in a day. And for well-nigh half a century afterwards it cheeered his solitary musings by the waterfalls and in the woods, and he " blessed it for fellowship." The sentiment survives the poet, in the memory of his disciples and friends, in the congenial minds which " make their own delights " in the calm pur- suits of country life, and it is symbolized upon the Laureate's tomb. Tourists to the Lake districts — and there are many — who visit the churchyard and church of Grassmere, when they read the epitaph and do homage to the memory of departed worth and genius, see a flower, with folded petals, sculptured upon the white marble : it is the little Celandine. S. S. ABOUT CILIA. TF we examine any one of those active little infu- -*- sorial animalcules, millions of which are present in every drop of ditch-water, we shall find that their only organs of locomotion are certain hair-like pro- cesses known as Cilia. These cilia are found more or less, with two or three exceptions, in every class of the animal king- dom. In some of the lowest forms of animal organi- zation we meet with we find that they are of the greatest possible use, serving as organs of locomo- tion, or as a means of procuring food by creating currents in the water; whilst in the higher animals — the mammalia for instance— they serve a more sub- ordinate though no less useful office, that of con- veying the mucus found in different parts of the hody to openings, from which it may be easily ex- pelled. They are found on the gills of the tadpole, where they assist the respiration by causing the' water to flow over the branchiee, on the surface of the body of the Spongiadse, the Polypi, the Medusa?,, and the Echinodermata, and also in the alimentary system of many animals. The Unio and Aordon— the common fresh-water mussels — which have no prehensile or masticatory organs, are entirely depen- dant for a supply of food, consisting principally of infusoria, on the motion of the cilia lining the mantle and the surface of the gills, which serves to urge it forward to the region of the mouth. When in rapid motion they have the appearance of a wave quickly passing over the surface to which they are attached, reminding one of the action of ft strong wind on a field of corn. They are seen much more distinctly when the movement is somewhat slackening than when they are in full activity. The motion resembles that of an oar, and it has been found that they can rotate on their axis through a quarter of a circle, so that in the return stroke the blade is parallel to the direction of motion. One of the most curious facts in connection with, the subject is that the activity of the cilia does not immediately cease on the extinction of the life of the animal on which they are found, for their motion has been observed in the tortoise for fifteen days after death, when putrefaction was far advanced, and in the frog for four or five days. The cause of their motion has long been a debatable point among naturalists ; but, as the motion is found after systemic death, it is thought to be connected with the con- tractile substance of which muscles are composed. . If it does not depend upon this substance, it has been argued it must be caused by some substance of the nature of which we know nothing, and of the very existence of which we have no proof, for our most powerful microscopes have as yet been unable to discover the motor power of these interesting processes. It is, however, evident that that power, whatever it may be, must be connected with each cilium, for there can be no doubt that they move individually, and without connection with their neighbours, except as to the direction of their motion. There are various external agencies, by the appli- cation of which the movements of vibratile cilia may be greatly modified or altogether arrested. In warm - blooded animals a cold of 43° E. or under will per- manently stop their motion, but in cold-blooded animals they will bear a much greater degree of cold, a mixture of ice and water having no apparent effect on them. A gentle warmth, such as may be caused by breathing on them, will in many animals revive them after they have become languid. In many marine molluscs, such as the sea-mussel,. HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [March 1, 18G9. their motion is destroyed by immersion of the animal for a few minutes in fresh water. Professor Lister has made some valuable investigations on this subject. In a paper communicated to the Royal Society in 1858 by Dr. Sharpey (from whom much of our information on this subject has been obtained) he says : — " Having cut off a small piece of the tongue of a frog, killed about an hour before, and placed it upon a slip of glass under the microscope, with just enough water to permit the free play of the cilia, I held near to it a piece of lint soaked in chloroform, keeping my eye over the microscope. The effect was instantaneous cessation of the previously rapid action of the cilia, which now stood out straight and motionless like the hairs of a brush. I now immediately withdrew the lint, after which the same state of complete inaction continued for about half a minute, when languid movements began to show themselves, and after a lapse of five minutes more the ciliary motion was going on pretty briskly in some parts, and ten minutes later seemed to have almost completely recovered." From the same authority we learn that this lan- guid state of the cilia is also produced by ammonia, by freshly-prepared mustard, and by strong acetic acid. The effect of most chemicals cannot be ascertained, as the tissues and the substance of the cilia are destroyed by them. The experiments mentioned are most instructive, and most easy of performance. In several of the lower cryptogamous plants, such as the Vaucheria, cilia are found on the surface of the spores, allowing them to move freely in water, and some of the still simpler Algae are, even when in the adult state, endowed with such powers of locomotion, owing to the presence of these processes, that their vegetable character, though now com- pletely established, was long a matter of doubt. The motion of the cilia found in these situations is of course influenced by external agents in the same way as when they are found in animals. W. MlJRRELL. University College, Goicer Street, N. W. MOSQUITOES. nplIE readers of Science Gossip may possibly -"- remember that more than one writer on the .subject of the Mosquitoes supposed to have been met with in this country last summer, spoke most positively as to the identity of its note with that of the East Indian insect; the loud, clear, ringing sound of which they stated to be widely different from that of the gnat, and so peculiar, that no person who has once heard it can ever mistake it for anything else. At the same time it was stated in more than one journal, that all the mosquitoes captured turned out to be specimens of Culex pipiens, but no explanation was offered as to the strange fact of the gnats' note undergoing such a remarkable change. Being anxious to see whether any light could be thrown on this obscure phenomenon, I applied to a friend who had been in East India, and on whose state- ments I knew I could thoroughly rely. After some delay, over which neither he nor I had any control, I received his answer, which I now give exactly as it reached me, in the belief that truth, even when late, will always be welcome to the readers of Science Gossip. J. L. Milton. "My dear Milton,— During the years 1815-6-7, I made two voyages to India, visiting the port of Bombay twice, and Calcutta once. "Being then young and succulent, my arrival created quite a sensation among the mosquitoes, and their attentions to me by night and by day were more flattering than agreeable. My opportunities of learning the habits of the East Indian animal have thus been considerable. " In July last (1S6S) I spent a few days in the house of a friend at Hampstead. The weather was very hot, and I slept with my bedroom windows widely open. One morning about 4 a.m. I was suddenly awoke by a sound which I had not heard for more than twenty years, but which in a moment set me on the defensive. It is impossible for any one who has suffered as I have done, to mistake the sharp trumpet of the mosquito, and the peculiar and irritating mode of attack. Eor a time I defended myself vigorously, but at last his perti- nacity prevailed, and I allowed him to have his meal, which he took immediately over my left eye- brow. " The consequences which followed were exactly the same as those which used to follow the sting of the East Indian insect — swelling, with intense itch- ing, which gradually increased for about 36 hours, when it slowly subsided, with some desquamation. The whole quite unlike the effect produced on me by the sting of the ordinary gnat, with which, also, I am quite familiar. " The insect which stung me was a mosquito in sound, in manner of attack, in the effects of the sting, and in appearance ; for it was quite light enough for me to see him distinctly when he made his retreat, brandishing his spindle shanks with that air of jaunty defiance which irritates his angry victims almost to madness. What scientific name an entomologist would give him, I cannot tell. He did a mosquito's work upon me. " It. T." Chicago Microscopical Club. — A new Micro- scopical Club, attached to the Academy of Sciences, has recently been inaugurated at Chicago, Illinois U.S. March 1, 1S69.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 55 MONSTERS OF THE DEEP.* rpiIE well-known Dutch naturalist", P. Harting, -*- published, in 1SC0, a memoir on certain gigantic cephalopods, some extracts from which (as the work is not easily accessible) may be interesting to the readers of Science-Gossip. The conclusion he draws, or more properly the final suggestion he throws out, appears to me to be particularly valu- able. " It has long been matter of notoriety," he observes, " that cephalopods of an enormous size exist in the sea, although no naturalist has hitherto been favoured .with the opportunity of examining and reporting on a complete animal at his leisure. The largest individual, of which a detailed descrip- tion, accompanied by figures, has been published, is the Ommastrephes giganteus of D'Orbigny. Its total length was II inches, that of the body alone being 17'5 inches." The stories of Olaus Magnus's kraken, and of the colossal poulpe, which Denys de Montfort repre- sents as entangling iu its enormous arms a three- masted frigate, are but wild exaggerations of an incontestable truth. Aristotle assigns to the great calamary of the Mediterranean Sea a length of 5 cubits (or 7 to 8 feet). Moreover, he assures us that one Trcbius Niger had seen a polype whose body, as it lay on the beach, was calculated to be equal to a 70-gallou cask : each arm was 30 feet long, and so thick as scarcely to be embraced by one man ; it weighed about 700 pounds. On the whole, I am inclined to think that this story must not be thrust aside as fabulous ; the simplicity of the description and the numerical data are greatly in its favour. After all, the dimensions given (as we shall see presently) do not much exceed those of individuals whose exist- ence is well-nigh proved by modern writers. Sander-Pang, Peron, Quoy, and Gaimard, have seen animals, or the remains of animals, on the surface of the ocean, with enormous bodies, and arms G to 8 feet long. Madame Graham (quoted by Johnston) saw a cephalopod whose arms were IS feet long; and Schwediaver reports the capture of a cachalot (Physeter) hi whose gullet was found an arm of a cephalopod, which, though imperfect, measured 23 feet in length. In the Hunteriau Museum, London, are preserved the fins, section of arm, heart, and mandible of an onychoteuthis, the length of which, when perfect, could uot have been less than 6 feet. The remains belong to an indi- vidual encountered by Banks and Solander, the companions of Captain Cook, floating on the sea between Cape Horn and Australia, in lat. S. 30'II, and long. W. 110-33. One may well believe, with these descriptions before us, that the fears of the pearl and coral * Science Gossip, Vol. iv. P. 222, 1868. fishers are not altogethe* without foundation. These men declare that they are sometimes seized by huge molluscs of this family, who endeavour to entangle them in their long arms, which are studded with suckers and hooks. In the present day M. Steenstrup has made extensive and valuable researches into the history of these gigantic cephalopods. A portion only of these researches has been published ; but they lead to the conclusion that in the Atlantic Ocean, the Northern Seas, and even the entrance of the Baltic, there exist cephalopods not inferior to those de- scribed by T. Niger, Schwediaver, and Madame Graham. M. Steenstrup demonstrates with a rare sagacity that the singular animal which was cap- tured in the Sound, not far from Malmo, in 1516, and to which the superstition of the natives gave the name of the " Sea Monk," was really a cepha- lopod, allied to Loligo, of a length of 1 Danish ells (8 feet), or, including the tentacular arms, 16 feet. In 1853 an individual, probably of the same species and of nearly the same size as the " Sea Monk," was cast ashore near Aalbeck, in Jutland. The mandible only was recovered by M. Steenstrup, who has named it Architeuthis monaclms .. More recently he has received from the captain of a vessel portions of an individual picked up in the Atlantic — the pharynx alone is as large as a child's head — to which he has given the name of Architeuthis dm, , These are not the only instances brought forward by M. Steenstrup. The question arises — Do these monstrous indi- viduals differ specifically from the smaller kinds, which abound in every sea, and which are perfectly well known to the naturalist ? I am inclined to answer in the negative. Mere size can never form an element in the diiferentiatiou of species, especially in the case of animals, which probably continue to grow during the whole course of their lives. A neglect of this caution has already led to numerous mistakes. Naturalists have fancied they saw dis- tinct species in individuals, which in reality differed only in age: witness the history of the Orang- Outang and the Salmon.* Now the number of cephalopods of small size is incredibly large, and would be still greater but for the incessant depreda- tions of numerous enemies, such as sea-birds, dol- phins, &c. It is not unlikely that a few out of the multitude of survivors make their way to the deeper parts of the ocean, and there in comparative safety continue to increase in size, until at last they acquire those gigantic dimensions, examples of which occasionally come before the world. Itchen Abbas. "VV". W. Spicer. * (Witness also Bewicke's " Solitary Thrush,", which proved to be the Starling in its early plumage ; also the "Whitebait," long looked upon as a distinct species, but lately shown by Dr. Giinther to be the young of the Herring. — W. W. S.) 50 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Makcii 1, 1SG9. SEA ANEMONES. rpiIERE are few more interesting objects than a -*- marine aquarium, especially if — as in my case — the possessor lives in an inland town far away from the "music of the sea," and' the beautiful treasures of the shore that may still be found in nook and cranny or crystal rock-pool, by any one who loves nature's beauties well enough to seek where he may find them. May I give you a little sketch of one of my small aquaria, as I see it while penning this little bit of " gossip ? " In the centre stands a fine plumose anemone — (Actinoloba dianthus) full 4 inches high, with its beautiful fairy plume bending gracefully, like a tree, before the breeze ; to the left, a little behind, upon the tip of a piece of rock, is a fine Anthem (par. rus- tica) waving its satin-like tentacles constantly, never still. On a line with Anthea a little to the right, expanding its ruddy disc surrounded by fronds of the bright green sea-lettuce {JJlva latissima), is a strawberry; and how appropriate is the name when the animal is closed, embedded as it is in green. Next this, a little forward, is a fine parasitic anemone (Sagartia parasitica) with its decisive-looking head, stretching out a beautiful brown-dashed white star of countless rays, magically changing from bloom to bud, from bud to bloom. At the front, shadowed by the Ulva and rooted among the stones that it likes best, is a variety of the daisy anemone (S. bellis). I think it must be Stel- late/, as it is always frilled, never fiat or coin- like. It is pale brown mottled with white, and has one deep brown tentacle very different from the rest. It sometimes erects a column 2 inches in height. The snowy anemone (S. nivea), too, so delicately white, blooms quietly near the base of a dark-coloured weed ; but what is it that rises from among this same weed, so seemingly allied that (not being wiser) you might take it for its flower ? It is a tube worm (Sabella), with a delicate spiral fan of feathers at the end of its tube, the base being firmly embedded in the sand. Upon the tube, close to the flower, a prawn every evening makes its stand, now and then in mere wantonness sailing or flashing from its resting-place and again returning and most unceremoniously disturbing Sabella, who does not at first like such rough behaviour, and forthwith retires, but by and by gets more reconciled to it, and even suffers its plumes to be ruffled by Mr. Prawn, who has doubtless learned that he may venture thus near with impunity, although I know his experience teaches him differently with regard to the ane- mones, as Anthea has had him by the antenna?, and he has had to lug and tug for his life, leaving a por- tion of those necessary organs with the enemy withal. xVlthough imperfectlyjdescribed,'[this little^ aqua- rium is a perfect picture, with its base of sand crowned by rock and shingle intermingled with green and red weed {Ulva and Griffithsia), and brightened by the living beauty of the animals. Now, let me say a few words about the animals I have in captivity, A specimen of the handsome variety smaragdina of A. cereiis, the "opelet,"— increased by fission. For three weeks prior to division it was exceed- ingly restless, much more so than usual — moving about the glass, and never during that period erecting a stem or column, but keeping the disc pressed close to the base, so that it was only \ inch or less in thickness, and always keeping an elliptical or long oval form. At the end of that time the division took place. I did not actually see it, much to my regret, although I had been anxiously looking forward to it, being from home at the time. It split not quite across the middle, the larger part curling up and showing an indication of a mouth, the lesser part not showing any indication of one. Both portions, unfortunately, ultimately sloughed away. Another interesting case of propagation, by rup- ture of the base, has occurred in one of my glasses. This time S. vemista, the orange disc, was the actor. It is a pretty specimen with a white centered disc surrounded by a ring of vivid orange, and having semi-pellucid white tentacles. It was situated upon the edge of a piece of rock, a station it had occupied since August Gth. On Saturday, December 5th, at 10 p.m., it had thrown out a lobe of the base over the angle of the rock, the lobe stretching about 1} inch downward. On Sunday, December Gth, at 10 a.m., another lobe, exactly opposite, was stretched along the level surface of the rock, and the suckers at the end of this and the other lobe were attached firmly to the rock. The animal then began to pull itself strongly, but with an almost imperceptible movement, along the level surface, and by 11'30 had torn off from the base a small portion, about |x| inch. This con- tained a number of acontia (nettling threads) which for some hours after were moving about, after which they were gradually drawn into the still shapeless fragment, the piece assuming the form (i.e., the bud) of an anemone about two days after. It has since continually varied its form and size, but at present, by the aid of a pocket lens, I cannot dis- cern tentacles. It has thrown out a nettling thread upon being annoyed. I may mention that the parent, when it came into my possession, was a poor wasted thing ; but by regular feeding it has regained its beauty both of form and colour, being now a plump (and for a Birmingham anemone) healthy animal. Several gems (Bunodes gemmacea) have been born in one of my glasses, one of them, the offspring of the pretty blush-pink variety, measured, when born, March 1, 1SG9.J HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 57 £ inch across the disc, with tentacles nearly 1 inch long, by far the largest I have seen. It bears all the characteristics of its parent, which died soon after the young one was born. The young of this species have thriven better with me than the adults : is it because they were injured in obtaining them ? Decay seemed to commence at the base, which usually showed a small puncture in the centre. Daisies have been produced by scores. One has two discs. By the by, I have a very interesting bellis that does not appear to be named as a variety. It is wholly burnt umber* disc and tentacles. It has not produced young, although tyriensis, stellata, and two other varieties have all done so. I have had the variety brunnea of A. dianthus with a perfectly-formed young one budding from the column close to the base, but the individual passed out of my possession after I had had it a few days. Of the habits of some of the anemones a few words may be said. A very fine specimen of the scarlet-fringed anemone (S. miniatd), with a eKsk 2 inches in diameter, usually when hungry throws out the interior circle of tentacles to a considerable length, and one or two to 2 inches or more, until they become so pale as to be nearly invisible. Food placed upon the tip of one of these elongated tentacles is instantly drawn towards the mouth ; for lliniata is a gourmand, and ready for any food at all times and seasons. The Snake-locked anemone, S. viduata, in the evening extends its column to 5£ inches, from the summit of which its delicate " cloudy " tentacles droop gracefully over the little cave-dwelling anemones (S. troglodytes), spreading their little stars of mottled tentacles upon the surface of the shingle below. Others of the same species {troglodytes), one with an ochre disc and opaque white tentacles, and the black and white melanoleuca, peer from their crannies in search of the food they prefer not to seek in the daylight. A. dianthus, you will say, has a tolerably " capa- cious mouth," when I tell you that it swallowed a gravity ball half an inch in diameter; but not finding it so dainty a morsel as it supposed, was glad, after keeping it some hours, to give it up again. My experience of the Sagartiadce is that they are free feeders, taking their food readily, and like to receive it regularly— say once a week,— all of them swallow- ing quickly. I give mine oyster, sole, or raw beef, and they seem to thrive well. Anthea I cannot get to look well or live long, but I do not despair of doing so as I gain more experience. * Since writing this I have received a smaller one from Mr. King, of London. I think it is the same that is men- tioned in Mr. P. H. Gosse's.book on Anemones, as having been found by Mr. H. Owen, of Bristol, at Ilfracombe. My largest specimen came from the same place—" of a dark self colour chocolate or umber-brown." All anemones after food repay the attention given them, spreading out their beautiful blooms among the seaweeds with such a persistency of beauty. " An emanation of the indwelling life, A visible token of the upholding love, That are the soul of this wide universe." S. parasitica is a great feeder ; almost any kin d of food meets its palate, and it does not mind how often it receives it. The Vestlet (Cereanthus Lloydii) blooms in quiet beauty at the door of its glass house, through the windows of which you can see its vest- ments minus the sand. And so here, more than a hundred miles from the sea, I have some little rock- pools that for variety of life rival those of nature ; for, as a friend of mine truly says, here "art im- proves upon nature," bringing together many rare and beautiful forms, that to be seen in their native haunts must be sought for far and wide. G. Shekriff Tye. Handsicorth, Birmingham. LIGHT ATTRACTING INSECTS, &c. TN the last number of Science-Gossip a corre- -*- spondent raises the question why many animals, especially insects, are attracted by light, particularly that of a candle or other flame. The idea has some- times occurred to me, though it may appear rather a fanciful one, that possibly the insect might regard the flame as light shining from an aperture through which it might make its escape, somewhat as children imagine the stars to be pinholes in the sky. If a room were thoroughly darkened, with the ex- ception of a small opening, such as a key-hole, through which the outer daylight was allowed to enter, such an aperture would appear from within, by contrast, almost as bright as the flame of a candle, and any winged insects enclosed in such room would be pretty certain to direct their flight to the opening. Moths in a room are probably under a sense of being lost and confined, and as bees hurry up and down the window, so nocturnal lepidoptera knock against the ceiling, or dash into the candle-flame, perhaps equally with the impulse to escape. Insects seem to be under a fixed impression that the direction of the light is "the way out." An uncorked vial may be almost filled with flies if it is laid on the table with the mouth turned away from the window, the idea of a back exit being apparently beyond their capacity, but let the position of the vial be reversed, and in a few seconds it will be tenantless. In collecting provisions for the frogs, &c, in my vivarium, a long test tube is often used for the reception of flies, and after the tube has been laid down, and the insects collected at one end, I have often been amused on reversing it at the steady procession that takes place to the opposite extremity, where the incarcerated insects struggle and thrust 5S HARDWICXE'S SCIENCE- GOSSIP. [March 1, 1S69. one another like the crowd assembled at the entrance to some popular entertainment. Owls and bats living in dark recesses, such as hollow trees and caves, are probably guided to the entrance by such light as the dusky eve affords, and which is doubtless much more luminous to their visual organs than to ours ; but if they also rush to a flame with the intent to escape, probably their senses are dazzled and confused by a light stronger than they are accustomed to, as an ordinary flame scarcely repre- sents an opening large enough for their passage. With regard to bats, however, I have not observed in them any great predilection for singeing their wings ; at least, the Pipestrelle and Long-eared Bat, which occasionally enter our apartments on summer evenings, appear to fly as near as they can to the ceiling, especially hovering in the corners. A Serotine Bat, too, which I had some years ago, and used to let loose in the house in the evening, flew backwards and forwards in a passage without interfering with the light. When scared from sleep, however, by the entrance of torches into their dark cave or other hiding-place, they are said to dash wildly at the light, possibly in making for the entrance. If, however, winged creatures may in alarm mis- take a light for an exit, I do not imagine such can be the case with fish, which throng to a torch : im- prisoned moths and free and independent salmon are very differently circumstanced. Curiosity, or some such motive, would seem to draw fish towards a luminous object, which must be a rare pheno- menon in their eyes. It should not, however, be forgotten that it is not all the animal creation that are attracted by a flame. Passing by those animals which appear to be indifferent to the matter, many — as, for instance, the large carnivora — regard it as an object of dread. It is not with a view of attracting lions or tigers that tra- vellers kindle fires round their bivouac ; these powerful and daring animals slinking from the flames into which the wretched insects cast them- selves as if in a frenzy of delight — somewhat as I read to-day of the burning of a lunatic asylum in America, where the poor insane creatures that were saved danced in ecstasy at the roaring flames and crackling timbers. A few years ago a graphic account was published in some periodical of a visit to the Zoological Gardens by night, with a vivid description of the terror exhibited by the large carnivorous animals when a light was brought in front of their dens ;— they were rendered almost frantic, and their roarings and bowlings continued long after the source of alarm was withdrawn. Other animals besides the beast of prey seem to be affected with the same dread ; as in ancient times, when elephants were employed in war, it is said that the Romans discovered fire to be the best means of repelling these attacks: possibly about this time they invented the Boman candles. In connection with this subject, I would remark that the influence of certain colours on particular animals would be an interesting matter for investi- gation, and one that does not appear tojiave been much followed up. As far as I am aware, red is the only colour that is reputed to be held in antipathy by some animals, and its resemblance to the colour of fire is worthy of notice. If this resemblance has anything to do with the matter, the Eelidse might be expected to show an abhorrence of the colour -r but the constant succession of various coloured dresses before their dens would probably extinguish such a feeling in caged specimens, if it ever existed. Bulls, turkeys, and geese are commonly believed to exhibit a strong antipathy to anything red. In dealing with a savage bull, some caution is de- sirable ; but if any of your correspondents like to try experiments on that animal, I should be happy to read the results. Any one who has turkeys or getse in their poultry-yard might test them with different colours, and if they show fear or dislike, might ascertain what tint produced the greatest effect — whether a flame colour, for example, has more influence than scarlet. This is rather a digression from the original epiestion; but I am not at all certain that the two subjects are wholly unconnected. George Guyon. Yentuor, Isle of Wight. BUTTERFLIES TO THE RESCUE ! ~\X7"E all know that enthusiasm is a good thing if » » exerted in a good cause, and, indeed, to a naturalist some proportion of it is absolutely neces- sary to secure success. Like some other good things, however, it is possible to have too much of it ; or rather, to be more exact, it is very possible to be led by it unconsciously into the committal of errors which seem to arise almost naturally from the onflow of commendable earnestness, but which, being really divarications, we should guard against. A collector of natural objects who has no enthusiasm had better lay aside his implements and look out for some other pursuit ; but if he has enthusiasm, he needs to be cautious lest he should defeat his own ends, and furnish an apt and modern illustration of the truth set forth by the old fable about a certain goose which laid golden eggs. This time of the year is a dull season with the butterfly-collector. Now he sits and ruminates over the captures of the past, aud calls up imagin- ings of captures yet to come. His pins, " once a shin- ing store," stick useless in the cushion, dust ac- cumulates on his setting-boards, and his nets hang melancholy against the wall, or are dragged down and brandished about by a party of juveniles who have invaded his sanctum. Let him bethink him- March 1, 1869.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. self, whether he has not sometimes beeu too hasty and excessive in the slaughter he has committed amongst his favourites. A butterfly-catcher should be a butterfly-lover, and if he is really gladdened by the sight of these insects recreating themselves in the sunshine or the shady dell, he will avoid un- necessarily thinning their numbers. We speak of hasty and excessive slaughter — we see occurring too many instances of each. To catch a butterfly, to kill it without examining its appearance, and then to throw it away because it is rubbed, bespeaks an unjustifiable carelessness. The needless accumula- tion of a large number of specimens of each species (useless in cases of varieties) is a foible which, to say the least, is not one of the indulgences of which the entomologist can be proud. We have heard of a collector whose " series " was " three rows " of each insect ! And, for the sake of exchanging to advantage, bofrh butterflies and moths have been swept down by the hundred when a collector came upon a metropolis of some valued species. What- ever may be said in favour of the practice of ex- change— and that much may be said I do not doubt — this certainly may be urged on the other side, that it has a tendency to occasion the destruction of species. I could not but read, therefore, with regret that a society had been formed for the express purpose of facilitating exchanges, and the corre- spondents thereof are recommended to "send as many of each species as possible." Great might be the lamentation in the woodland glades were the visions of the past really true, and the " children of the sun" endued with some measure of human insight and knowledge. For the wholesale slaughter of butterflies has a more immediate tendency to extinguish or diminish a species than the same prac- tice carried on amongst the moth tribes. We have but a very small allotment of British butterflies, and it is easy to see that out of this number some are likely in a few years to become extinct, or at least exceedingly scarce. There are other causes at work here, undoubtedly, besides the collectors : a great deal of beautiful country around our towns is becoming rapidly absorbed by the needs of a growing population, and common and wood sud- denly disappear that land may be rendered arable and food-producing. Many of our butterflies are so very local that a destruction of their food-plant in a few spots, or the capture of a large number by col- lectors, will go far towards making the species die out. Unfavourable seasons, also, have a greater effect upon butterflies than upon moths. They are certainly partially protected by the circumstance that their larva are usually difficult to find ; were it not so, some species would fare still worse than they do now. I appeal to all who hope to be but- terfly-collectors in the coming season, and ask them in the case of rare or local species to avoid all needless destruction. C. NEW VINE DISEASES. TN the month of June, 1SG3, I received from -*- Hammersmith a Vine-leaf covered with minute gall-like excrescences, " each containing," in the words of my correspondent, "a multitude of eggs, and some perfect Acari, which seem to spring from them, and sometimes a curiously corrugated Coccus." A microscopical examination of these objects soon revealed the fact that the excrescences were galls of a peculiar character, caused by the irritation from the sucking of the leaf by the full- grown insect enclosed within the gall (which was partially opened on its upper surface) — that the insect itself belonged to the family Aphida;, and not to the Coccidae (or at least that it was intermediate in character between the types of the two families) — that the eggs were those of the perfect insect itself, which had formed the gall in which it had enclosed itself as in a living tomb, and that the perfect " Acari " were minute young, hatched from these eggs. The information thus gained was, however, zoologically incomplete, from the want of a knowledge of the male insect, which doubtless is winged, and which would have enabled me more satisfactorily to have determined the situation of the insect in the system. Hence, with multitudes ot other semi-complete observations, the matter re- mained unpublished in my portfolio. In the autumn of 1S67, and during the past year, my attention has, however, been several times directed to the same insect, which appears to have become extensively disseminated, and has exhibited its powers of mischief in a most unlooked-for manner, since not only have I received further specimens of the Vine-leaves infested in the manner above mentioned, but have had portions of the roots of Vines sent to me from different quarters, the rootlets of which had been sucked by a wingless insect, which I cannot in any manner distinguish from those of the galls on the leaves. From Cheshire I received in September, 1867, leaves from a young Vine, growing with twenty-five others in a house seventy-two feet long, in which it was the only one attacked, having previously made fourteen feet of wood since it was planted in the Eebruary preceding, the insects being only found in the young leaves within five feet of the top. In the following month the same correspondent sent rootlets from his Vines, attacked by the same insect, and I have since received it from other correspondents in different parts of England, as well as Ireland. In the latter mode of attack the perfect insect makes a wound in the delicate rootlet, by inserting its rostrum into the wood, and sometimes this is so firmly imbedded as to remain in its position when the insect is removed by the hand; decay is thus induced, which "penetrates in the form of little cankerous spots, and sometimes extends 60 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [March 1, 18(59. to the centre, cutting off the supply of nourish- ment." In the spring of last year I communicated a notice of this insect to the Ashmolean Society of Oxford, accompanied by highly magnified drawings, which are reduced in the accompanying woodcut, when I proposed to name the insect Feriti/mbia vitisana, in allusion to the tomb-like gall on the leaves formed by the female insect. Fig. 42. Vine Insects (magnified). In France, where the culture of the Vine is of .much more popular importance than in England, the disease has manifested itself with great viru- lence. The manner in which it appears in that country, and the various erroneous opinions which had been formed as to its origin, are noticed in one of your leading articles of the 31st of last October, together with a statement of the examination of the subject made by a commission, at the head of which was M. Planchon, which resulted in the •disease being referred to the presence of the insect now under consideration, to which the name of Rhizaplds vastatrix was applied, a name, as "M. J. 13." well observes, "scarcely applicable, should it turn out, as we suspect will be the case, to be congeneric with the very similar insect which is found in the excrescences on Vine-leaves." At the meeting of the Entomological Society of Erance on the 12th of last August, M. Lichtcnstein i communicated a notice of the ravages of the insect, which was stated to destroy the Vines only on the left bank of the Rhine, from Aries to Orange, to- gether with a notice of M. Planchon's observations, and with the remark that M. Signoret, the distin- guished entomologist of Paris (whose attention has for some years past been devoted to the Coccidas and allied insects), considered that the insect be- longs to the genus Phylloxera. It does not appear, however (although the latter generic name might indicate such a connection), that the entomologists either on the Continent or in America* connect the ravages of the Vine-leaf gall aphis with that of the root insect. The engraving represents, in the middle of its upper part, a portion of the upper side of part of a Vine-leaf greatly reduced in size, with a number of the gall-like excrescences, also slightly reduced. These excrescences are thickened portions of the leaf, the underside of each being swollen into a convex shape and entire, the female insect being enclosed within the cell thus formed, the upper sur- face of the leaf throwing out or splitting into tri- angular portions, as represented in the right-hand figure, the edges of each portion emitting a number of delicate white filaments. The extremity of one of these portions is turned back in the right-hand figure, showing part of the body of the female within the gall, surrounded by its eggs. The full- grown insect itself (which is scarcely half a line, or l-30th of an inch in length) !is represented on its ventral surface in the left-hand figure. Seen under a high-powered lens, the whole body is swollen and fleshy, aud is covered with minute granulations : the eyes are distinct, minute, and ocelli-like ; the antennae are short, composed of only two very small basal joints and a longer apical one, having appa- rently a very minute setiferous tubercle at its ex- tremity : the long joint appears under the micro- scope to be formed of a great number of very short rings. The sucker is distinct and four-jointed, varying in length according to the size of different individuals : as usual in hemipterous insects, it encloses several very slender setae. The legs are of moderate length, with the tarsus formed of a short basal joint, which on its inner edge emits two short setae, whilst the terminal joint is longer and slightly thickened at its extremity, which is dis- tinctly furnished with two claws. The abdominal portion of the body is comparatively small and eight-jointed. The figure on the left-hand side of the engraving represents a female taken from the leaf-gall, whilst that in the middle of the lower part represents one of the females from the root of the Vine, seen sideways. Amongst the latter were some specimens which had a small black shining lobe on each side of the body, probably the rudi- mental wings of the male insect. — I. O. W., in Gardeners' Chronicle, January 30. The Mole Ciucket {Gnjllotulpa vulgaris).— In Curtis' British. Entomology I find the following : " This insect is supposed to be the ' Will o' the Wisp,' the Ignis fattens, about which so much has been said, and so little proved, the phantom that has eluded the vigilance of the naturalist and the curious for ages ! " Can any of your readers indicate upon what grounds this supposition is based ?— E. 31. March 1, 1869.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE GOSSIP. CI A NEW SURIKELLA. IN the early part of last spring my attention was called to a form of Surirella occurring in a slide sent to me by Dr. Capron, of Slierc (Surrey) ; but as it was scarce in the small gathering he had made, I was inclined to consider it an ab- normal state of S. spleml'ula. Some months after- wards I received from my friend, M. de Brebisson, a small quantity of a gathering made by him at Ealaise, in which the form I am about to describe was common, and when I called his attention to it he pronounced it to be a new species, and suggested that it should be called S. coriugera, or Capronii ("Je penserais, plutot, que serait une espece nouvelle que vous pourriez appeler eomigera ou Capronii, comme vous jugeriez le plus convcnable")- Fig. 43. Surirella Capronii, Falaise variety, x 300. This species does not differ from S. splendlda in size, outline, or canaliculi, but differs from that, and all other species of Surirella, in possessing one or more horns, or processes, springing from the longi- tudinal median line, of which they appear to be a prolongation. Some little distance from the apices of the valve the nipple-like process has a short spine on the apex. A careful examination of the under-surface of the valve shows that the process is hollow, but I have not been able to satisfy myself that the spine is tubular; the process near the nar- row end is smaller than that at the broad end of the valve, and points in an opposite direction. The French species differs from ours in possessing only one process (Dr. Capron informs me he has de- tected some valves with two), and is not quite so large. Fig. 44. Surirella Capronii, from Shere, x 300. Surirella Cafroxii, n. sp. E. K— Valve ovate, elongated, alsc conspicuous, canaliculi distinct (3£ to 4 in. '001), reaching median line, valve with one or Fig. 45. Ideal longitudinal) section of valve, and transverse section of valve (central portion). a, «', aire ; b, longitudinal median line or ridge. two spurious processes proceeding from the longi- tudinal median line. Freshwater; Shere, Dr. Ca- pron ; Falaise, M. de Brebisson.* F. Kitton. Microscofic Societies' Soirees.— The Annual Soiree of the Old Change Microscopical Society was held with great success on the 15th of February. That of the Quekett Microscopical Club is an- nounced for the 12th of March, at University Col- lege, Gower Street. * I have great pleasure in naming it after Dr. Capron, whose name is well known to the students of the " Synopsis of British Diatomacere ;" he is, moreover, the discoverer of the species. 02 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [March 1, 1869. ENCHANTER'S NIGHTSHADE. Circcea Lutetiana. By Majok Holland, R.M.L.I. THE Onagraeem, or Evening Primrose Order, of which Cirraea is a genus, are in general tetra- merous, the number four, or some multiple thereof, prevailing throughout the floral organs. In Circeea, however, the number is halved, there being but two sepals, two petals, and so on : hence the plant is distichous. In Lopa?zia still further degradation is exhibited according to Lindley, "that genus show- ing but one stamen ; in reality, however, there are two stamens, one of them perfect and bearing an- other, the other sterile and in the form of a spoon- shaped petal." The two specimens of Enchanter's Nightshade represented in the figures which illus- trate this brief paper were gathered near Ivy-bridge in Devonshire. The first, fig. 46, shows the normal flower, which is binary in all its parts, having two sepals (1, 2), two petals (3, 4), two stamens (5, 6), two lobes to the stigma (7, 8), and two cells in the ovary. Fig. 4G. Normal Flower of Circcea Lutetiana. In the second, fig. 47, we have an abnormal or monstrous flower ; a portion of the stigma is trans- formed into the anther of a stamen, and one of the stamens assumes the character of a petal, while in the place of one of the petals we have two distinct sepals: thus four distinct sepals are displayed instead of two. This instructive monstrosity seems to dis- close a tendency in Circsea to revert to the tetra- merous type. In the normal flower each of the two deeply-cleft petals appears to be formed by the coalescence of two coralline leaves, but there are only two sepals, and they present no corresponding indications of coalescence. Fig;. 47. Monstrous Flower of Circma Lutetiana. In the two figures the corresponding numbers ex- press homologous parts. The beautiful doctrine of the metamorphosis of the leaf is illustrated in the retrogression of one member of each of the three internal whorls of the floral organs to the grade next below it. In the common doubling of roses, stamens by simple retro- grade development become petals, perhaps display- ing a metamorphosis in one whorl only ; but in the specimen of Circsea before us three of the floral organs are thus affected. Ou comparing the monstrous with the normal flower, we find one lobe of the stigma converted into an anther, one of the anthers into a petal, and one of the petals into two distinct sepals (3), the latter further affording undeniable proof of the composite structure of the normal petal, otherwise iudicated by its emargination. I was not aware until after I had written these few lines on this interesting subject that the late Professor Edward Eorbes, to whom the original specimens from which these drawings were made were presented, was so much struck by the lessons they conveyed that he caused diagrams to be pre- pared from them for the botanical classes of King's College. Bury Cross, Gosport. March 1, 1SG9."| HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. A LITTLE EROG. XXTHEN riding one day over the Elats, about * " ten miles from Cape Town, we were passing near the edge of a lake where the heath and bush were rather high, and the ground swampy ; a small •frog jumped on to one of our horses. As it was a rare kind which I had never seen before, we caught it, tied it in a handkerchief, and carried it home. It was of a very peculiar delicate cream colour, •sometimes appearing almost gilded, and at other times of a duller pinkish hue ; there was a darker stripe from the eyes down each side. The eyes very large, bright, and prominent, the feet formed like those of the tree frogs, the toes being of a bright orange red colour : the body was little more than an inch in length, and so transparent that it was always easy to see if he had had his dinner or Fig. 48. Cape Frogs in a tumbler. not. The hind legs were very long, enabling it to jump a considerable distance. I placed it in a t umbler with a little water at the bottom, and after a few days I was intending to let it go, not knowing what to feed it on, when suddenly it sprang on to a newspaper after a fly ; seeing this 1 resolved to keep it, and if possible to bring it with me to England. I used to let it loose in the room, and often it would spend hours sitting on the window, generally preferring the glass to the woodwork. It never willingly went into the water, but I often refreshed it with a bath. It was only after some time, by most careful watching, that we discovered the mode by which the prey was caught : it appeared as if the flies walked into its mouth by some sort of fatal fascination exercised over them ; but on its trying to catch flies on a painted post, while sitting on my hand its tongue adhered so tightly, that I had then time to see that it, was by darting out a broad, irregularly shaped, and very sticky tongue under the flies, that he managed to- catch them. Elies were its favourite food, but sometimes a small spider would fall a victim. In cold weather it would remain sitting on the side of the tumbler, and would refuse all food for many days together, but in warmer weather it would become much more active and -eager for food, generally three or four flics would satisfy it, but sometimes it would take as many as eight if they were of a small size ; they were all swallowed whole. I never saw any sign of its changing its skin, and never heard it make any noise. It appeared quite tame and would jump all over me, and feed from my hand. Having never seen any description of this kind of frog in Natural History books, I have not been able to discover its name, and should be much obliged if you or any of your readers could enlighten me. As it was the only one that I ever saw, I believe it to be a rare and certainly a very beautiful little frog. After keeping it for nearly a year, it escaped and I never saw it again. M. E. D. The Oak-feeding Silkworm (Bombyx Tama- mai). — On May 17th I received two or three dozen eggs of this new silkworm ; and in about an hour after they arrived, my first caterpillar was hatched, and put on oak leaves. On the following day, six more came out ; but unfortunately I lost two of them as they wandered away from the leaves. I did not care much about it at the time, as I expected more of the eggs to hatch ; but in this I was dis- appointed, for no more came out. "When about a fortnight old, one of them turned rather black, and soon died ; another fell into the water, and was drowned ; so that my stock was reduced to three caterpillars, and these did well all through their stages. They grew fast, were a beautiful bright green colour, with white spots on their sides, like dia- monds ; and being quite new in this country, were objects of great interest to myself and numerous friends. On July 10th, two of them began to spin up. They seem to be very irritable at this time, and jerk about violently if the branches are touched. The third caterpillar continued eating till the 22nd. The cocoon is much larger, and more exposed than that of the Ailanthus. It is a bright yellow. On Sept. 3rd, the first moth came out — a beautiful creature, of a rich brown colour, measuring 7 inches across from wing to wing; and wishing to keep it in good order for my cabinet, I took its life on the third day, as there seemed no prospect of more. On the 8th, another came out, and laid nine eggs. The other did not come out till the ISth of Sep- tember, so that I had no chance of pairing them. I hope to get some more eggs this year. — S. B. 64 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GO SSIP. [March 1, 1S69. ZOOLOGY. Ianthina, the Violet Sea-snail. — In the paper cm this creature which appeared in the last number of Science-Gossip the references to the engravings have been accidentally misplaced. In each instance the reference has been placed at the end 'of the paragraph immediately preceding that which the drawing referred to serves to illustrate, instead of being put at, the commencement of the papagraph connected with the illustration. Thus in page 31, the reference (fig. 1?) at the end of 'the third paragraph requires to be neatly erased with a line pen, and written at the beginning of the next, immediately before the word "This." In the same way all the remaining references throughout the article require to be moved from their positions at the end of each paragraph to the commencement of the very next line of the text. Headers interested in the subject will not grumble at making these alterations, which are necessary, and change the meaning of every illustration. — /. T. II., Bury Cross, Gosport. The Cuckoo.— In addition to the communications of "E. G. W." and other correspondents, I venture to send a few more facts respecting the Cuckoo. TV. Jerdan, at one time editor of the Literary Gazette, once took a young Cuckoo from a Hedge- Sparrow's nest, and kept it some months. It grew quite tame, and would sit on a branch while he dug worms for it. It apparently was choked one day. The Cuckoo seems to feed almost entirely upon worms, insects, and caterpillars, although it seems occasionally to eat berries and seeds. A Cuckoo was once placed in a Canary's cage ; caterpillars were placed also in the cage, and curiously the Canary fed the Cuckoo with the caterpillars, while it ate the seeds itself. The Cuckoo seems, accord- ing to some observers, to lay more than one egg — some say five ; and if so, must place them in differ- ent nests, and to do this it appears to use its bill when the nest is so placed that it cannot get at it otherwise. On one occasion a Cuckoo was seen anxiously watching a pair of "Wagtails building their nest. This did not seem to go on so fast as was necessary, for the Cuckoo laid its egg before the nest was finished. The same observer saw one enter a Wagtail's nest, take an egg out, and leave its own in. Two eggs have been occasionally found, in the same nest. The Cuckoo seems to place its eggs in a variety of nests, Wren's, Wag- tail's, Robin's, yellow-hammer's, Linnet's, as well as Sparrow's nests — all seem used. A Wren has been known to leave its own egg to feed a young Cuckoo in a cage. It got to it through a broken pane in the window. A Robin has been known to hatch and nurture the Cuckoo with the greatest care. The Cuckoo does not seem to be the only bird which palms its eggs upon others, as Wilson says that the Cow-bunting of America lays its eggs in other nests, such as the Wren, the Chiffchaff, and the Redstart. These I have taken as interesting notices from a great many others from Loudon's magazine, which every one may not possess. — E. T. Scott. Singular Place toe, a Hen's Nest. —A few miles from this place a farm-house stands in the midst of a rookery. During the summer of 1867, two hens made choice of the deserted nests of two rooks wherein to lay their eggs, and to rear their young. When the chickens were hatched, there arose the difficulty of bringing the little ones to the ground. This was successfully accomplished by one of the hens in the following manner: she first hopped upon a lower branch of the tree than that in which the nest was placed, and by her persuasions induced her little ones to follow ; then on to another branch until the lowest was reached. As this was eight or ten feet from the ground, the only thing that they could then do was to flutter to the bottom. For- tunately a heap of litter broke their fall, and so the whole brood arrived safely in the farmyard. The other hen was either not so successful in persuading her chickens to follow her, or else her courage failed, or it may be she was aware that there was no friendly heap of litter at the bottom. There was nothing left therefore but for her to submit to the ignominy of being brought down by the farmer's boy, who, mounting a long ladder, brought the second brood also in safety to the bottom. — J. S. Tide, Marking- ton. Blackbird's Nest on Christmas-day. — On Christmas-day a gentleman was on a visit to Mr. Henry Herrin's farm at Spennell, near Kidder- minster, and in looking round the farm, amongst other things discovered a Blackbird's nest with two eggs in, next day another egg was added, and the old birds are now sitting on five eggs. — Bir- mingham Bally Bost, January 20th. Land-shell in the Coal Strata. — A friend some time back brought to me some exceedingly handsome specimens, with impressions of ferns upon them of many species, obtained from a cutting of a new railway at Silverdale, North Staffordshire. One small specimen is rather noteworthy from certain little spiral shells, or rather their casts, which are to be seen on the fern-leaves {Keuropterls). These are about the size of the little Spirorbis or Microconchus, so well known as occurring in the coal-strata, rarely if ever, I think, on ferns, but usually on the surface of the shale or indurated mud, and sometimes, as I have seen, on bivalve shells {Anthraconya). The difference of habitat, and a more rapid increase in diameter of the whorl in March 1, 1SG9.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 65 i he little shell found on the fern-leaves lead me to suppose that it is a Zonites, which is a pulinonate or air-breathing gasteropode, and which species has not, I think, been previously found in Great Britain, fossil in the coal-measures.— .#. G. Entomology in the Coal-pits.— There is more natural history in mines than people imagine. A lew months ago a friend, employed underground, brought me a beautiful beetle caught in the pit, and which I have only once or twice met with above ground. It was a fine specimen of Astynomus cedilis, a beetle with extremely long antennae, well known to collectors, but not "as plentiful as blackberries." Two other friends during the last summer have sent me numerous specimens of Sirex, the great S. gigas and the smaller S. juvenctis. These hornets, as they called them, had seriously frightened the colliers. No doubt the pine timber which was used for props in the pits was full of the larvae of these insects, as was the case with a large block which I got near the pit mouth, and which I had split up to examine. I think last year the Sirex was unusually frequent in our fir woods. Another longicorn beetle, allied to the Astynomus, was lately brought in to me by my neighbour the timber-merchant; its antennae were also of great length, nearly three inches; it is no doubt Monochamm sutor, the cobbler. Can any of your readers inform me what species of insect it is that cuts pieces out of the leaves of the floating pond-weeds (Potamogeton), and with them makes a domicile for its larvae (Donatio.?)? What insect deposits clusters of regularly arranged brown eggs on water-grass or Poa aquatica ?—E. G. Geophiltts.— Taschenberg in the last issued number of his Wirbellosen Thiere tells the following remarkable tale in reference to an individual of this genus. " In a medical journal published at Metz, Herr Scoutetten states that a woman, 28 years of age, residing near that city, suffered for some months an uncomfortable tickling sensation in the region of the nose, accompanied by a copious discharge from the nostrils and frequent headaches. The symptoms gradually became worse ; the pains extended from the nose to the ear, and then over the whole head. The agony endured by the patient was frightful : it was as though her head was being struck at regular intervals by a hammer, or as if her forehead was being bored through; and often she became delirious, and rushed madly about the house in her vain efforts to find relief. At length after these attacks had continued during a whole year, they were suddenly brought to a close in a most unexpected manner. During an unusually violent fit of sneezing, a living insect was ejected from the nose, which forthwith rolled itself up in a spiral fashion, like a watch spring. It lived some time in water, but quickly died on being immersed in alcohol. The insect was two inches long, of a yellow- colour, and was divided into sixty-four segments, each of which bore a pair of legs. It was evident that it belonged to the genus Geophihts; competent judges pronounced it to be G. elect ricus ; it is certainly either that or its near relative G. carpophihs. No suggestion has been offered as to the manner in which this centipede could have entered its temporary lodging."— W. W. S. The Cuckoo in Captivity.— As " E. G. W." appears to think that no young Cuckoo has been kept in captivity longer than April 1st, the following notes upon one which lived from June, 1867, until June, 1868, may be interesting to him : it is taken from the Quarterly Magazine of the High Wycombe Natural History Society, vol. i. pp. 1S9-90. " This bird was taken in a half-fledged state from the nest of a hedge-sparrow, early in the month of June. The first food provided for him was a boiled egg, which pleased his juvenile palate— bruised seeds and soaked bread were also given to him. After a few days, worms and raw meat were offered. These provisions were greedily swallowed, though for some time he declined the trouble of feeding himself. During the severe weather, when worms could not be procured, raw meat was preferred ; but cooked meat, vegetables, bread-and-butter, indeed, almost anything was devoured. On Christmas day he dined off turkey and plum-pudding. Hot buttered crumpet is a favourite dish. The bird is extremely tame, the feeling of fear towards any of the house- hold seeming quite unknown Whenever a clatter of plates is heard in the kitchen, an answering note is heard from the cage. The cuckoo descends from his perch, and, should the door be closed, knocks his head against it until a friendly hand attends to his wishes. His eating is not confined to regular meal-times, but he is stuffing all day long : probably the reason so few have lived is that they have never had enough given them to eat. The struggle of instinct at the usual time of departure spoiled his beauty. At night he was constantly found with his wings spread, beating against his cage; darkening the cage did not prevent it : the feathers of his long wings and tail were all broken. The hero of this account became gradually more and more domesticated, and was allowed to wander at will about the premises ; his health was apparently unimpaired, although he became almost featherless ; but, on June 8th, the joint appearance of a strange cat and disappearance of the cuckco left little doubt as to his untimely end."— B. Blackcaps.— While out on the 21st of January, my companion shot a cock-blackcap ; we also saw a bird with it, which I supposed to be the hen. Is it not strange to see Blackcaps paired at this time of the year, and also to see them in England during the winter ? — Forbes Jenkins. CO HARDWICKE'S SC IE N CE -GO SSIP. [March 1, 1SG9. BOTANY. Ferns. — The twelfth volume of the Gardener 's Magazine commences with the new year, and the first monthly part contains fourteen excellent wood- cuts of species of Adiantum, illustrative of consecu- tive papers on that genus. The part contains, besides, a mass of useful information on garden matters. Gall-bearing Plants. — A second list of British Gall-bearing plants is published in the Entomologist's Monthly Magazine for February. The Specific Differences between Potentilla tormenUlla and P. reptans. — I hope Mrs. Watney will pardon me for saying that I am afraid the diagnoses of these two plants, as given by her in the last number of Science- Gossir — in fact, any de- scriptions taken from existing botanical works — are not yet sufficiently definite to enable us, at once, to draw a line between the two species ; and that the query respecting them in " B.'s " excellent article, " Why," remains still, in point of fact, unanswered ; for the very nature of the question shows that doubts had arisen in the writer's mind whether the differences already recognized and described in books were sufficient to justify the separation of them into two species. The characters which Mrs. Watney gives are, no doubt, quite sufficient to dis- tinguish the two extreme forms from one another : indeed, they are so very different in size, in the shape and size of the flower, in the appearance of the radical leaves especially, and in the situations in which they are found, that they arc known at a glance ; and, seeing only these extreme forms, one would scarcely dream of suspecting that they could be anything but specifically distinct. But no sooner do we try to write downjthe distinctions on paper than our difficulties begin. Mrs. Watney herself observes that we often find tormentilla with five petals, and reptans sometimes with only four. She further says, " Potent ilia tormentilla has an ascending dichotomous stem." This character, however, is by no means constant ; and Babington himself describes the stem as " procumbent or ascending," putting the procumbent character first. Again, " P. tormen- tilla has temate leaves." The lower leaves, however, of P. tormentilla arc, according to Babington, quinate, like those of reptans, and I know that when the plant becomes luxuriant, growing somewhere else than on dry heaths, the upper leaves even become sometimes quinate, and stalked instead of sessile. The characters of these two plants differ much in different places, and probably Mrs. Watuey has no difficulty in distinguishing them in her neighbourhood; but where I live they are the most perplexing plants I know, and I can at any time during the summer gather specimens that I am quite unable to refer positively to either species. I find large round flowers on the hedge-banks, appa- rently of reptans ; but when I come to gather them, they have the small, often temate foliage of tor- mentilla ; and I find small square flowers of what appear to be tormentilla, but when I pull the plant up, it is rooting at the joints, like reptans ; in short, we have every conceivable intermediate form ; and the only conclusions I have hitherto been able to arrive at are that either they are not true species, or that they hybridize very readily, or that some fixed character has still to be found by which they may be distinguished. — Robert Holland. Scolorendrum Ceterach. — "Davis's Botano- logy," 8vo., 1813, p. 99, says this fern was fast disappearing about Holyhead, being used as bait for rock codfish. Can any one inform me how it is used ?—JS. M. P. "Scurvy-grass" (p. 43).— In my edition of Hooker & Arnott's "British Flora," published in 1S50 {sixth edition), the Cochlearia officinalis is said to be an annual or perennial.— S. M. P Alder Leaf-buds.— I have perused Mr. Hep- worth's paper on leaf-buds, in your February number, with much interest ; however, he makes but little allusion to the Alder {Alnus glutinosa). This tree, to my thinking, has the most beautiful of leaf-buds ; they are of a rich purplish-red colour, aud in general outline not unlike the WThite Beam, but are consi- derably longer, and much thicker at the extremity. In March, before the buds are expanded, this tree presents a striking appearance, with the brownish catkins waving in the wind, and is then perhaps the most beautiful of our indigenous trees. — /. F. Robinson. The Shamrock.— As the 17th of March— the day dedicated to Ireland's patron saint— is ap- proaching, I might perhaps be allowed to mention, that in the oft-renewed discussion as to what plant is the true shamrock, there has been no mention of Trifolium minus ; at any rate, I have not seen this species alluded to in connexion with the Shamrock. The Celtic portion of the population are enthusi- astic, here as elsewhere, in honouring their saint's day, and in displaying the national emblem on their persons on that anniversary ; but I have never seen any plant worn as the Shamrock but Trijolium minus. I can only speak for this end of the island ; but if they do wear the Trifolium repens generally over the country, as is stated, we northerners ought to take some credit to ourselves for superior taste. Any one who compares the foliage of these two trefoils, will see that the T. minus is much the more elegant plant. I should like to know if T. repens is really the plant worn in the south and west of Ire- land.— S. A. S., Belfast. March 1, 1869.] ' HARDWICO'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 07 Utricularia vulgaris.— The round, seed-like terminal buds of these plants, that have been lying dormant at the bottom of ponds during the winter, are now about to rise to the surface to shoot out into leaves'and branches. Probably, as it has been a mild winter, many have resumed their vitality, and are, by this time, already floating at the surface. Where the Bladderwort is known to grow, the buds may easily be collected by drawing a light net through the water, sweeping it along the surface of the mud at the bottom. The buds should be well rinsed in Clearwater, when they form beautiful objects for the aquarium. I have kept eight or ten buds through the winter, and they are now beginning to grow. One of them rose to the surface very early, and is already several inches long, and has thrown out a side branch. The bladders are as yet so small as to be scarcely seen with the naked eye: no doubt, they are large enough to support the plant in its present small state ; and they will be developed larger and larger as the plant increases in size and weight. 1 should be greatly obliged to any cor- respondent who would kindly send me a few buds of either U. neglecta or U. intermedia. I think they would come safely in a letter, if stuffed into a quill with the ends plugged with damp moss.— Robert 0. Colland. Scurvy-grass— The Scurvy-grass {CocJdearia ■officinalis) is certainly an annual. I wish your cor- respondent would just try the experiment by culti- vating some plants from seeds. Sow the seeds in July, in drills, and thin out the young shoots, leav- ing at least six inches between every one of them. He will find the leaves fit for use in the following spring; and they really are not a disagreeable addition to an early salad, though they give an unpleasant flavour to the flesh of different animals that feed on them. It is an often- noticed fact that the Cochlearia officinalis is found most abundant in those high altitudes where the dreadful evil for the cure of which it has been so justly lauded prevails. There are large quantities of it in the South-Sea Islands, for ex- ample, and in Iceland too. The Icelanders dress it in various forms ; make a pickle of the leaves, and I prepare different dishes with them ; mix them with whey or bur. The old English name of Spoon-wort originated in the shape of the leaves, they resemble the bowl of an old-fashioned one ; ' hence, too, the French name, Herbe am millers ; and some writers affirm that Scurvy-grass is the true Herba Britannica of the ancients.- Helen E. Watney. Phyllactidium pulchellum.— This interesting water-weed has made its appearance in water ob- tained at Keston, and was exhibited at the late Soiree of the North-London Naturalists' Society. MICROSCOPY. Gizzard of the Mole Cricket (Gryllotalpa mil- garis).— Late numbers of your valuable periodical Science-Gossip, containing descriptions of the gastric teeth of insects and lingual ribbons of mollusca, induced me to work in the same direction, and I have been much pleased with their beauty \ among others, the gastric teeth of the Mole Cricket. As the insect is rather local, it may have escaped the investigations of those of your nu- merous readers who are microscopists. The gizzard of the Mole Cricket is large, with numerous and beautiful teeth, visible to the eye, and when laid open and fiat, forms a fine opaque object.— J. B. Spencer. Gudgeon Scale— The fish-scale figured in the February part of Science-Gossip (page 41) is erro- neously described as that of a Gudgeon (Gobio fluciatilis). It appears to be that of the Pope [Acerina vulgaris). — Henri/ Lee. Fig. 49. Scale of Gudgeon, from specimens furnished by Mr. Henry Lee. Pleurosigma hippocampus.— Mr. Kitton (ante, p. 22) states that this diatom may be found in any pond or mill-stream ; inferring, of course, that it is a fresh-water species. Pritchard describes it (Inf., 919) as marine. Is the species alluded to by both of these gentlemen under this name the same, or is one of them in error as to its habitat ? If not too late, may I take the opportunity of pointing out an inaccuracy on page 133 of the volume for 1867 ? Eig. 141, as it seems to me at least, in the figures of Binmdaria, appears to me to coincide with the description in Pritchard of Fin. {Kav.) acrospharia ; figs. 142, 144 with Bin. {Kav.) dicer- gens ; and fig. 143 with Bin. stauroneiformis {Nan. Brebissonii), instead of as stated in the text. The error, if it be one, may have been corrected ; but, if so, this has escaped my notice.— F. J. IVamer, Winchester. [Answer will appear next month. — Ed. S. G.] 68 HARDWICKE'S SCI EN CE-GOSSI P. [March I, 1S69. NOTES AND QUERIES. Laurel-leaves. — I have long been an ob- server of the two small pores of the common laurel, situated at the base of each leaf, one on each side of the mid-rib, just above the foot-stalk. I believe them to be small glands, containing either honey, or propolis, or prussic acid, ex- tensively sought after by bees in their early working days (whether it is real food, or propolis to cement their comb, or a poison to supply their gland I have no means of ascertaining). The supply they yield seems soon exhausted, and then the pores turn brown, and after that the bees seem to disre- gard them. The common vetch has some such re- ceptacle on the stipules, for the bees are even more busy at a certaiu season in the vetch fields on this part of the plant. — II. W. Bee Odours. — The Bees emit an unmistakeable odour when angry, which I have no doubt proceeds from their poison, which is an extremely volatile acid. I can generally tell the temper of my bees by the presence of this pungent aromatic odour, and no one that has ever been stung on the lip can fail to recognize it ever afterwards. Place a bee on a piece of glass, and force it to protrude its sting against the glass, and the poison may be seen in a small clear drop of liquid on the surface, and the powerful and pleasant odour will at once be detected— IT. W. Mistletoe. — This plant is easily propagated from seed. Squeeze the capsule, and place the seed thus released on any smooth part of the bark of any tree on which it thrives, press it firmly to the bark on which it will stick by its own gluten, and in the. course of twenty-four hours will be found dry and adhering firmly to its bed. Its growth begins the first spring, a germ proceeding from each lobe and fixing itself on opposite sides of the seed, and forming two separate plants, making at first two small green arches, thus it remains its first season. It then separates, and in the second season each germ puts forth two leaves, and after these appear it grows more rapidly ; in about four years it becomes a conspicuous parasite. I would warn all not to fix the seed on to the main trunk of any tree that is cared for, as I have known it kill large apple-trees in the course of eight or ten years; when so placed, the soft green roots penetrate into the very heart of the wood, and I have seen the dead trunks, after time sufficient has elapsed for the shrivelling up and decay of the mistletoe, as though the wood had been bored by a teredo, for the roots make many ramifications. The mistletoe will grow on many soft-wooded trees. I have grown it on apple, poplar, lime, and hawthorn, but have never succeeded on oak or Scotch fir on which it is sometimes seen. — //. W. A Blue-jacket's idea of Technical Terms. — When in command of one of H. M.'s ships last year, on our way home from the Pacific, 1 as usual had my tow net over, which by the by seemed at first to astonish the men, and even some of the officers, but several soon look much interest in the "wonders of the ocean " which came to their notice ; and while mentioning this, I may remark that it seems strange that so few naval men make use of the glorious op- portunity afforded them of studying natural history in all its branches and over the various countries they visit; and I think if those in authority at home were to encourage officers in such pursuits, much good would result to themselves and science in general. It is so in the American navy, and why not in ours? But to return. One evening an old quartermaster came in haste to my cabin, saying, "Please,sir, I've got a 'curio' at last." "Well, Wood- mason, let me see it." He said, " It's all covered with spikes, a fish ! " " Oh ! probably a Diodon," said I. When he brought it— a small fish in a basin — I took it up. "Why, it is a small specimen of Orthago- niscus, perhaps Mola, but I never saw one with spines before; it may be a young one, or other species, that I can't say." The quartermaster looked, scratched his head, and said, "What did you call it, sir?" "Orthagoniscus," and away he went on duty. The officers asked him what the captain said. "Well, sir, I can't tell exactly, but t'was very much like ' O Sally, come kiss us." I need scarcely add there was a shout of laughter at poor old Woodmason's ideas of technical names. The said "O Sally, come kiss us" is now in one of those numerous subterranean passages in the British Museum, unknown except to those who care to work, and in the safe custody of Dr. A. Gvinther. — H. II. Knocker, Commander R.N. Water Wagtail. — On two recent occasions a flight of black and white Water Wagtails, to the number of forty, have appeared on my lawn, their plumage and size rather varied, some looking like young birds. In the summer they are pretty plenti- ful in this neighbourhood (East Devon), and for several years in succession I have had two yellow Wagtail's nests in a blank window covered with creepers, but is it not unusual to see Wagtails con- gregated to the number of forty ?—W. R. B. Wasp. — I have enclosed a wasp which was killed in my dining-room yesterday evening (Jan. 22), as I thought its early appearance might interest some of your readers. — E. B., Clare, Suffolk. Cock Nests. — It is not an uncommon thing to find several unfinished nests in the neighbourhood of a Wren's nest (Sylvia Troglodytes, Lath.) I have found many, but never one that had any lining in it. The popular opinion is, that the cock bird builds these nests, and not having the ability to line them, he leaves them unfinished ; hence they are called in Yorkshire " cock-nests." The fact seems to be, that whilst the hen is sitting, the cock employs his leisure in building. A year or two ago, a wren built her nest under the overhanging tiles of an out- house, the foundation resting in a currant bush, and. the tile forming the dome. Within a distance of forty yards, I found five of these nests ; three were built in the rasp-canes. Whilst the female takes great pains to hide her nest, these rude attempts are generally built in open and exposed places. Prom long and careful observation, 1 believe that the cock-birds give very little assistance, generally, to the liens, in building their nests. — John Ranson. Pigs and Music— In old churches and cathedrals we sometimes find a carving on the miserere of a pig playing upon a bagpipe, and the little pigs dancing around. This seems to indicate a popular notion (at least in times gone by) that pigs have no ear or taste for music ; such a notion, however, seems to be not quite correct : for I once saw four or five great bony pigs standing at a garden-gate, listening with the most evident pleasure to the sweet sounds of a wandering German band. They stood in a row, in perfect March ], 1SG9.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. GO stillness, with heads bent a little on one side to catch the melody ; and from time to time gave utterance to their delight in a gentle grunt of satisfaction. The melody that charmed their breasts was one which rose and fell in gentle and continual waves of sound : not very attractive perhaps to educated ears ; but certainly riveting the attention of these untaught creatures, whose desires are commonly supposed to be confined to the quantity and quality of their food, rather than to the enjoyment of the purer delights of sweet sounds. — /. S. Tate. Eujiart (Jumart). — Your correspondent, TV". Gain, will find in Buit'on's Natural History (vol. 22, p. 448, of Sonnini's Erench edition) a full descrip- tion of the character and uses of three different varieties of the Jumart (doubtless the animal referred to by Mr. Gain as the Eumart) sprung from the ass and cow, the bull and mare, and the bull and she ass, respectively. Button expresses his disbelief in the existence of all three, deduced partly from actual experiment, and partly from anatomical con- siderations ; and it may, I think, be assumed that such an animal has no real existence. — II. Rats and Sugar. — A few weeks ago the employes of an eminent publishing firm in the metropolis missed half a pound of loaf sugar and could not account for its disappearance ; shortly afterwards another half pound was missed, and one day last week, a pound was put in a drawer about I p.m., and by 5 o'clock there was nothing left but the bag with a large hole gnawed in it. Next day a rat was seen running backwards and forwards across the passage, and on being disturbed one lump of sugar was discovered, which he was evidently removing to a safe place from his temporary hiding of the night before. Is it a known fact that rats are so fond of sugar ? A month or two since a rat was caught in the same establishment, and during the night she littered with ten young ones.— A. B. Chelsea, S.JI'. Alas poor Hedgehog !— In the July number of Science-Gossip for the year 1SG6, " C. K." states that he observed a hedgehog running about with several bluebottles on it, which were " laying a great number of eggs." Perhaps the following brief notes may interest " C. K." and other corre- spondents who read his query. In August last I caught a hedgehog on the Epsom downs, and brought him home in the hope of a long enjoyment of his company and friendship ; but before he had been in my possession many days my attention was drawn to the fact that flies were in the habit of settling on my pet's nose and about his eyes. Remembering the paragraph above quoted, I kept a close watch upon the hedgehog, but, alas.! it was of no avail, for one day, about two months after the partiality of the flies for our pet had been noticed, he was seized with what appeared to be the cramp, and would eat nothing. The following day he seemed to be much worse ; upon examination a gentle was found crawling out of a small hole close to the eye, and upon further search a considerable number were found among the spines. The poor animal was placed in warm water, by which means several hundred gentles were captured; however, all my work was in vain, for two days after, it was found that he was dreadfully eaten behind the ears, and that his back was in such a state from their ravages that it could be compared to nothing but a sponge. By this time he was too weak to roll him- self up when touched, or to raise himself up when placed upon his side ; his breathing, also, was pain- fully laboured. The poor creature was killed, as his case was hopeless, and it did not seem justifiable to allow him to sutler longer, however interesting the experience gained by so doing might have been. On dissection several gentles were discovered among his entrails, which were very much collapsed, and in one lung three of these terrible " parasites " were found. It would accordingly appear that not. only can the larva eat its way through the skin of the living hedgehog, but penetrate far into the body.—//. 11. Mott, Union Grove, Clapham. Bare British Animaxs.— I am anxious to ascertain, as correctly as possible, the present distribution of the Badger, the Otter, and the Blackrat (Mm rattui), in the United Kingdom. 1 fear all three are being rapidly exterminated. Will any of your correspondents who can testify to the recent occurrence of any of these animals in their own, or any other neighbourhood, kindly oblige by doing so ? Communications on the subject might be sent either to your valuable periodical, or to my own address. I shall be happy to send you a digest of the whole evidence in the course of a few months. — Robert Morton Middleion, J mi., Bunk, West Hartlepool. The American Entomologist for January contains interesting articles on the following subjects : — The Apple Root Plant Louse ; The Parasites of the Human Animal ; A Measly Wild Duck ; Strawberry Worms ; The Strawberry Ealse Worm ; Fungoid Growths; Plums for the Million; The Colorado Grassnopper-; The Nine Pronged Wheel Bug ; Grasshoppers in the State of New York ; Universal Remedies, &c. Uses of Cockchafers. — Through the columns of the Moniteur Scieniifique one learns that nothing- can be better to grease machines with, and prepare salad than cockchafer oil. In Prussia the people have reached the advanced stage of making cock- chafer flour, which at present is only employed for the purpose of making cakes for young pheasants, partridges, and quails. In this country (Prance) an attempt has been made to introduce the white worm or larva of the cockchafer into the kitchen as a sub- stitute for the snail, but gentlemen who are voracious where Helix pomatia is concerned, turn up their noses at the grub of Meloloutlia vulgaris. A servant of the name of Jonglet proposes to extract from the cockchafer colouring matter which, it is said, will make rapid strides in industry and create a small revolution in the commercial world. He states that he can get yellow out of the obnoxious insect of a colour between chromium and gold, and that each cockchafer yields a few centi- grammes. Several specimens of silk dyed with this new colour have been exhibited and much admired. Taken all in all the cockchafer, what with the amount of manure he furnishes when slain in proper quantities, and the uses above mentioned, stands a fair chance of being classed as a valuable insect, and some day we may hear philanthropic persons calling out against their wanton destruction. — Land ami Water, Jan. 23rd. Luminous Centipede (pp. 46 and 47). — The centipede noticed by your correspondent was probably Artl/rouomalus longicornis, which is figured and described in Wood's " Illustrated Natural History." — James Britten. JO HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. LMarch 1, 1S69. Hybernation of :Bees. — Much interested in Mr. Mill's paper on "The Winter Home of the Humble Bee" (Science-Gossip, p. 41), 1 wish to ask, 1, If August is not too early for the hybernation of bees ? 2, If no passage to the cell in question ever existed, how did the bee reach its Some underneath a large ilat stone that had evidently been a fixture for a long time, including of course the heat of July ? 3, May not this bee have been involuntarily confined ? This raises question L How long could a bee endure this torpid state : air and food excluded ? — A. Hall. Flowers dried in Sand. — Will any reader kindly inform me how to preserve the green colour of the leaves and calyces of llowers dried as above ? I have seen many specimens tried, but though looking well when they came out of the sand, the green hue has faded out in a few days or weeks. — C, Barnshury. Museum Curiosities. — Seeing an article headed as above in the last number of Science-Gossip by " LL. B.," I also not long since visited probably the same northern museum, and made acquaintance with possibly the same "elderly man," and under very similar circumstances. On my asking where the fish were kept, he took me to where the fossil sau- rians were. " There," said he, " what do you think of these? " "These, my friend, are not fish, and I want to see them." He replied, "I says they be fish." Then came the similar questions as to " LL. B." Seeing there was fun to be had out of him, I said I should be glad to know about them. "What, sir! Do you never read your Bible?" " Yes," said I, " at times." Then came the account of their getting into the rocks at the deluge. Pass- ing on, he asked me if I had ever seen a fossil salmon in coal. " No, but should very much like to, if such a thing exists." " Well, sir, some of these here philosophers says it is not a salmon, but calls it some long name ; they do give things such names." I asked him if his supposed salmon and thesaurians and all the other fossil animals got into the rocks at the same time. " Yes, most certainly, I tell you the Bible says so." I then told him something about the different formations in remote periods, when he came to the conclusion that fas he said) "I was one of them philosophers. But you see, sir," said he, " we must have something to tell the many people who come here and ask questions." If the elderly man is not profound in scientific acquire- ments, yet his civility to visitors should not be over- looked. For " LL. B.'s " note might tend to deprive him of his place, and alter all surely no great knowledge is required if his duties arc, as " LL. B." says, solely to dust the cases. — //. //. Knocker, Bridlington, 9th Dec. Laurel Berries. — The reason why the berries of this evergreen can be eaten with impunity is, that the pulp of the fruit does not contain any poisonous properties ; the kernel or seed found in the berry possesses the same principle as the leaves ; but most probably persons who eat the pulp do not swallow, or, if they swallow, do not crush, the seed. How very rarely one swallows the stones in a raison, or seeds of a'grape ! Besides, I much doubt whether the essential oil or virulent principle, which contains hydrocyanic acid, and is extracted from the leaves of the laurel by distilla- tion, exists in % ready-formed state in the kernels. I fancy it would only become developed by contact with water, and I am not sufficiently a chemist to tell your correspondent how the juices of the human stomach would act on the seeds ; but I do know enough of the powerfully poisonous nature of the oil to deter me from trying any experiments with the seeds, either on myself or any dumb animal ; for I entertain an intense horror of in- flicting needless pain on one of God's creatures :— Sharers in the woe, the evil, Adam's sin brought on us all, Must man add, by needless torture, To the curse wrought by his fall? I know the seeds, when bruised, will flavour different liqueurs, and that when sparingly administered they do no harm — rather promote digestion: hence it is that hydrocyanic acid is often prescribed by medical men in different diseases. — Helen E. Watney. Fruit of the Hawthorn.— One of your cor- respondents draws attention to the local names given to the fruit of the Hawthorn. In the East Riding of York, about Hull, they are popularly called "Cat-haws" — a name I never heard any- where else, and the origin of which I could never ascertain. An old rhyme says : — " Hips and haws, Frosts and snows." If there be any truth in this popular distich, we are likely to have a severe winter, for they are both plentiful. — John Hanson, York. Mushrooms.— The great abundance of mushrooms this season has enabled all classes to partake of this savoury and nutritious condiment. Have any of your correspondents observed iustances this autumn of their producing much disturbance even in vigorous systems, and that quite independently of the tough- ness of parts of their texture ? The gamekeeper at this place, who has freely eaten them through the summer, and cannot have gathered other fungi in mistake, was, as well as a groom, excessively sick last week after eating some. At the same time some of this household, as well as others in the neighbouring vicarage, were effected in much the same way. The mushrooms were gathered by differ- ent persons and in various fields. An opinion exists here that mushrooms are affected by the first frost. Whether this is the case or not, their young and white caps and rosy gills gave no indication of a change. — C. F. Fbog Parasites. — Walking by a small stream in North Wales, in which was a quantity of the lank ribbon-like water grass that floats on the surface, a frog attracted my notice, squatting high and dry in a position of apparent motionless contentment. Not disturbing it, I passed on, and saw another, and another, all in the same state of inert stupidity ! Wondering at their inactivity, I stooped down close, to look at them, and lo, the lid of the head, if I may so call it, was off, and the brain-pan, full to the brim, alive with a wriggling mass of maggots, each about three-eighths of an inch long! How did the enemy get, into head-quarters ? From some fly the poor Frog had eaten, or by an external attack and deposition ? — W. Broicne. NewNudibkanchiate Mollusc. — This addition to our fauna, discovered in the Victoria Docks at one of the excursions of the Quekctf Microscopical ( Jlnb, was exhibited at the meeting of the Zoological Society of London on the 28th January, by Mr. W. S. Kent, and named Emhletonia Grai/ii. March 1, 1869.] IIAPDWICKE'S SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 71 "Piece op Coal." — Had my "piece of coal" known it would have fallen into such severely critical hands as those of Mr. Dalton, it would, I am sure, have refrained from sacrificing any tech- nicality to picturesque description. Mr. Dalton might have credited the "piece of coal" with know- ing something about its own history, although, per- haps, it was not so fresh from the "manuals" as himself. His two "gross mistakes" sink into nothing when examined. "With regard to the "hilly barrier" of which the coal spoke, let him refer to Mr. Godwin- Austin's paper "On the Pos- sible Extension of the Coal Measures beneath the South-Eastern part of England." He will there find the " hilly barriers " mapped out for him, and not only so, but the statement made that "the Rhenish aud Belgian coal-beds are the remains of a succession of fringing bands of dense vegetation, occupying a continuous tract of coast-line." He speaks of the Midland and Northern coal-measures of England in a similar manner. "What does this mean but that in the "deeper water" other deposits, notably limestone (always a deep-sea deposit), must have been going on ? Mr. Geikie, in his " Story of a Boulder " (1858), gives almost a similar statement to that of my unfortunate piece of coal. After describing the various forms of vegetable life in morass and on land, he says, " But the lifelessness of the Carboniferous forests was amply compensated for by the activity that reigned in river, lagoon, and sea. Coral groves gleamed white beneath the waves," &c. If the latter was the case, then "coral" limestones must have been forming. Is Mr. Dalton aware that in the Mid-Lothian coal- field the coal-seams actually intercalate among the mountain limestones ? He had best study Professor Huxley's doctrine of " synchronism" Every natu- ralist must know that similar geographical con- ditions existed in Carboniferous times to those that now prevail. In shallow seas, shingle, sandstone, &c, were deposited; in the deeper parts, limestones. The Carboniferous period was no exception to the rule, as my "piece of coal" well knew. Let Mr. Dalton leave the rigidity of his manual classifica- tion, and he will see that because the "piece of coal " spoke of limestones being deposited synchro- nously with the coal-beds, it did not therefore declare that the mountain limestone as we have it does not stand in the relations to the millstone grit, &c, otherwise than as he himself puts it. This, however, should be a lesson of how easy it is to twist a general description into a series of technical errors. — J. E. Taylor, Norwich. Lamperns ("L. S.," p. 45).— Jenyns' "British Vert," edition 1835 ; Garrett's " British Eishes," 1836 ; Couch's " British Eishes," 1S65, all (and, as 1 believe, continental authorities do) make the lamprey {Petromyzon marinus) and the lampern {Petromyzon fluviatilis) distinct fishes, the latter rarely exceeding 15 inches, the former sometimes more than twice that length, besides other im- portant distinctions. Both fishes are caught in the Severn. General accounts give the lamprey as the fish which caused the death of Henry I. — 8. M. P. Pipits. — Could any of your readers inform me if they have seen pipits, commonly called titlarks, in flocks ? I have myself seen ten or twelve together, which could not have been the family bred last summer, for I believe four or five eggs are the ordi- nary number. — Forbes Jenkins. The Lamprey. — The lampern and the lamprey are to be seen in different baskets in Worcester Market. The lamprey is the smaller and more delicate animal, with its leech-like mouth and row of breathing (?) holes on each side of the head, living by suction in the mud. It is the veritable fish immortalized in English history as the cause of Henry I.'s death, still, as then, called the " royal fish ; " and I was told at "Worcester that the first dish caught for the season is still sent to the Queen as her prerogative. And oh, gentle reader, tell it not above a whisper ! but were you to taste of this dish, cooked in its orthodox manner, with rich gravies and port wine, you would look for evermore with lenient indulgence on poor King Henry's last weakness, only wondering that all the monarchs of England ever since have not followed his example. — E.H. J!'. Laurel-leaves (pp. 21 and 15). — "Don" observes of the laurel (Ceras/is lauro-cerasus), "leaves . . . furnished with two or four glands beneath ; " of C. Lusitanica (the Portugal laurel) he notes, "leaves . . . glandless." 1 notice that " H. W. W. " says that the marks are mostly two in number; while "S. M." says there are four, "rarely only two." On the many leaves I have examined two is the prevailing number, but on one or two I observed three. Curiously enough, I have never, as far as I can recollect, seen the bees on the leaves, although we have plenty of laurel in our garden. — James Britten. Glowworm. — Your correspondent " E.J.D."asks, upon p. 45, how far north the glowworm has been found. Some time ago, when I was at the Trosachs, in Perthshire, my cousin and I went out for a stroll at night along the shores of Loch Achray, and, although it was getting rather late in the season, being the end of September, we saw several of the brilliant lights which betoken the presence of this curious little beetle. Having captured one or two of the creatures, we carried them up to our hotel, and displayed them in the coffee-room, to the asto- nishment, I remember, of the whole array of visitor-tourists, who crowded round to gaze upon the novelty. — Edward Banks. Luminous Centipede. — In November, 1866, I found several specimens of the luminous centipede. Its name is Geophilus phosphor ea. Prom the descrip- tions, I believe it to be exactly the same as those mentioned by your correspondents last month, but the phosphorescent quality is common to the genus. It is therefore, of course, natual, and does not pro- ceed from a wound. — M. G. F. Dendritic Spots on Paper.— Some observa- tions and correspondence on this subject will be given, if possible, in our next. — Ed. S.-G. Bees a Pemedy. — In a curious work, by Samuel Purchas, M.A., in 1657, called a "Theatre of Poli- ticall Flying Insects," amongst other curious pre- scriptions are the following:—" Bees powdered cure the wind collick. Take twelve or fourteen bees powdered in anything every morning, &c, &c. Honey mixed with powdered bees, and so taken, is healthful for the crudities of the stomach."— 7/". T. II iff, Epsom. Young Starlings in January.— A gamekeepei on the Apley estate found a starling's nest with young ones in it on the 9th of January last.— Ed- icard Bunlcs. li HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Maech 1, 1SG9. NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. Am. 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, contri- butions should not be received later than the 15th of each month. No notice whutener nan be taken of communica- tions which do not contain the name and address of the writer, not necessarily for publication, if desired to be with- held. We Jo not undertake to answer any queries not specially connected with Natural History, in accordance with our acceptance of that term ; nor can we answer fineries which might be solved by the correspondent by an appeal to any elementary book on the subject. We are always prepared to accept queries of a critical nature, and to publish the replies, provided .some of our readers, besides the querist, are likely to be interested in them. We cannot undertake to return rejected manuscripts unless sufficient stamps are enclosed to cover the return postage. Neither can we promise to refer to or return any manu- script after one month from the date of its receipt. All microscopical drawings intended for publication should have annexed thereto the powers employed, or the extent of enlargement, indicated in diameters (thus : x 320 diameters). Communications intended for publication should be written on one side of the paper only, and all scientific names, and names of places and Individuals, should be as legible as possible. Wherever scientific names or technicalities are employed.it is hoped that the common names will accompany them. Lists or tables are inad- missible under any circumstances. Those of the popular names of British plants and animals are retained and regis- tered for publication when sufficiently complete for that purpose, in whatever form may then be decided upon. Address No. 192, Piccadilly, London, W. J. R. M.— The black shining threads with small globose heads are Blucor phycomyces, a fungus. Mildness of the Season. — We have resolved to commit all the multitudinous communications we have received on this subject to a snug locker to await a sharp frost. A. F.-We think that the fumart is settled. T. P. B. — If you please. E. C. T. (Formosa).— The eggs of an insect, probably Lepi- dopterous. R. G. 1, Stoke) .—The last answer was not for ycu. The curious object is not yet identified. F. F.— A complete list of British beetles will be found at the close of Rye's " British Beetles" (Reeve & Co.), but no "manuals" containing descriptions of genera and species since " Stephen's Manual " (1839), now almost obsolete. G. J. D. should make friends with some ornithologist, or purchase an elementary book on the subject. We have no space to spare for descriptions of the typical form of a duck's foot or a squirrel's tail. A. M.— We cannot name objects from description. Consult Douglas & Scott's " Hemiptera Heteroptera " (Ray Society). No Name.— If correspondents persist in withholding their names and addresses, or using fictitious ones, they must be content if their queries remain unanswered. S. J. N.— Not in our line. H. W\, F. J. W.— Ineligible for exchange column. E. T. D.— Polyporus versicolor, very common and variable. H. W. G. — There was one, but it appears to be almost, if not quite, extinct. We know of no other. W. P. — The fruit of a palm, perhaps a Calamus. D. P. P.— We have no doubt of it, although not in flower. F. W. — It is clearly a Myriapod, probably Polydesmus com- plunatus. — F. M. J. CD. — 1. Fontinalis antipyretica. 2. Bartramia pomi- formis. 3. Tortula Hornschuchiana. — R. B. J. C. M.— 1. Hypnum palustre. 2. H. uncinatum. 3. H. irriguum. 4. Blindia acuta. 6. H.praslongum. — R. B. W. E. — 1. Hypnum cnprcssiforme. 2. Somalia trichoman- oides.—B. B. T. S.— The " Barilla, ria paradoxa attached to a splinter of floating Dantzic timber" explains itself. It came from a marine or brackish station with the diatoms on it. Can it be shown that this same species is found in the canal, Regent's Park, or any other fresh water not in communica- ion with a tidal river ? E. W.— Cooke's " Structural Botany " (Is. fid.), published by Robert Hardwicke: Bentham's " Handbook of the British Flora " (12s.), published by Reeve & Co. The least expenshe microscope worth purchasing is three guineas. EXCHANGES. . American Lepidoptera or Cocoons for those from any other locality, and to correspond for that purpose. Good specimens only exchanged. — W. V. Andrews, 130, Charlton Street, New York. Dendritic Spots on Paper, probably Crystals of Iron Pyrites or Cobalt. Specimens wanted for examination and analysis. — A. L., 61, Buckingham Road, N. Lamp and Wing op Lamp Insect (unmounted) offered for good mounted objects or pup?c of British Lepidoptera. — E. Sharp, The Grove, Woodchurch Road, Orton, Birkenhead. Cornish Plants (dried) for others.— Send lists to R. V. T., Withiel, Bodmin. British Lepidoptera.— Wanted specimens of Deilephila, Cha-rocampa or Sesin. for others.— C. R. Doward, 41, Copen- hagen Street, Worcester. Chalk Fossils offered for Silurian or other Formations; or Shells, English or Foreign.— B. A., Post Office, Faversham. Grammatophora marina (balsam or unmounted) for other Diatoms (mounted or unmounted).— J. W*. S., Crown Park, Montenotte, Cork. Lepidoptera.— L. Artu.rerxes, C. Plant aginis, A. suj'iisa, &c, for others.— J. Purdue, Ridgeway, Plympton, Devon. Lepidoptera for exchange.— Send lists to D. C. B., 42, Preston Street, Brighton. Plants of the Variegated Daisy (Bellis perennis Aucubm folia) for any British Lepidoptera, or Pupre of ditto, Sec — A. Mitchell, Wolsingham, Darlington. Skins of the Grasshopper Warbler (Sylvia locvstella) for pupa: of Lepidoptera.— Thomas H. Hedworth, Dunston, Gateshead. Rare British Jungermanni.=e.— Wanted to purchase, or in exchange for other plants, by B. C. du Murtier, Montague du Pare, Brussels. Dr. O. Morch, ", Frederiksborggade, Copenhagen, offers Greenland Shells in exchange for Exotic Shells. Goon Fossil Sections of Teeth, Bones, Scales, &c, of Fish, for good Slides of Photographs.— Joseph Taylor, West Cramlington, Northumberland. Ferns. — An American correspondent wants certain British and any continental Ferns in exchange for North American. — Address, at first, to the Editor of Science- Gossip. BOOKS RECEIVED. " Proceedings of the Essex Institute." Vol V., No. 8, for October to December, 186;. Salem : Essex Institute, I86S. "Naturalists' Note-book." No. 2b", February, 1 869. Lon- don : 196, Strand. "The Gardener's Magazine." Part XXXVIII., February, I&69. London : E. W. Allen. " The Monthly Microscopical Journal." No. 2, February, 1869. London: Robert Hardwicke. " Scientific Opinion." Nos. 12, 13, 14, 15. London : Wyman & Sons. "Land and Water." Nos. 15", 158, 159, Hk>, January and February, istig. " Hooper & Co.'s (Florists) General Catalogue for I869." Hooper & Co., Covent Garden Market. "The American Entomologist," No. 5. Studley & Co., St. Louis, Mo., U.S. "Le Naturaliste Canadien." No. 1, December, 1868. Quebec : 8, Rue de la Montagne. Basse Ville. " Tommy Try, and what he did in Science," by C. O. G. Napier, F.G.S. London : Chapman & Hall. "L'Origine de la Vie," par le Docteur Georges Pennetier. Troisieme edition, irimo., 1868. Paris: J. Rothschild; Lon- don : Wheldon. " Causeries Scientifiques, decouverteset Inventions Progres de la Science et de l'Industrie," par Henri de Parville. 12mo. Huitieme annee, 1868. Paris: J. Rothschild; London: Wheldon. " Proceedings of the Bristol Naturalists' Society." Vol. III., No. 9, December, 1868. Communications Received.— J. Y. H.— A. H.— H. W R. M. M.— R. N.— J. R. M.— R. L. H.— R. H. E— A. F A. L.— E. B— W. L. B.— R. G.— W. R. B.-P. G.— H. H. M N.-E. P. H.— B.— W. H.-J. R— G. E. F.-E. C. J.-F. F W. R. T.— W. F. K.— H. H. K.— M. F. D.— E.T. S— J. W.— G. G.— J. S. (commonly used).— T. S.— J. S. T.— S. M.-F. — R. V. T.-D. A. P. W.— J. C. D.-F. W.-M. G. F.— J. R. S. — S. J. N.— J. B. S.-J. M. P.— J. H. S.-S. A. S.— H. W. — T. H., Jun.-W. B — E. B.-F. I. B.— J. C. M.— E. W C R.D.— H. L.-H. W.-D. C. B.— G. C— S. S— J. B W. H. P. -J. E. T.-J. F. D.— J. H. M.— J. P. G.— T. D A. J. D.— E. P.— R. H.— J. B.— J. S.— F. J. W.— J. W. S j F. r.—W. G.-C. B. F.-B. A.— W. F.— A. B. F.— W. P. — F. K. V.— J. P.— J. W.-S. A. S.— A. L.— E. S.— F. J S. M. P.- J. B. (Oldham).— E.—E. H. W.-W.T. I.— E. A. — H. E. W— A. S.-T. G. P.-J. S.— H. L.— I. W.-H. T S. M.— E. D. B.— T. H. H.— E. M.— J. W. G.— H. B. B.- M.— C. W.-H. W. G.— T. P. B— E. T. D. April 1, 1S69.] HAKDWICKE'S SCIENCE GOSSIP. 73 PHBONIMA. By MAJOR HOLLAND, R.M.L.I. T is a still, soft summer evening, Her Majesty's stately frigate is gliding silently over the un- ruffled bosom of the South Pa- cific : she is on no warlike errand now, though her artil- lery is ready at the roll of the drum to hurl forth deadly ^^/^ 5ji h-on showers if need be ; she * A\% «&X^ is on a blessedly beneficent mission, fathoming the deep bed of ocean, searching for treacherous sunken rocks and unknown shoals, and marking down the unseen dangers in the new charts that are being- constructed on board, to direct peaceful traders across the wide waters and to warn them where hidden perils must be guarded against. Hands accustomed to sword and rifle are working the deep-sea-lead ; officers are registering notes of winds and currents and the variations of the compass, and taking astronomical observations to fix the latitude and longitude of mountain-peaks and headlands. They have left the Pijis, and are south of the Friendly Islands ; " Michaeloff," an out- lier of a coral group, is in sight on the starboard-bow ; the towing-net, which has been trailing smoothly astern, has just been drawn in by the weather-beaten old quartermaster, and a sun-brown, seafaring natu- ralist is bending over it, eagerly searching for and sorting out his prizes : he has got a good haul, he is in a glorious cruising ground, where nature seems to have done her very utmost to fulfil the fiat of her Creator, " let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life." Eh ! what strange forms he has got ! What won- drous living things he is transferring to his glass jar No. 52. of clear blue sea-water— the sea is blue here, and not of a muddy green. We may not stop to tell of one-twentieth of the marvellous creatures he has secured ; but here is one — stick a one ! — for all the world like a new-boiled prawn with its head and shoulders jammed into a mother- o' -pearl thimble and its tail flapping restlessly outside, sending it tumbling head over heels as if making violent efforts to extricate itself. We must have a gossip about this ocean stranger : a stranger he, or rather she, is in her living state to all our marine zoologists whose personal operations do not extend to the high seas, they never see her "in the flesh," but have to form their opinions respecting her and her race from dried mummies preserved on glass slides, or from sodden and sometimes mutilated specimens sent home " from abroad " in pickle bottles. This is an amphipodous crustacean, a Phronima, apparently the Phronima sedentaria of Latreille ; though sedentary in the ordinary sense she is not, but one of the liveliest little creatures imaginable, full" of comic capers, throwing summersaults all day long with her tub on her head, like Diogenes gone mad, or a street acrobat. But before we proceed any farther, let us refresh our memories on crusta- cean matters in general. The skeleton of the Crustacea is external, and is made up of the tegumentary envelope, which in some of the class always continues soft, but in the greater portion is very firm, forming a shelly case or armour, in which all the soft parts are contained. In many (our captive of the towing-net being one of them) it remains semi-corneous, in a condition very similar to that of insects, with which, more- over, it corresponds very closely in chemical com- position; chitine in combination with albumen being the principal elements. The pigmentum, which gives the various tints, is an amorphous matter diffused through the outer layer of the superficial membrane, being secreted like this by the corium. The epidermic layer hardened in dif- ferent degrees is the part which mainly constitutes E 74 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Apkil 1, 1869. the 'tegumentary skeleton of tbe Crustacea. Like the bony skeleton of the vertebrata, it consists of a great number of distinct pieces connected together by means of portions of tbe epidermic envelope which have not become hardened, in the same way as among the higher animals certain bones are con- nected by cartilages. In the typical crustacean this external framework is divided into twenty-one rings or segments, more or less easily separable or distinguishable from each other : the common shrimp affords us a ready and familiar example, " la squille est de tous les crustaces celui oil les vingt-et-un segmens du corps sont les plus distincts," says Milne-Edwards. We all remember how in many other instances and in other members of the animal kingdom, several of these segments coalesce or become fused together to form the head or the carapace. These twenty-one segments, by a kind of general agreement, are placed in three great divisions of seveneach, and are commonly spoken of as the head, the thorax, and the abdomen, by people who are content to use common terms ; or as the Kt(pa\ov, 7rtpalov} and ir\kov, by others who prefer somewhat dubious Greek. The common crabs and other walking genera that frequent the beach or the sea-bottom, whose main strength and organs of locomotion spring from the thoracic regions, have the abdomen but slightly developed, and are called BracJiyura — short-tailed — while the swimmer families, whose largely developed abdomens are furnished with powerful muscles and natatory appendages, are styled Macroura — long- tailed, — the intermediate families being known as Anomoura — irregular-tailed. We need not refer to a host of other distinctions ; suffice it to add that our " subject " wearing her visual organs in her head, and not on the top of long stalks, like some of her distant cousins, belongs to the Edriophthalmia — sessile eyed— section ; and in virtue of possessing two sorts of feet ; viz., ambulatory feet on the thorax, and natatory feet on the abdomen, belongs to the order Amphipoda — both-footed. The head of this pelagic crustacean is exceedingly elongated, and its axis, instead of coinciding with that of the body, is at right-angles to the latter ; the back of the head is very largely developed, the rounded fulness of the poll containing a mass of eye-facets, the rounded tapering columns from which convene and blend with the rays of the rather small black lateral eyes, which are placed immediately above the mouth, the aperture of which is situated at the inferior extremity of the head. Two minute bi-jointed antennse, with short stiff hairs or setae on the terminal joint, arise from the outer margin of the head, just above and in front of the lateral eyes. The maxillary limbs constituting the jaws, corres- pond with those of ordinary masticating crustaceans, and need not be noticed in detail. The seven seg- ments of the thorax bear seven pairs of legs, the two first pairs of which are gnathopods subservient to the prehension of food; the third pair are usually thrown forwards across the head, for a special purpose, as we shall see ; the fourth pair are the longest of all ; the fifth are stoutly chelate, possessing a consider- able range of motion, but appear to be normally directed backwards, with the nanus downwards, and the pollex, or moveable thumb, superior : the sixth and seventh pairs resemble the third and fourth, and terminate in simple claws ; the seventh pair being commonly thrown back across the abdo- men, for the purpose of antagonising the third pan- before mentioned. The first three segments of the abdomen are each furnished with a pair of natatory feet — swimmerets, — the footstalks— protopodites, — of which, are very large and have an inflated appearance ; the three next segments taper away and are but slightly developed, having their swimmerets modified into mere bifid setaceous appendages; the diminutive telson which terminates the abdomen being, as usual, devoid of any. The fourth, fifth, and sixth thoracic segments bear each a pair of respiratory vesicles or branchial sacs of a laterally compressed oval shape, connected with the posterior and inferior part of the epimeral plates behind the articulations of the corresponding limbs, the posterior pair are the largest, and the anterior pair the smallest ; in each a loop of blood- vessels may be traced, the exterior of the sac being invested with a tesselated pavement of epithelial cells with large nuclei. Milne-Edwards states that there are five pairs " d' appendices vesiculeux," each of the seven thoracic segments " excepte le premier et le septieme" being furnished with them; but the specimen. now before us has very decidedly only three pairs, and the microscope fails to detect any trace of rudiments even of others. The mouth, the large chela;, and the remarkably stout footstalks of the swimmerets are tinted a deep rich red approaching to purple, the pigment in this in- stance is not amorphous, but is contained in beautiful stellate cells, the remainder of the body is hyaline. Here we have Phronima disporting herself in a glass vase of her native element : the tough gelatinous transparent barrel-shaped tube open at both ends which we see her carrying, is apparently a portion of the tube of " the aggregate salpian " Pyrosoma, from which the zooids have been washed away; just as our common Hermit-crab, Pagurus Bernardus, utilises a wrecked and empty whelk-shell to shield his unarmoured hindquarters, so does this most remarkable oceanic crustacean use the castaway covering of the stolon of a Tunicary as a shelter for her young : probably it is the female only that we find thus accoutred with a ready-made second-hand midamental case. I doubt if the male ever assumes the office of nurse, but I regret to say that I cannot speak positively either way. The April 1, 1S69.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 75 external surface of tins ocean cradle abounds in tubercles which, as well as other parts of its walls, are perforated with rounded and puckered orifices through which currents of water are observed to pass : an external membrane and an internal lining containing between them a pulpy substance, are distinctly visible : the length of this case is precisely five-eighths of an inch, and its breadth half an inch. The ova and the young are secured by a filmy band running round the interior about half way up it, they are indistinctly visible through the case as shown in the illustration. ^ \ ^ Fig. 50. Phronima sedentaria, x 2. Drawn from life by Dr. J. D. McDonald, R.N., F.R.S., F.L.S. The mother when swimming, has her head and the three first segments of the thorax inserted into the tube which she holds fast by means of the third pair of legs — which have been mentioned as being habitually thrown forwards across the head — which have their claws .firmly driven into the lining membrane of the case, in front of her head. The formidable " pinchers " of the fifth pair remaining outside " clear for action " in readiness to meet an enemy, and the swimmerets on ordinary occasions are busily paddling as repi-esented in the drawing. Sometimes on the approach of danger she draws the whole of her body within the tube, and apparently to guard against the risk of being shaken out by the shock of a collision, drives the claws of the seventh pair of thoracic feet (which seem to be normally directed backwards for the purpose) into the lining: the anterior (third) pair being, as we have seen, similarly directed forwards ; she has thus a firm " set " against a jerk coming either way. Her great compound eyes placed not only in the sides, but in the top and back of her head, enable her to take in with one marvellously comprehensive glance the whole circle of her brood; the objects of her maternal solicitude, they are never " from under her eye ;" no human beings are under such complete and constant supervision as the fry of Phronima. The specimen from which our '- illustration was drawn, was kept alive for ten days. She was a creature of the liveliest habits, whirling about in rapid gyrations, and turning summersaults, tub foremost, with a very comical effect. She never progressed in right lines, but first ascended at an angle of about 75° with her ventral aspect towards the spectator, then suddenly twisting sharply towards the left, she threw her tail up, and came down head foremost at a like angle, bringing her right side and the back of her head into view. Sometimes she was seized with a mania for waltzing, spinning round and round without materially shifting her ground, like a buoy moored in a strong tideway : merry little Phronima was often placed on the wardroom mess-table by particular request, her strange antics affording much amusement : but she pined for the liberty of the free ocean, and drooped, and died " universally respected and regretted." It does indeed seem strange that the preservation of the species, the safety of the broods of this tiny inhabitant of the deep, should hang upon the apparently doubtful contingency of the mother picking up just at the critical moment a suitable piece of the broken skeleton of another and widely different creature : but the plans of the great Master- builder however inscrutable to us, never fail ; and we see, if we study the glorious pages of nature's outspread book intelligently and reverently, that, the ends aimed at are ever infallibly attained. " We see on every side of us innumerable adaptations and contrivances, which have justly excited in the mind of every observer the highest admiration. There is for instance a fly (Cecidomyia) which deposits its eggs within the stamens of a Scrophularia, and secretes a poison which produces a gall on which the larva feeds ; but there is another insect (Misocampus) which deposits its eggs withm the body of the larva within the gall, and is thus nourished by its living prey ; so that here a Hymenopterous insect depends on a Dipterous insect, and this depends on its power of producing a monstrous growth in a particular organ of a particular plant. So it is in a more or less plainly marked manner in thousands and tens of thousands of cases, with the lowest as well as with the highest productions of Nature." With this quotation from Darwin, let us wind up our gossip about this little- known and seldom seen Amphipodous Crustacean, trusting that time and the towing net may yet enable us to obtain fuller and more perfect details for the information of our readers. Bury Cross, Gosport. 76 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [April 1, 1S69. LAND LEECHES. /"VUR correspondent " G. Pi." will be glad to ^ learn that by sending to Mr. Buckland the land leeches, the habits of which so puzzled him, he has contributed to the settlement of a very in- teresting question connected with the natural his- tory of this country. When Dr. Gray, in 1S50, claimed for Trocheta subviridis a place in the British Fauna, [in consequence of Mr. Hoffman having found one individual of this species in the Regent's Park, it was objected to his supposition of its being indigenous in Britain that the ovum, or the leech while young, might have been taken into the viscera of a deer or other animal in its own native country previously to its being shipped for England. Dr. Murie, in fact, believed that he had found another specimen in the viscera of a Moluccan deer dissected at the Zoological Society's Gardens in 1865, and described it in a paper which he read before that Society in November of the same year, as being identical with that previously fouud by Mr. Hoffman and commented on by Dr. Gray. When I ventured to state my opinion that the leccbes sent up to us by " G. B." were Trocheta subviridis of Dutrochet, many eminent zoologists were very naturally inclined to doubt the correct- ness of my identification of them. But I am glad to say there is no longer any doubt about it. " G. P." was kind enough to send me fresh specimens, and I have submitted them to Dr. Gray and Dr. Baird, of the British Museum, and also to Dr. Murie. They all agree that the leeches in question are of the species to which I assigned them, and Dr. Baird has kindly given me permission to pub- lish for the benefit of our readers the following letter which I received from him : — " My dear Sir, — The land leeches which you brought here yesterday belong certainly to the Trocheta subviridis of Dutrochet. I put them into weak spirits to kill them, but after placing them in stronger spirits, the colour has nearly gone from the leeches and imparted itself to the spirits, which is now of a fine green hue ! The specimen sent some few years ago by Mr. Bartlett from the Zoological Gardens, is also a true Trocheta; but the one brought by Dr. Murie, and which he has described in the Zoological proceedings as the Trocheta sub- riridis, is not a Trocheta at all, but must belong, from the structure of the oral and especially the ventral sucker, either to a peculiar species of Jhniiopsis, or to anew genus not hitherto described. I thought at the time when Dr. Murie brought the specimen here that it might belong to the genus Trocheta, but now I find it does not. If you can procure for us some more specimens I should be very glad, and any other species of the suctorial annelides will be thankfully received. Yours very truly, W. Baird (British Museum, March 6th, 1S69)." I have also received an interesting letter on the subject from the Rev. W. Houghton : — "My dear Sir, — I am very much obliged to ' G. R.' and to yourself for the two leeches which I received on Saturday night. They were quite lively when I turned them out. One I have dis- sected, the other remains for future observations. There is not the slightest doubt as to the species, it is the veritable Trocheta subviridis of Dutrochet, and thus your first opinion is fully confirmed. As I said, this discovery is interesting, as it proves that this sub-terrestrial species is an undoubted member of the British fauna. Moquin-Tandon enumerates as many as six varieties of this leech ; they only differ in colour. The two sent to me are the common variety ; one was about six inches long- when extended, the other was smaller. I observed on the specimen I dissected nine very minute black eye-spots, five on the first segment and four on the third ; the normal number is eight, but in the leech family the eye-spots often vary. I could not detect the teeth which Moquin-Tandon has described and figured as characteristic of Trocheta ; I have no doubt they too are occasionally absent; neither eyes nor teeth can be of any real use to the pos- sessor. The digestive apparatus in this species consists of a muscular triple-folded oesophagus, stomach with no coecal appendages, and straight simple intestine, showing in this respect a closer affinity to Nephelis than to its apparently more allied genera, Hcemopsis, Aulastoma, and Hirudo. Neither of the individuals seemed at all at home when placed in a vessel full of water ; they dropped to the bottom, and after moving about for a time fixed themselves there. I could not prevail on either of them to swim. Dutrochet considered Trocheta entirely terrestrial, but M. Moquin-Tandon asserts that he has kept many individuals alive in water more than fifteen days. Eurther observations are wanting to clearup this point. The allied generaswim readily enough, and, as we know, live in the water for the most part. Is Trocheta a curious exception to the rest ? If ' G. R.' should meet with more of these leeches about the beginning of June, and would kindly send me some, I should be obliged to him. About the middle of that month the leeches lay their eggs or cocoons, in which the young are developed. Again thanking you and ' G. R.' for the trouble you have taken, Very sincerely yours, " W. Houghton." Dr. Gray's description of Trocheta subviridis as belonging to the British fauna is thus confirmed. The individuals which have led to this result were found near Horsham ; but I have little doubt of our soon receiving them from other localities. "G. R." says he has heard of them in Hants, and I am in- formed by one of my own relatives that at Linfield, in Sussex, about twenty-five years ago, land leeches were so abundant in the fields and on the footpaths Apkil 1, 1869.3 rlARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 77 through them, that the ladies of the family who resided there at the time avoided them in their evening walks. It is not unlikely that these annelides may prove to have been all this time under the eyes of zoologists in their own head- quarters, for Mr. Bartlett tells me that he has often seen leeches on the greensward in the Regent's Park Gardens. "Whether they are Trocheta or of some other genus, remains of course to be seen. I request the attention of our correspondents to the concluding paragraph of Dr. Baird's letter. Any British leeches, large or small, will be received with thanks by Mr. Buckland or myself for the autho- rities of the British Museum and for our own examination.— Land and Water, March 13, 1869. Henky Lee. INFLUENCE OE LIGHT ON INSECTS. T IGHT, though not actually necessary to the -" maintenance of insect life, has nevertheless so strong a bearing on it, that the proportion.of insects existing without it is infinitesimally small. Among them are certain Coleoptera, found in the monster caves of Carinthia, which pass their whole existence in total darkness, and which are without any organs of vision. Indeed, wherever insects are compelled to go through life without coming in contact with the sun's rays, the eyes are sure to be either obsolete, or so imperfect as to be practically useless : such is the case with Claviger testacevs, Preyss, which lives under stones in ants' nests : and also with Sphodms leucophthalmus, L., Tridonychus terricola, 111., and a few other species, when bred in cellars or similar places, where the light never penetrates. Numbers of insects, which see perfectly well, prefer to remain in retirement during the day, and only issue forth when the sun has sunk into the west. Most of us know to our cost, how active the gnats become in the summer's evening : and many too have listened to the "drowsy hum" of the dor beetle, or watched the "mazy dance " of the May fly: still later the glowworm lights her lamp, a signal to whole hosts of moths and beetles to come forth and seek their mates, or search for prey ; not to mention the crickets, cockroaches, earwigs, bugs, lepisma, &c., all of which, like guilty things, hurry back to their retreats with the first blush of dawn. Most of the night-loving insects are so affected by the sudden appearance of light, that when a candle is introduced, they rush madly into the flame, as though they were deliberately anxious to commit suicide. " The moth circling round the flame " has many a time and oft served " to point a moral and adorn a tale." The true cause of this eccentric proceeding has never yet been satisfac- torily explained. It has been suggested that their eyes do not absorb (as in most insects), but reflect the light : an organisation which enables them to distinguish objects in a state of partial darkness, but which leads to their destruction when the light is strong. Blinded, as it were, by excess of radiance, they lose all discernment in the blaze, and perish in the flame. The larvae as a rule seek their food only in the day time : still there are some night feeders, to whom the light is distasteful, if not hurtful : as for instance, the caterpillar of the shark moth (Cuciillia umbratica (L.), the buff arches {Thyatira derasa, L.), and the heart and dart moth [Agrotis exclamationis, W. V.). It is, however, in the colouring of the outer integument, that the potent agency of the solar ray is shown most conspicuously. Speaking generally, the stronger the light, the more intense and brilliant is the hue, and the more delicate is the play of colour. Such larva; as are produced below the soil or in shady spots, to which the light of day has little access, are constantly white and colourless ; and this bleached appearance clings to the perfect insect so long as the conditions remain the same. Leunis, in his "Thierreich," tells us, "that he accidentally left a bug {Acantlria ledularia, L.) shut up in a box for no less than six months : on again opening the box, he found the animal alive and surrounded by young ones, all of which, together with the mother, were quite white, and ' transparent as glass.' " On the other hand, insects, which pass their lives " from the cradle to the grave " in broad daylight (as for example butterflies and chrysomelids), are far more gaily tinted, than the nightflying moths and Coleoptera, which have never been exposed to the solar rays. The influence of light, as might be expected, shows itself very remarkably in regard to the geographical zones : the insects of the tropics being, as a rule, far more elegantly and brilliantly coloured than those which are confined to the temperate and arctic regions. On looking over a well stocked museum, a very fair guess may be made, at a single glance, as to the quarter of the globe to which we may assign many of the Lepidoptera, the Nymphalids, the Morphos, the Uranias, by the side of which our peacocksj emperors, and admirals look dingy and homely to a degree. What a striking contrast is presented in the two nearly related beetles, Entimus imperialis, Eabr., the gorgeous diamond weevil of Brazil, and our common hedge weevil (Polydrosus micans,Germ.). Nature seems to revel in the glorious ornamentation which she has scattered without stint over the brilliant Entimus, whose wing-covers especially are encrusted with scales, which rival the noblest precious stones in the exquisite play of light reflected from every part of their surface, and which are still further set off by being embedded in hollows on a jet black background, of a velvety lustre. Nor are Nature's lavish gifts confined to this single 78 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE- GOSSIP. [April 1, 1869. species : hundreds of other curculionids are to be found in these sunny regions : Eustales, Platyomus, Cyphus, Lordops, Chrysolobus, Naupactes, &c, whose elytra, when prepared for the microscope, give [one rather the idea of rich caskets of fairy jewels, than a mere collection of beetles' wings. On the other hand our tiny Polydrdsus can boast only of a series of long narrow scales, pretty enough in themselves, having the same glittering character as in its more richly clothed relations ; but withal so minute, and having such slight powers of reflection, as scarcely to render the insect more remarkable than its neighbours : at the same time, the bold elevations and broad furrows, so con- spicuous in the wing-covers of Entimus, are reduced in Polydrosus to dots and stripes which can only be discerned by means of a lens. Again, reflected light and the special colour of the locality in which they live, are not without their influence on insects. We find, for instance, the hue of some (whether larva, pupa, or imago), corres- ponding with that of the soil, the tree bark or other part of a plant, on which they may be destined to live. Thus we may see in almost any garden in the summer season, how the rose aphids accommodate themselves to the colour of the leaf or twig to which they are fixed; green aphids being found upon green shoots, whereas if the latter are red, the animals upon them are tolerably sure to be red too. Elaphrus riparius, L., a not uncommon beetle on the sides of ponds and ditches, is of a light brown colour on gravel, but changes to a green when bred, as it often is, among tufts of grass. Pacilus lepidus, Fabr., P. cuprens, L., Harpalus /emus, Fabr., H. azureus, Fabr., Selatosomus cp.h&us, Steph., and a host of others are liable to important changes of colour dependant on locality. The pupa of the lesser Tortoiseshell Butterfly (Vanessa ur'tica) is naturally of a golden colour, but on a wall or fence, where it is often found, it becomes reddish, or grey, or even so dark as to be nearly black. The inhabitants of ponds and streams are not exempted from the law which confers such subtle power on the solar ray. Light, as is well known, decreases in intensity with the depth of the water through which it is made to pass ; and is, besides, broken up, in its passage through the denser medium, into its component parts. The first to be refracted is the blue ray; and in agreement with this we find that insects of a more or less purple tint, such as Gyrinus, occupy the surface. This is followed by the green and yellow rays, and here predominate the olive coloured or yellowish brown genera, Dyticus, Haliplus, &c. Nor must we forget to notice the strange influence exercised on the insect world by the thick darkness which usually in summer time precedes the out- burst of a violent thunder-storm. As the sun hides itself behind the heavy clouds, we may see the little animals making every effort to shelter themselves from the coming deluge. Butterflies seek the covert of a spreading leaf, or the rough chink of overhanging bark. The smaller beetles and Physa- pods nestle down into the centre of the corolla, ou which they were previously feeding, and remain still and quiet ; while even the industrious bees give over their labours and swarm back to their hives with all speed. While the greater part of the in- sect world is thus flying before the threatening clouds, the gnats renew their gambols with re- doubled energy, and the bloodthirsty Horse-fly {Hcematopota piuvialis, L.) plies his work on man and beast more vigorously than ever. Even these, however, vanish with the first heavy raindrops ; and then all is quiet, and Nature seems to wait the storm silent and awe-struck. But no sooner has the last of the thunder clouds passed across the face of the sun, than forth come the fugitives to their former scenes of activity ; swarms of insects of every hue and every form issue from their places of concealment; beetles creep out of holes and corners; butterflies display their gaudy wings on the still dripping flowers ; and once more the whir and hum of countless tiny organisms fill the warm air and give fresh life to the field and garden. " By myriads forth at once, Swarming they pour, of all the varied hues Their beauty-beaming parent can disclose ; Ten thousand forms, ten thousand different tribes, People the blaze."— Thomson's Seasons. ANIMAL FROM SALT LAKE. A SHORT time since, Mr. S. A. Briggs, of -*-*- Chicago, sent to the Editor a rough camera lucida sketch of an animal found in water from the Great Salt Lake, which he was unable to identify. The communication and sketch were submitted to P. H. Gosse, Esq., F.R.S., who desired further par- ticulars before hazarding an opinion on its zoological position. Those further observations since sent to Mr. Gosse, have kindly been placed at our disposal for publication, with a reduced copy of the camera lucida sketch. That gentleman's reply may pro- bably appear hereafter, with Mr. Briggs's consent. Although our knowledge of this creature is at pre- sent very small, it may have an important history "looming in the future." My Dear Sir, M. C. Cooke, Esq., of London, has sent me your note to him of the Gth inst. respecting an unknown form which I found in a bottle of water sent me from Great Salt Lake. As in your note you express a desire to know more of it, and as I am extremely anxious to have its position determined, I beg to inclose a duplicate of the camera drawing I sent Mr. Cooke, upon which Apeil 1, 1869.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 79 I have placed a few additional lines, and to give you all that is known by me of its story. Lieut. Stansbury, in his exploration to Great Salt Lake in 1849, speaks confidently of its waters being devoid of life, or any signs of life, save the cast skins of some insect (perfect form not found, and name unknown), which in certain portions of the lake were very numerous, lying beneath the water on the muddy bottom. From that time till now no observer seems to have referred to this feature of the natural history of the lake. In October 1868, Major-Gen. G. K. Warren, a Ihoroughly scientific man, and one of the Special Commissioners sent out by our Government to see that the Pacific Pailroad is being properly built, was these few days in turpentine, and giving it finally a balsam mounting. Standing so long as it did in the live-box, the salt began to crystallize, and the result was that in taking it out I lost a portion of the snout and a very little of the tail. I am unable to find any indication of eye-spots. It has eight pairs of short legs, each with ten* toes, terminating in a sharp, black, curved claw, like that of a dog. The animal is | of an inch in length, about equally divided between the body, including the head and the tail. The tail near its termination divides as indicated in the figure. The animal evidently had power to vary the position of these terminal appendages, as at one time, when I first took him from the water, they projected directly Nat SKze 51. Animal- raou Salt Lake (magnified). at Salt Lake. He noticed that the lake was much higher than when he last saw it, and several feet higher than when Stansbury was there in 1849. Desiring to ascertain how nearly it approached saturation, and to compare it in this respect with Stausbury's analysis, he filled a champagne bottle with it, and sent it by express to our Academy of Sciences, the Secretary of which sent it to me for a report. The quart bottle contained hundreds of crustacea, which I identified as Artemia salina, Leach, and of the singular form whose figure I inclose, but that one specimen. Desiring to exhibit the stranger to our Academy, and not daring to attempt a permanent mounting of it till after the meeting, I placed it in my live-box with some of the salt-water from the lake, made the camera drawing at once, and then kept it a week just as it was, exhibited it at the Academy, and mounted it some days afterwards, soaking it for backward in a straight line with the main portion of the tail. Just after the tail leaves the body are the two organs indicated, in which I could detect no structure differing from the tail proper. The anus I have indicated thus * . It is near the posterior pair of legs. Occupying the larger portion of the interior of the body is the oblong sac lettered A. I was unable by any devices to throw light through it so as to make out its structure, but believe it to represent the digestive apparatus. Extending the whole length of the body are the respiratory tubes. They were plainly visible in the head, and through- out the tail, passing to the very extremities of both pairs of appendages, and being much knotted as in- dicated near the posterior portion of the body. * I count ten claws on two feet not belonging to the same pair, and on the other fourteen feet I count nine claws, unmistakably with indications of the tenth in nearly every instance, so I think I am safe in saying ten claws to each foot. so HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Apeil 1, 1869. When I made the figure I could not distinctly make out what became of them when they reached what I call the digestive apparatus ; but my balsam treatment developed the fact that these tubes traversedlthe surface of this sac, crossing each other several times, and I have filled in the lines to in- dicate this. Mr. Warren called to see me when passing through town, and said that he saw several of these animals in dipping up the water, and that he supposed the bottle contained three or four at least, though the crustaceans were far more abundant. Mr. Warren further told me that when alive, it moved itself by jerking its tail up to its head, first on one side and then on the other, which seemed to give it great satisfaction, each jerk completing the round of its enjoyments. The colour of the animal, when alive, is a beauti- ful chestnut, and my specimen in balsam is now of a fine amber colour. I should say that a transverse section of any.'part of [the body or tail (except, of course, at the points where the legs, &c, join) would be very nearly, if not quite circular. I have already made arrangements for a search for more, when the warm weather shall come. Is not the appearance of the Artemia salina in these waters worthy of note ? No authorities within my reach refer to it as occurring in this country at all. And if, as stated by Carpenter in his Zoology, it only appears as at Lymington when the water is approaching condensation, it seems to me some in- teresting speculations at least might be developed. With, &c. S. A. Bkiggs. P. H. Gosse, Esq., Sandhurst, Torquay, England. EATS. " A B." must be rather a novice in housekeep- -£*-• ing arrangements, not to have known that rats are quite as partial to sweets as mice, and, being considerably more powerful, it is astonishing the havoc they soon make in a whole loaf of sugar, when once they find access to it. I really have been surprised at the things rats have carried off, and must confess that when I first began to "keep house" I suspected "the rats" were to take the place of " the cat " in my esta- blishment. I was living in the country in a very old house in South Wales, and I fancied I should like to make a few alterations in the larder — alter- ations that would effectually prevent " the rats " from committing further ravages. I had been reading one of Soyer's books, and took the idea from it. I had a large deal board, a table in fact without legs, suspended from the ceiling by four iron rods, meat hooks were fixed in rows all along the under side of it, on which I desired cook to hang the undressed meat, joints, poultry, &c, and on the top of it there' was ample room for any cooked meat and pastry. I also had some light movable steps made for cook to mount in order to enable her to reach this uovel safe. " Now, cook, I trust I shall hear no more of the rats." " I am sure, ma'am, I hope so too. Drat the nasty things," was the reply ; and for one entire week no losses were reported, but one Tuesday morning I found cook looking exceedingly anxious, and just as I was about to enter the larder she said — " Please, ma'am, the rats have eat the ducks Mrs. Davis brought down last night." (My cook always prefaced any little information of an unpleasant nature with "please, ma'am.") J I felt sceptical at the moment as to her having hung up the ducks, but I saw at a glance she had done so when I entered, for there were literally the hanging skeletons, and her fault had been forgetting to take away the steps. The rats must have stood on the top rail and eat the flesh off the bones, while resting on their hind feet, for the steps were not sufficiently high to have enabled them to get the ducks off the hooks. " Drat 'em, I believes they must have got on one another's shoulders to reach those ducks," ex- claimed cook. The notion of rats "giving each other a back " was rather too rich for my gravity, and cook escaped the expected lecture. Some months after this, a small parcel, containing two silk neckties and some new gloves, was missing from among other parcels on the hall table, and when, the rats having become nearly masters of the premises, ferrets were engaged and a downright war waged against them, both the silk handkerchiefs were discovered, nibbled into bits, forming part of a rat's nest under the cellar wall. Last year, when living in Hampshire, my cook there informed me that some fine greengages, which I had purchased on the previous day with the intention of making a tart, had been carried off by rats. They positively had demolished nearly a pie-dish full, there were three or four half eaten plums remaining, sufficiently bitten to point out the real delinquents. Helen E. Watney. SPOTS ON PAPER. By the Editor. IT is two or three years, at least, since some cor- respondents first forwarded us specimens of white paper with small dendritic spots upon them, and, from the first, we have felt convinced that these spots (all the same although from different persons) were inorganic. Recently the subject has been revived, and in December, 1S6S, we quoted, in reference to them, from the Gardener's Chronicle. "The spot on paper is a doubtful plant, named by Agardh and Lyngbye Conferva dendritica. It is April 1, 1869.] HAKDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. SL perhaps some chemical production, but, if not, a fungus, and not an alga.- Schumacher called it Dematium olicaceum, making it a fungus." We then added that an experienced analytic chemist had given his opinion, casually, that the spots were inorganic, and probably iron pyrites. In January, "J. T. Y." affirmed that "they are unquestionably fungoid growths," to which, in a note, we objected that we considered our correspondent far too con- fident in his opinion. Since this note appeared, another correspondent has been testing the few specimens he could obtain, and through us appealed to our readers for more. He ("A. L.") states, "I have succeeded in ascertaining that they consist of some compound of the metal copper, but what com- pound I cannot yet say (most likely the sulphide or Fig. 52. Dendritic spot. oxide), as I have not sufficient material at my dis- posal. At about the same time we received a long and ingenious speculation by "A. S.," which added no information ; and however suggestive it might be, did not give or suggest a plausible solution of the mystery; hence its publication would be useless. Those who are willing to assist "A. L." in con- firming his opinion, and in determining what com- pound of copper the crystals arc, cannot do better than forward specimens.* Another correspondent (" S. M.") has suggested a solution of the positive assertion of "J. T. Y." in the fact that fungoid spots do also occur on damp paper. He says : " Spots on paper are not always fungoid growths. They are of two or three kinds. On examining some which I noticed lately as occur- ring in a volume of Grote's Plato I was reading, I found the spots to be some form of crystallization of iron, doubtless due to some small spot or blot of printer's ink. There were two or three groups of spots, and however small, presented a feathery ap- pearance. With a two-inch object-glass, the spots * A. L., til, Buckingham Road, London, N. appeared like a piece of dark seaweed. There is always a centre or nucleus, the blot (?) from which the little branches ray out. " Curiously enough, in the very same volume the fungoid spots also occur very frequently. They are, however, minute, possessed of the refreshingly long name olMyxotrichum chartarwm (Kunze). See Annals and Magazine of Natural History, January, 1SG2, Note ou this fungus, by Arthur H. Church, B.A., Oxon, E.C.S., &c, where there arc clear details of this fungus, which 'is generally found on damp straw or paper,' and where very careful and beautiful drawings of it are given. The spots on paper of both kinds are pretty nearly cir cular, arising from the little blot forming the nucleus in the one case, and from the mode of growth of the fungus in the other. The fungus spots, however, are nearly always yellow or a deep golden brown ; the other spots are nearly black. The farmer I have noticed always pierce right through the paper, and the spores I have seen scattered and germinating on that part of the pages of the book in immediate contact with the first or mother fungus, while the other spots merely ray out on the surface like the frost on the window- pane." The appearance of this fungus on paper could hardly be confounded, even by the unaided eye, with the inorganic spots. This My.rotrichum con- sists of an agglomeration of branched threads, bear- ing near the base clusters of spores, and with the apex dark-coloured and curved, projecting beyond the entangled mass of threads. Another fungus, belonging to the same genus, was described by the Rev. M. J. Berkeley, in 1S3S, and called by him Myxotrichum defleantm. It forms little patches consisting of small downy grey balls. From these arise a number of radiating threads fur- nished with a few opposite deflexed branchlets. The sporidia are collected in patches about the base of the threads. This also is found growing on paper. Then, again, we have two other small fungi, very similar so far as external appearance goes, which flourish under like conditions. These, however, are very different in structure, ' and belong to a higher group of fungi, because the sporidia are en- closed in special membranaceous sacs or asci. One of these is called Chattomium chartarwm. The "spot" consists of a brittle thin peritheciuin, covered with bristly hairs, and containing, inter- nally, long narrow asci, in each of which are dark- coloured, lemon-shaped sporidia. The base of the perithecium appears to be attached to a dark radia- ting mycelium. The other species, first found in 183S, is Ascot richa chartartim, and is thus described : — " At first appearing under the form of a minute branched Sporotrichum, interspersed with globose brownish conidia. As it advances in growth, 82 HARDWIC.KE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [April 1, 1SG9. globose black peridia become visible among the flocci, clothed with and supported by alternately branched, obscurely jointed filaments, the branches of which generally form an acute angle with the stem. The ramification of these is very peculiar, the stem and main shaft of each subdivision being almost constantly abbreviated and surmounted by the branchlet given off near the apex ; this, again, is often abbreviated, and another branchlet given off, which again surpasses it ; and occasionally the same circumstance takes place a third time. The apices are clavate and colourless; the rest of the filaments, when viewed by transmitted light, brown, even, and pellucid; a few globose conidia are usually attached to them. The peridium is thin, black to the naked eye, of an olive-brown under the microscope, filled with a mass of linear extremely transparent asci, each containing a single row of broadly elliptic chocolate sporidia." A mould, described by Link as Oidium chartarum, may possibly be nothing more thau an early condition of one of the foregoing. There are two other moulds whicb appear on paper. One, called Stachj- botrijs atra, is usually on millboard. The threads are erect and branched, bearing heads which consist of a whorl of colourless very short brancblets, each of which bears a brown septate spore, so as io form a globose head of spores. The other is named Sporo- cybe alternata, and is greyish-black, forming little orbicular patches : it is so small as scarcely to be visible with- out a lens; the threads are almost erect, and branched in a zig-zag man- ner, each branch being slightly swolleu at the tip, and studded with oblong sporidia. I think that I have enumerated all the fungi which habitually establish themselves on paper-, some rarely, others commonly ; or at least all which belong to this country. Not long since, some paper from Burmab came into my possession, which was covered with a species of C/uetomium, described by Corda as Chcetomium Indicum, perhaps the most beautiful of all in that genus ; but this cannot be regarded as a British species, although developed after its arrival. No one who becomes- acquainted with the fungi found upon paper will, like " J. T. Y.," confound them with the dendritic spots, so long a puzzle ; now, apparently, nearer solution. The confusion which seemed to exist in the minds of some readers must be my excuse for this— rather too lechnical— communication. "TOMMY TRY." rnHE beach at Exmouth, throughout a great part -"- of its extent, is sandy, and affords a consider- able number of shells. Of these I obtained in a few days about thirty species, of which the greater part were marine, but there were one or two land and fresh -water kinds, whicb had doubtless floated down the river Exe. I noticed on the sand large numbers of Medusae, which varied from the size of a crown-piece to nine inches in diameter. These appeared to be of two species, the most common of which was of an opale- scent white, with stripes of lilac ; a second was of a smoky white, with darker marks of the same colour. I was anxious to take home some of these, but on handling them I received a sting similar to that from a nettle. I afterwards heard that a species of this class is called the " sea-nettle." I avenged myself Fig. 5:f. Auriculated aurelia {AtateUa aitrita). for the sting by afterwards chopping up many of these animals with my spade. The rocks further down the river afforded nume- rous limpets — Patella vulgata and P. pellucida ; the dog-whelk, Purpura laplllus ; and a peculiar species of alga?, which, although truly cryptogamic, bad somewhat the appearance of the grass wrck, Zostera marina. This plant reminded me of some weed which had been brought home by a sea captain from the Bahama banks, and was believed by him to be the same as the' floating marine plants which served to assure the mutinous crew of Columbus of the existence of land in that part of the world. It met Apkil 1, 1869.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 83 him at the gates of the New "World, to strew his path, as it were, with flowers of the ocean, to hail the triumph of its conqueror and its king. This simple weed opened to me a new domain — the vast world of chemistry. I put some of the weed in a bottle of fresh water, to compare it with that brought from the West Indies. It had been there about a fortnight, when I noticed a great change in the water, from a colourless state to a hyacinthine violet, resembling the modern magenta; and I have since thought that a reaction had takeu place similar to that which occurs during the formation of a litmus, cudbear, or archil. My female friends at once exclaimed that I had rediscovered the purple of Tyre. I dipped dolls' clothes of different materials in the dye, to which I added a small proportion of soda and alum; calico which I stained with it appeared of a bright purple- red colour, which it retained for years. — From " Tommy Try," by C. 0. Groom Napier. EPISTYLIS. HAVE found the species of Epistylis here -*- figured of frequent occurrence upon Cyclops quadricornis ; upon which it multiplies to so great an extent as materially to interfere with its progress through the water, appearing to the naked eye as a little cloudy mass about the Cyclops. It consists of a great number of vorticella-like bodies attached to a many-branched transparent pedicle. The indivi- dual animals are frequently so crowded, and in such constant motion, that it is difficult to make out their structure. In the figure only a few are repre- sented, for the sake of clearness. As in Vorticella, a fringe of cilia surrounds their mouths, the course of which on one side is bent into a little hollow, out of which such things as the animal rejects as unfit for food are driven by the strong current produced by the action of the cilia. Those things which are selected for food (with a rapidity of choice which is exceedingly wonderful) are gathered into a vacant place immediately below the mouth (e), from which they quickly pass into other parts of the body, and are gradually dissolved and absorbed. Wrhen they are fed with indigo or lake, the particles are greedily devoured, and appear as very dark blue or bright red fusiform spots in the body. When the animal is disturbed, the fringe of cilia is withdrawn into the body (b, d), but it is quickly protruded again, the lip, as it were, turning back in order to allow the ciliary motion to proceed without hinderance. The integument of the body is striped with very minute transverse wrinkles, but this structure can only be well seen when the creature is sufficiently still to allow of careful focussing, or happens to come exactly into focus. The body contains granular matter and a vacuole, as in Vorticella, which occurs a little below the mouth, and which appears and disappears with a certain amount of regularity. It is a question whether this disappearance arises from the motion of the animal, by which the vacuole is thrown out of focus, or whether it results from the closing to- gether of the sides of the vacuole. It seems to me that the disappearance arises from thellatter cause ; for when the vacuole has disappeared, no change of focus will cause it to reappear ; which, of course, would occur if the vacuole were there. And when the vacuole is in sight, and the focus is altered, it does not disappear, but remains as a blurred spot. It appears to me that the edges close together, for the definition remains sharp up to the moment of disappearance. Fig. 54. Epistylis, x 23S. The individual animals are readily detached from the pedicle (/, g), and swim about by means of their cilia, seeking some unfortunate Cyclops upon which to settle and found a new colony. Single animals occur attached to such ; aud it is apparently by the longitudinal division of the body and a portion of the pedicle, that the one animal becomes at length a large colony. In one of the animals when free I have noticed a peculiar spiral formation or nucleus (/). They occur in the Podophrya stage (fig. li), a condition of still life through which many of the family of Vorticellina seem to pass. J. S. Tute. £4 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Aran, 1, 18G9. A NEW INSECT PROM CEYLON. THIS new and very interesting kemipterous in- sect, to which I have given the name of Tingis hystricellus, was discovered in Ceylon and collected from the Bringall plant by Mr. Staniforth Green, a gentleman long resident in that island. All the species of the genus to which it belongs are small, but the present species is exceedingly minute ; the largest of the specimens I have yet seen scarcely attaining to i of an inch in length. When examined, however, in the microscope, it is an elegant insect, and, properly mounted as an opaque object, it makes a fine binocular slide for the low powers. of the genus may therefore well be called " world- wide." The character which at once distinguishes the Tingis hystricellus from all other known species of the genus, is the complete armature of spines, which project from various parts of the head, thorax, and elytra. Each of these spines, when examined by a somewhat higher power, is found to have a sharp point or seta, projecting as from the open end of an investing sheath. The integument of the elytra, as well as that composing the dorsal surface of the thorax, appears like a thin membrane nearly as transparent as glass, supported by a strong reticulation bearing the spines, which radiate in every direction. The metathorax //€*L ^>0 Fig. 55. Tingis hystricellus, x 20. Ventral and dorsal aspect. Very little appears at present to be known with respect to its habits and economy. Mr. S. Green says :— "It is common here, and hundreds of examples may be found upon a single plant. Those I now enclose were dried between the. leaves of a book, and afterwards exposed for a couple of hours to the direct rays of a hot sun. All I can say of its habits is that it sticks close to the under side of the Bringall leaf, and there undergoes all its changes, from the larval to the perfect state. The larva; are black." Tingis is a genus of Pabricus, described in the " Systema Rhyngotorum" (p. 124). Various species of Tingis are found nearly all over the world. In the cabinet of the British Museum may be seen specimens from England and Prance, some of them nearly as small as the species -here figured; as well as several from Africa, North America, and the Philippine Islands. Other species are found in Sweden, and in fact all over Europe. A large num- ber inhabit South America, and four or five have been taken in the island of Ceylon. The distribution extends far backwards, simulating, as it does in many allied genera, a large pointed scutellum. The pupa is exceedingly interesting, being of a dark brown colom-, and covered with white spines : those along the sides of the abdomen are compound or branched, and each branch has a projecting seta. These compound spines are not found on the imago. Some of the species in the cabinet of the British Museum are very beautiful, not only in form, but in colour. They all show a tendency to a reticulated structure of the elytra; but the present species differs from all of them in the quantity of spines bristling over the dorsal surface. It is, in fact, a little insect porcupine, and fully justifies the specific name of hystricellus. I believe that mounted specimens of these insects are, or will be shortly, to be procured of Mr. Baker, in High Holborn. Por the opportunity of figuring and naming this pretty species of Tingis, I have to thank Mr. Curties, P.R.M.S., who has kindly placed his specimens at my disposal. Kensington. II. C. Richter. Afril 1, 1869.] HARDWICKE'S SCIEN CE-GO S SIP. 85 THE HERON. (Ardea cinerea.) A S we traverse the marsh, with dog and gun, in -*-*- pursuit of snipe, we may almost depend upon seeing a Heron, but seldom indeed can we get near enough to take a good look at him ; his long neck and equally long legs enable him to keep such j, sharp look-out, that on the least approach of much tact and exertion to approach a Heron, as to stalk a deer, but should you succeed in getting near him unperceivedly, you will be amply repaid in observing his movements, and may finally bring him to bag, and study him at table with lemon and cayenne. We speak from experience. We have made many a successful stalk, and can confidently state that a young Heron, nicely roasted, with the adjuncts Eig. 50. The Herox. danger, he unfolds his broad wings, and first flapping for some yards along the ground, he rises slowly into the air, and sails away to a safer haunt. But should you detect him at a distance before he sees you, there is a chance of your being able to •stalk him, especially should he happen to be in the bed of a river, or stream. It will often require as above named, forms a dish by no means to be despised. . On most parts of the coast the Heron may be seen at low-water, fishing in the little pools which have been left by the receding tide : here he finds crabs, shrimps, and other delicacies ; but instead of being sociable, Hkc the gulls, and redshanks, and so HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [April 1, 1S69. inviting a friend to join him at dinner, be goes to his own particular pool, like an old gourmand to his club, and keeps the best of everything to himself. We have watched him on the rocky weed-covered shore of Northumberland, on the shining sands of Lancashire, and on the dreary mud-flats of the Sussex harbours, and have found him always the same ; shy and suspicious, even where seldom disturbed, he seems to have a wonderful eye to danger, and we almost believe can distinguish a gun from a stick or an umbrella. Now and then upon a rocky coast, we have stalked him under cover of a friendly boulder, and while our heart beat loud with the rapid exertion and excitement, we have shot him just as he had detected our head above the rock. And what a triumph have we felt in standing over his prostrate form, and smoothing his expansive wings, feeling in that moment a sufficient reward for having crawled on hands and knees, perhaps three hundred yards of treacherous ground, slipping over sea-weed, and through salt-water pools. But it was never thus on the mud flats ; there no friendly barrier intervened to screen our approach, and we could only advance near enough to be just out of shot, when the large wings were unfolded, and we were left to stand and gaze wistfully after the coveted prize. Now and then at early dawn, we have come suddenly upon a Heron while busily employed under the steep bank of a brook, and have thus been enabled to knock him down with snipe shot before he could get out of range. It was ludicrous to observe the surprise of the bird when he first became aware of our presence, and with a hoarse croak clumsily endeavoured to get away. On one occasion, accompanied by a red setter, we were stalking a Heron, when the dog, over-anxious, ran forward and attracted the attention of the bird, which immediately took wing ; instead of flying away, however, he hovered over the dog, looking down at him nke a hawk. We crouched down and gave a low whistle, and the dog coming back, actually brought up the Heron within shot, when we fired and killed him. The bird seemed to follow every movement of the dog, and was so intently eying him, that he never saw us until the gun was raised ; he then turned at once to make off, but too late. On the coast, the Heron feeds at low water during the day, and in unfrequented marshes he may also be caught fishing in broad daylight ; but when compelled to get his living at reservoirs, ponds, and rivers, which are oftencr visited by his enemy, man, he prefers to come just before day- break or after dusk. In autumn, when the brooks run dry, we have frequently noticed the impressions of his long toes, visible for miles on the soft mud, showing the great extent of ground traversed in his patient search for food. Pish, frogs, mussels, and even water-rats, are all included in the Heron's bill of fare. He will take young water-fowl too from the nest, and after pinching them all over in his formidable bill, and holding them under water till they have become well saturated, he throws up his head, opens his mandibles, and the " Moorhen souche " disappears. Some years ago we paid a visit in the month of May to a certain reservoir in Yorkshire, where the Pochard {Anas ferina) was known to have bred, our object being to ascertain whether this duck was then nesting there, and to learn what other fowl were on the water. We might say a good deal of that pleasant excursion, but must confine our attention for the present to the Heron. At one end of the reservoir is, or was, a thick bed of willows, extend- ing out some distance from the shore. The water at this spot is shallow, with a muddy bottom. Coots and Moorhens were numerous and noisy, swimming about amongst the willows, and collect- ing materials for their nests. We lay upon the grass at the edge of the water, peering quietly through the willows, and learnt a good deal of the private life of these water-fowl. While we were gazing, a Heron, which must have flown unuoticed up the water, dropped suddenly in the shallow, within twenty yards of our ambush. Here was an opportunity for observation : scarcely venturing to breathe, Ave watched with interest every motion of the great grey bird. His long black crest and pendent breast feathers showed him to be fully adult, and we thought at the time we had seldom seen a Heron in finer plumage. With head and neck erect, he took a cautious glance all round, as if to satisfy himself that he was unobserved, and apparently assured, he then looked down at the water ; for some minutes he never altered his position, till at length, bending slowly and gracefully forward, he suddenly struck the water with his bill, and recovered a small fish. A pinch, a toss of the head, and it had disappeared down his throat. He then drew himself together with apparent satisfac- tion, wiped his bill upon his long breast plumes, and, slightly altering his position, prepared, as an angler would say, to make another " cast." At this moment we incautiously moved a little to one side to avoid a willow bough and obtain a better view, when his quick eye instautly detected the move- ment, and in another second he was flying down the water in the direction whence he had come. There are few sights more gratifying to a natu- ralist than a heronry. We have had the privilege of visiting three : one at Walton Hall, Yorkshire, the scat of the late Charles Waterton ; one at Mdton, near Peterborough, belonging to the Hon. George Pitzwilliam ; and one at Wanstead, the property of Lord Cowley. Did space permit, we might give a detailed and interesting account of all we saw on these occasions, but we can do no more than offer a April 1, 1869.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE GOSSIP. S7 few brief remarks on the general appearance and situation of the heronry last named. The date of our visit was the oth of April, and the birds were then sitting on their eggs. The Heron is one of the few waders which resort to a tree for the purpose of nidification, and a stranger sight than a number of these great birds perched at the top of a lofty elm, can scarcely be imagined. Twenty years ago, the Herons at Wanstead Park tenanted some trees at a different spot to that which they now frequent. At present they occupy some tall elms upon an island in the largest piece of water in the park. The keeper informed us that there were about thirty pairs. We proceeded to the boat- house, and after bailing out the boat which was nearly full of water, steered for the Herons' island. A good glass enabled us to see the birds very clearly, and most of them were in splendid plumage. The nests were placed at the very tops of the trees, and many of them were occupied by a sitting bird. Here and there a Heron stood erect upon a bough, with head and neck drawn in, looking for all the world like a cold sentinel, with his bayonet between his teeth, and his hands in his trousers' pockets. As we approached the island several loud croaks were heard, and the sentinels took wing, the sitting birds being the last to leave. Taking it for granted that the bird which sat the longest was the most likely to have eggs, we selected a tree from which a Heron flew as we reached it. It was a wych-elm about forty feet high, and the nest was placed amongst the topmost branches. After a fatiguing climb, owing to the absence of boughs for a considerable distance, we reached the top, and paused to rest before looking into the nest. And now was the anxious moment. Were our exertions in vain ? Was the nest empty, or were we to be rewarded with the sight of eggs ? The nest was large enough to sit in, composed ex- ternally of large twigs, chiefly elm and willow, and lined with smaller twigs, fibre and dry grass. It overhung our head to some extent, so that we were obliged to pull away a portion of the side before we could see into it, when, to our delight, four beautiful eggs were displayed, their bright bluish- green colour contrasting well with the dark fibre on which they were laid. The wind blew in gusts, and it was no easy mat- ter to get them down safely ; but at length we succeeded in getting them into our handkerchief, and holding the ends together in our mouth, brought them down without a crack. They were consider- ably incubated, showing that they had probably been laid about the end of the third week in March. The Heron, indeed, is one of the earliest birds to breed. The young, when first hatched, present a very remarkable appearance, and are fed by their parents for a long time before they can shift for themselves. A friend once kept a Heron on his lawn, and a very amusing bird he was. When first captured, he was very sulky, and refused all food. Pearing he would starve, the owner forced some fish down the bird's throat, but the next moment saw it re- turned upon the grass. The process was repeated with the same result, and a third time my friend endeavoured ineffectually to overcome the obstinacy of his captive. At length, reflecting how the Chinese treat their trained Cormorants, by fastening a strap round the neck to prevent the fish from going doicn, he tied a piece of tape round the Heron's neck, to prevent the fish, in this case, from coming vp. The experiment was perfectly success- ful, and the bird finding it impossible to disgorge, at length abandoned the attempt, and subsequently fed himself. Pish were placed for him in a fountain on the lawn, and he evinced great delight in taking them from the water. One day a rat was observed helping himself to the Heron's food. The rightful owner caught him in the act, and with one blow of his formidable lull felled him to the ground. Seizing him, then, before he could recover, he carried him squeaking to the fountain and ducked him. After shaking him well under water, he held him up for examination. The rat spluttered and squeaked in abject terror,.and again was he submerged. The dose was repeated, until the unfortunate rat at length succumbed, and being by this time nice and tender, the Heron pouched him, and his then elon- gated form was seen distending the thin skin of the bird's neck in its passage downwards, until it finally disappeared for ever. J. E. Harting. DRAWING PHOM THE MICROSCOPE. THE difficulty experienced by all microscopists of delineating upon paper, with accuracy, the varied objects placed under the instruments, is only partially overcome after many years' tedious practice and observation. The well-known and long-tried Dr. Wollaston's prism, and the neutral- tint glasses, although having many objections, have still retained their position as mediums for drawing : the difficulty always is, being- unable to see the point of the pencil. When I say always, I mean a person who is about to make, perhaps his first drawing, not those whose eye is tutored with years of experience ; although we know that it is not certainty with them. The outline being followed, and drawn with tolerable accuracy, the fine and delicate detail must be filled in by observation, from the instrument, as every microscopist is aware. Suggestions and appliances have from time to time been devised, whereby the object may be followed on tracing- paper from greyed glass. So far so good ; but every ss HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GO SSIP. [April 1, 1869. one is aware a drawing looks very objectionable when finished upon tracing-paper : further, there is a considerable loss of light in passing through the medium or paper. What we require is, in being- able to draw upon a piece of card or Bristol board. To this cud I have made many experiments, and the most successful and (I may be pardoned for adding) very satisfactory aud simple means I beg to place before your readers. I enclose a rough sketch to simplify the description. A is a ring containing two mirrors, milled head B, aud clamp it by the tightening screw. By using the flat mirror you obtain brightly illumin- ated and full of detail, ou your card or paper a view the same size as presented by the microscope ; but by using the concave mirror you obtain a much larger picture, without, of course, altering your ob- jectives, and by raising your instrument a little (of course altering the light at the same time) you rapidly enlarge your diagram. I hope this little appliance may be of some service in that most difficult of all drawing (microscopical) ; Fig. 57. Drawing Apparatus. one a concave of about G-inch focus, the other a flat one. B is a small milled head to regulate the angle of rays : on the opposite centre there is a little larger milled nut, whicli clamps the mirror tight to the arms C. D is an ordinary clip, lined with cloth to prevent scratching the lacquer, with a milled bead E, to clip it tight to the body of microscope F. G represents the card or paper for drawing upon. To use this apparatus proceed thus : — 1st. Place the microscope in a horizontal position ; direct the rays of light from a Bockctt or other lamp, carefully ex- cluding all rays not concentrated upon the mirror, or, in other words, concentrate all the rays you can from your lamp on to the concave reflector, so as to illuminate as powerfully as you can. 2nd. Take out the eyepiece and slip the clip Don to the body; do not tighten the clamp E until the eyepiece is in, as it will help to support the pressure exerted on the tube, as many instruments have rather thin bodies. 3rd. Set the angle of the mirror by the aud should any of your numerous readers require further instruction, it will be cheerfully given by your constant subscriber, W. SCANTLEBURY. Microspores.— I have found the macrospores spoken of by E. W. Binney at the meeting of the Manchester Philosophical Society, January 26th, 1869, in shale from above the Low Main scam of coal at Cramlington, Northumberland. They are flattened and disc-like in appearance, and in one or two instances the triangular markings arc seen the same as in the microspores of Lcpidostrobus. ]na section of Lepidostrobus now in my cabinet the tri- angular markings on the microspores are well shown in some, and in others the spores are seen breaking up at the triangular marking into sporules. Whe- ther the macrospores break up in the same way or not I think has yet to be determined.— John Butter- worth. April 1, 1S69.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. SO ZOOLOGY. Cynips aptera— At the meeting of the Ento- mological Society (February 1st) Mr. F. Smith stated that he had on one occasion found a mass of barnacle-shaped galls on the bole of an oak in Bishop's Wood, Hampstead, from which a number of specimens of a wingless Q/nips had been produced, which could not be distinguished from Q/nips aptera, reared from the currant-like galls on the rootlets of the same tree.— Gard. Chron. Daddy Longlegs again.— For the last week or two the Hackney Downs have presented a singular appearance from an eruption of the brown larvae of Tipula oleracea, which have " wriggled " out of the turf in myriads, and, swarming on the paths, have been crushed to death in thousands by the passers by. They are especially numerous around the lamp-posts, lying in strata quite an inch in thick- ness, the dead and dying masses of larvae affording by no means an agreeable spectacle. Immense numbers of the perfect insect occurred on the Downs and other open fields in this neighbourhood last autumn, as was humorously recorded by " S. B. J. S." in the November number of Science- Gossip. The ugly little animals, now so prematurely making their debut, are doubtless the unfortunate descendants of that long-legged host, whose light- seeking propensities will perhaps account for the masses of their bairns at the -lamps ; although, the ground there being gravelled and quite destitute of grass or roots, it is somewhat difficult to conceive how they found sustenance, unless, indeed, the passion of their race for enlightenment is developed so strongly in the adolescent " daddies " as to impel them to quit their burrows in the turf and seek it even on the paths of death. A considerable number of a species of coleopterous larva accom- pany the tipulse. — W. Cole, Clapton. The Moa or Dinornis.— Two very valuable ad- ditions have recently been made to the museum of the Natural History Society in Newcastle-on-Tyne. One is an almost complete specimen of Binornis casuarinus, and an almost perfect leg, foot, and pelvis of a larger species, Binornis robustus. The former bird stands a height of upwards of five feet, and the leg of the latter is more than five feet in height, and must have belonged to a bird of not less height than ten feet. The bones which when united form the specimen of B. casuarinus do not belong to one bird, but have been gathered and classified from a large miscellaneous collection of Dinornis bones received from New Zealand, and presented to the museum at various times by Mrs. Dodd, Captain Collinson, and Captain Llyte. Skeletons of six species of Dinornis are exhibited in the Can- terbury Museum, New Zealand ; one or more speci- mens of Dinornis are exhibited in the British Museum; a very fine specimen is, I believe, exhibited in the York Museum ; and, so far as I know, no other provincial museum, except ours in Newcastle, possesses a complete specimen of this reputedly extinct gigantic bird, the New Zealand Moa. The bones of the Newcastle specimen are in a tolerably good condition of preservation, but, owing to their having lain for a considerable period in swampy marshy localities, they are somewhat friable, and require great care and skill in fitting up the skeleton, to avoid the breaking or seriously damaging the bones. Mr. J. Hancock, with his usual skill, has accomplished a very difficult self-imposed task, and deserves credit for his patience and skill. — T. P. Barkas, Newcastle-on-Tyne. Parrakeet Breeding. — A lady with whom I am acquainted had two pairs of the small Australian ground or warbling parrakeets {Psittac'uhe) brought over by her son last year. Towards the end of the year one pair became very restless ; she therefore put in the corner of their cage the outside case of a cocoa-nut, with a small aperture for them to enter, and, on looking into it some days after, to her agree- able surprise, she found two bluish-white eggs had been laid. The hen bird sat on the eggs very closely for some days until a young parrakeet made its appearance, much to the joy of its parents. It is now about a month old, and is in perfect health. The plumage is the same as the full-grown birds, but not so brilliant. The remaining egg was addled, and the old birds ejected it from the nest.— E. B. Burton. Nesting of the Lesser Bedpole. — Yarrell gives Halifax as the southern limit of the lesser redpole in the breeding season. This, however, would seem to be an incorrect statement, for even in that writer's time Mr. Woileyhad found the bird breeding anuually in Nottinghamshire. Since that time nests have been found in Derbyshire, Stafford- shire, and (as it is reported) in more southern coun- ties. Perhaps some of your ornithological readers may feel interested in the testimony which I can give as to the lesser redpole breeding in Leices- tershire. Some time ago, when on a nesting excur- sion with my friend Mr. W. Theed, of Carlisle, I found a nest of the lesser redpole, placed in a thorn hedge, on land belonging to Mr. Kirby, of Humb'erstone, in Leicestershire, within a few feet of the frequented bridle-path leading from that village to Barkby. There was little, if any, attempt on the part of the bird to seclude its nest ; for, although well matted in by thorn on the hedgeside, it was glaringly conspicuous to even the casual stroller along the field, if near the hedge. Moreover, I failed to perceive the elegance of structure which is apparent in the usual architecture of this bird in the nest in question, the chief materials employed 90 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [April 1, 1869. being moss, and dry grass of many degrees of fine- ness : it was extravagantly lined with the catkins of the willow. Besides this profuse lining, I detected what appeared to me to be the down of the colts- foot, but on this point I will not entirely pledge myself. This nest contained four eggs in the second week of June. I feel myself quite justified in being very strongly convinced that the lesser redpole is by no means an uncommon breeder in Leicester- shire, or indeed throughout the entire Midland district, for I have often met with it in May and June, in various parts of the county. There can be no mistaking it at sight, for ere many minutes it betrays itself to the observer by its tit-like evolu- tions. In the winter they will come with the siskins. I have met with both species, the latter sometimes in flocks, at Rothley, Stretton, and Enderby, in Leicestershire, always in the vicinity of stunted trees. — Edward Peterson. Sand Lizard. — Many naturalists (Mr. Wood amongst others) speak of the impossibility of keeping these little creatures in captivity. It may be interesting to them to learn that Mrs. King, the wife of the well-known Mr. King, in the Portland Road, has not only kept adult sand lizards all the winter, feeding them on raw beef, but has even succeeded in making them breed: she had some babies of this species in her possession a few days ago, fed on milk, and as lively as possible. — F. L. H. Voracity of Sea Anemone. — Dr. Johnston tells us (Brit. Zooph.) of a crass (Tealia crassi- cornis) that swallowed a valve of the great scallop. This extensive mouthful was, however, quite equalled by one I witnessed a few days ago. A crass, about 2 A inches in diameter, was found with two mussels half in and half out of its rapacious maw. The mussels were nearly three inches in length, and were standing upright in the mouth of the crass. The sharp angles of the molluscs did not appear to inconvenience it in the least : the only difficulty seemed to be the stowing away of two creatures three inches long in a cavity that could not at its greatest elongation measure more than two.— F. W., Tenby. The Badger and Otter. — Badgers are still to be met with, though rarely, in Buckinghamshire. One taken in this county was recorded in Science- Gossip, I., 87. Three or four years ago a female badger and four young ones were dug out, with considerable difficulty, near Fingest ; and last year one was captured at Naphill, near High Wycombe. An account of one taken at Oxford will be found in the Field of Feb. Gth. A female otter, three feet in length, and weighing 15. \ lb., was shot on an islet in the Thames, near White Place, Cookham, Berks, on the 10th of August, 18G8 : her four young ones were destroyed at the same time. See Quarterly Magazine of High Wycombe Nat. Hist. Soc., II., 48. — James Britten. Helix lamellata. — This tiny snail is a rare inhabitant of woods hereabouts. Thompson in his " Natural History of Ireland " mentions two locali- ties, each of which is about four miles distant from Belfast. The shell is a real sylvan gem, that well rewards the patient collector for his persevering toil. Urged by an ardent zeal that must stand for our excuse, I was, in company with a friend, one afternoon trespassing in a wood, despite the warning intimation " Trespassers Prosecuted." My friend had succeeded in finding three specimens of Helix lamellata, when lo there appeared on the scene the dreaded gamekeeper, or caretaker, and his attendant dog ! The man was civil, however, as indeed I generally find such men to be when they meet with naturalists poaching on their domains. He was curious to see what it was for which we were making such careful search : by the help of a pocket lens, my friend delighted him, by showing what a charming little beauty of a shell tenanted his woods, and we got off with the conviction that the grounds were not guarded by a churl, who would be very severe on us if caught again inside the fence. But my object iu mentioning H. lamellata was to encourage collectors who may feel disheart- ened by repeated unsuccessful attempts to find shells that they are in quest of. I had searched for this shell in its two local habitats not less than nine or ten times, and secured in all only three specimens ; however, being in Colin Glen one day early in the present month (March), I made another effort to find this Helix. The second leaf I lifted yielded a shell, and then near three hours were spent without rising from this spot. The result was sixty-five specimens captured, before the approach of evening put an end to the search ; but the shells were by no means exhausted ; the number could have been doubled, had time permitted. Thompson mentions taking twenty-one specimens on one occasion iu this same glen. Helix lamellata was the dominant form in this productive heap of beech- leaves ; the associated species were H. fulca, II. 2)ygmea, Vertigo edentula, some Zonites, and Cary- chium minimum, but none of these species was abundant. I think it is likely that much labour is thrown away looking for shells at the wrong time, and that there is for each species a season and weather, when it is out iu greater force than usual. — S. A. Stewart, Belfast. Wren's Nest at Christmas. — The Brighton Examiner notes the fact of a wren having built her nest at Beeding, Sussex : the bird commenced feathering it on Christmas day, and now (Jan. 2Gth) there are several eggs laid. — D. C. Bate. April 1, 1869.] HAEDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 91 BOTANY. Winter Mushroom. — While Mr. Leeming, of Casterton, Westmoreland, was out this morning (Wednesday, February 17th), looking after bis stock, he found in a meadow two mushrooms, each about six inches in circumference; and in point of flavour, they were, I can affirm from actual experience, equal to any I tasted last year, when they were so prolific. — S. Morris. Capsella bursa -pastoris. — The plants usually united under this name seem to vary very greatly from one another, irrespective of soil or situation. The undersigned, who has been investigating tbis variation for a year or two back, would esteem it a favour if local botanists would kindly forward him specimens of the forms existing in their locali- ties for examination and comparison. The speci- mens may be either fresh or dried, but should as far as possible have fully formed seed-pouches, and should be gathered with the roots attached. British or continental specimens will equally oblige. — Charles P. Hobkirk, Honoria-street, Huddersfielcl. Potentilla. — There are several British species of this genus, some of them exceedingly pretty. The P.fragariastrum, for example, with its small white flowers, always attracts my eye, they look so like the wild strawberry bloom, and, as they appear in our hedgerows early in spring, I have often known children mistake them for the latter, exclaiming, "Oh, don't pick those, or we shall not have any wild strawberries." Then comes the " silver-weed," Potentilla anserisna, a roadside plant with yellow flowers and pinnate leaves, the leaves being easily distinguished by a soft white down which grows on them. Another member is the P.fruticosa, a rather rare northern flower, with yellow blossoms and piu- nate leaves. The flowers of this species are not so large as those of the P. anserisna, and the plant is partial to shaded spots ; is found mostly in bushy places. The cultivated kinds of Potentilla are so well known that they need no description here, and the P. reptans and the P.formentilla have already been noticed. I somehow fancy the flowers of the latter are smaller than those of the P. reptans, but as I am a very humble botanist, I will not presume to differ from W. Holland in regard to the difficulty of distinguishing between the two species in ques- tion, or venture to affirm that they are not the same under different aspects, soil, &c, &c. — Helen B. Watney. Scolopendrium ceterach.— This plant was used as a bait for cod, just as a piece of red cloth is. Its under side is of a bright brown colour, and a little glossy, which makes it still more conspicuous when used as a bait. It is merely stuck firmly on to a hook and dragged after a boat, or sunk in deep water. It is no doubt mistaken by the fish for the sandworm which a good long frond carefully arranged on the hook somewhat resembles. — H. W. Cochlearia oieicinalis is rather biennial than annual. It sheds its seed early in the summer, and the seedlings grow to a considerable size by the autumn, and flower the following spring. It might possibly under cultivation, and sown in the early spring, arrive at maturity within the year, but its habit in the wild state is such as I have detailed it. The Cochlearia Danica, which is, perhaps, only a variety of the former, is smaller, but thicker and more succulent in the leaf, and more pungent to the taste, and would, I think, be the best plant to cultivate for the table. — H. W. Scurvy-grass {Cochlearia officinalis) is, as far as my observations extend (and I have now been living close to the seaside for the last two years), a peren- nial, and I therefore must beg to differ from Helen E. Watney as to her statement that it is certainly an annual. — Samuel A. Brenan, Vicar of Cushcndun. The Shamrock.— In answer to "S. A. S.," Bel- fast, respecting what kind of trefoil is used by the Irish, I have always found Trifolium mimes the one preferred, and not Trifolium repens, as aiiy black spot on the leaves is considered by the lower orders as a blemish. This I have observed in co. Dublin, Wicklow, Meath, Westmeath, Louth, Fermanagh, and this part of Antrim. — Samuel A. Brenan, Cushendun. Sundew. — Withering (Botany, ed. III. 1796) states that his friends, Messrs. Whately and Gardom, witnessed the leaf of Drosera anglica curl over so as to enclose a fly, which had been previously entangled in the glandular hairs ; the more distant hairs bending towards the victim to hold it more tightly. Both (quoted by Withering) saw the same occurrence in Germany. Latterly an American entomologist gives an account of a like kind, in the American Naturalist. Will any entomological or botanical reader say whether he can confirm this singular phenomenon ? Drosera (Sundew) is so nearly related to Bioncea muscipnla (Venus' s Ply-trap) that such a faculty is very possible. I never saw it myself, and Withering says that he failed in his experiments. — W. W. Spicer, lichen Abbas. Botanical Allusion in Tennyson.— Tennyson, in the first stanza of the 111th section of " In Me- moriam," writes thus of the spring time : — " Now fades the last long streak of snow, Now burgeons every maze of quick, About the flowering squares and thick By ashen roots the violets blow." Our laureate is usually accurate in all that he says about nature, and I should like to know, whether violets do occur more frequently under the shade of the ash than elsewhere.—/. B. S. C. 92 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [April 1, 1SC9. MICROSCOPY. Pleurosigma hippocampus. — The habitat of this diatom is " marine or brackish water." I have never found it in fresh water, and am not aware of any authority for its being so found. In Pritchard's " Infusoria " it is described as marine ; in Smith's " Synopsis " as of brackish water ; in Kutzing's "Bacillarien" the locality given is the Baltic; Rabenhorst (" Die Siisswasser Diatomaceen ") says that it (Gyrosigma hippocampus) is properly marine, but is found throughout Italy, Sicily, and the neigh- bouring islands along the coast in shallow water and brackish puddles [lialbsahigen pfiitzen) ; the "Mi orographic Dictionary" says mariue or brackish water. Will Mr. Kitton be good enough to say in which of the British so-called fossil earths this diatom may be found ? The inaccuracies (Science- Gossip, 1867, p. 133) pointed out by your corre- spondent Mr. Warner were noted by me at the time in my copy of the Gossip; his corrections are right except as to fig. 142. Pigs. 142 and 143 are both representations, evidently copied from Smith's " Synopsis," of Pin. stauroneiformis (S.), which I have sometimes found to vary much both in outline and absence or presence of central coste.— H. B. If Mr. Warner refers to the "Synopsis" he will find Pleurosigma hippocampus stated to be a brackish- water form. Pritchard's book states it to be a marine form, but refers to Rabenhorst's "Siisswasser Diatomaceen." I have found it in gatherings from Horning, Ormesby, Heigham — all fresh -water localities. It is probably like Navicula amphisbecua, and grows equally in fresh and brackish water. The references to the figures are, of course, wrong. Pimmlaria stauroneiformis = figs. 142 and 143 ; Pinnuktria divergens = fig. 144; Pimmlaria acro- asphari={\g. 141. It is a mistake to put much stress on the habitats of diatoms. I have Terpsinoe musica from barnacles scraped from a ship's bottom, and also from a fresh-water stream in the Mauritius : in both cases it grew luxuriantly. Cyclotella punctata is found in very brackish water, and also in water without a trace of salt; indeed, specimens I have are from perfectly fresh water. Cyclotella Kutzingiana is found under precisely the same conditions. See Dr. Arnott's paper in the Microscopical Journal on " What are Marine Diatoms?"— J. Kitton. Pine Pollen.— The common pine here is, I believe, Finns pinaster, which produces a vast amount of pollen, and which, with the flower scales, are pretty objects; the outer scales covering the flower are also interesting with low power. Some years ago the south wind brought quantities of pine pollen from the forests, and which was arrested by the rain-water standing in pools in the streets, and caused among many people no slight alarm, as they imagined there had been a fall of sulphur, and wondered what might crop up next.— G. S., Oporto. Anatomy op the Fly. — A treatise on the Anatomy and Physiology of the Blow-fly, illustrated with eight coloured plates, is announced by Mr. B. T. Lowne ; and, from what we have seen of it, this treatise promises to be an acquisition to micro- scopical science. VoRTiCELLiE, or Bell Infusoria.— Among the most common and yet most interesting of the In- fusoria are the Vorticellse, or bell animalcules. 1 have examined a great number of specimens of the Vorticella microstoma from the water in which hyacinth bulbs have been growing. They consist. of a bell-shaped body attached to a thread-like muscular stalk, which anchors them to some con- ferva or unicellular growth. On being alarmed, the thread contracts into a spiral, and the ridges of the bell close over the mouth in an instant, making everything snug. A dark pith may be noticed run- ning down the stalk. This Ehrenberg takes for a muscular fibre, but M. Dujardin, who seems as a natural consequence to combat Ehrenberg's views,, supposes the outer layer to consist of contractile tissue. The row of cilia inside the bell keep up constantly a double whirlpool, causing two tides as it were to flow into the mouth of the bell, bringing the various spores or green granular matter always present in the water into the mouth of the bell, rejecting most of them again by what seems to be- an anal aperture situated in the cell-wall above the ridge of the bell. I again and again observed some of these green granules slipped into the substance- of the body, and gradually assimilated with it. This is more easily observed on mixing a drop of water coloured with carmine-lake, the granules being red, and the stream out of the exit aperture coming out like smoke from a chimney, discolouring the water for a considerable distance. The manner in which these animalcules multiply is very interesting. The body, at first rather elongated, taking the oval in- stead of the circular form, gradually the oval divides,, and, taking the form of two circles pressed together, these gradually separate, the bell opens, lateral cilia appear on the sides of Vorticella;, and finally it separates altogether and swims off to hang on its own hook, or rather its own thread. I certainly observed nothing in the way of an alimentary caual, and many of the nuclei appeared to me to be nothing but the granules present in the water, and taken in the body as nourishment. I observed other nuclei of more regular appearance brought out distinctly by the carmine, and which separated at the division of the body, and they seem probably to be nuclei or germs of the separated animalcule. As this is the season of the year when the Infusoria can be so easily obtained, they should be examined by all able to do so, and as much light as possible thrown upon their somewhat obscure organizations.—//. Ashby, Port low, co. Waterford. April 1, 18G9.J HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 9:5 NOTES AND QUERIES. Fruit of the Hawthorn. — The word cat-haws, inquired about in Science-Gossip, p. 70, is evidently allied to cat-kin, the diminutive of cat : it is applied to the pendulous blossom of some trees, from a faucied resemblance to a kitten's tail, and hence extended, as your correspondent informs us, to the "fruit of the "hawthorn."— A. Hall. Hair and its Restorers. — In the present day, when the human hair is the object of so much attention to the fair sex, the following receipts, taken from the work alluded to in your last number, by Samuel Purchas, 1657, may be read with interest :—" Pound bees dead and dry in the combs : mingle them with honey, and annoynt bald places of the head, and the hair will spring afresh." "The ashes of bees ground with oyl make hair white." " Water distilled of honey four times by a limbick, so that the honey were first boiled, makes beautiful hair, and the hair wet therewith doth not only become yellow, but softer, and increaseth like- wise, especially if it be done in the sun."— W. J. II iff, Epsom. _ Habits of House Mice.— Some few years since, I had a regular nightly visitant to my bed- room, in the shape of a singing mouse: it came booming round the apartment with such vocal power that, after the first novelty had worn off, we voted it a nuisance, had a cat, and soon heard no more of it. I have now another visitant, a much quieter animal : it rustles about a good deal on first entering, but after a while subsides into a gentle and very peculiar murmuring sound : it is soporific, a constant sibilation without any / in it ; a hushing musing sound ; a perpetual sh' sh' shiver. And here is a great and wonderful analogy, it is really ymssitating, i.e. " to gently murmur," that mysterious word, from musso, mussare, quasi yovao, that has given us the " lulling " theory of the historical name Lollard. This analogy of mus, a mouse, and mussito is really very close. I would ask your naturalistic readers to define the singing of a mouse, aud also the murmuring above named — how are they produced, and how far universal among the murid(B.— A. Hall. Hybernation op Bees. — I see that your corre- spondent, Mr. A. Hall, has some doubts about the hybernation of the humble bee. My own experience goes to corroborate Mr. Mill's discovery. Whilst pupa-digging last month (February) I turned up a humble bee in a very torpid condition. I very much regret that the pupa-digger had mutilated his cell, so that I could not accurately determine whether an entrance did or did not exist : there was no stone on top, and, as far as I could_ see, it was merely a cell rudely dug in the earth without any attempt at smoothing. The bee was on its back, not, as in Mr. Mill's cell, on its side. As to Mr. Hall's theory, that the bee had been involuntarily confined, I regard that as quite out of the question. With regard to question 4s, I think that bees could exist for a length of time without air and food, or at least with only as much air as could penetrate through the soil. I know that I have this winter dug out, at the root of a tree in stiff and clayey soil, a newt, at the depth of at least three inches below the surface: this newt, though at that time very sluggish and almost lifeless, is now a lively inhab- itant of my aquarium. If he could thus endure hunger and want of air, why not a humble bee ? I if think that it would be very interesting i some of your correspondents were to keep, during the ensuing summer, a colony of humble bees. This would not be a difficult task ; a flower-pot partially filled with mould and covered with gauze, would serve for their habitation. The results, I am sure, would be interesting. The formation of the winter cell could then be clearly seen, and Mr. Hall's doubts satisfactorily cleared up. The only singular point, however, in my opinion is that it does not appear to be noticed by entomologists. Westwood (introduction to Mod. Class., vol. ii., page 281), says "they form societies of about fifty or sixty individuals, occasionally, however, amounting to two or three hundred. They construct their dwellings underground in meadows, pastures, or hedge-rows, generally employing moss for this purpose 1 few impregnated females alone survive" Here he speaks of their making common dwellings, but altogether omits the fact of their constructing solitary ones. He alludes to a few females surviving till the spring, but is surprisingly silent on the subject of their forming any dwelling in which to brave the inclemency of the winter. The only reference I can find to their hybernation is in Maunder's " Treasury of Natural History," page 332 :— " These (the larger females) live in a sort of chamber distinct from the rest, but, as it would appear, without any supply of food." I earnestly hope that these short remarks may stimulate the readers of Science-Gossip to investigate further this very interesting subject.—//. 11. O'Farrell. Leeches.— I have on many occasions been obliged to avail myself of the services of leeches, and, feeling thankful to them for the relief they have afforded, have always been pained at the torture they are made to endure by salt, squeezing, &c, to make them disgorge the blood they have swallowed. Some short time since, on using them, I determined, in the face of strong prejudice, to see if I could keep them alive without using any of the means alluded to, and, as yet, have succeeded in doing so. I was told it was cruel kindness, for they might live after the salt, but must die without ; but I am glad I persevered, as I think I shall be able to prove the fallacy of the popular belief. When they do live after being subjected to the salt process, they are poor shrivelled things, with indentations on the skin wherever the salt has touched. Mine, after being- well washed, were put in a globe with cold water, plenty of sand at the bottom, and some Anacharis, with water-snails, water-shrimps, water-fleas, &c. ; and some antiquated leeches which we have kept as our " clerks of the weather." I should be glad to know whether any one else has tried to do away with what is, I am convinced, a needless piece of cruelty to a creature so valuable to suffering humauity. — //. Origin of Life.— A succinct account of this subject is presented in a small French volume just issued under the title of "L'Origine de la Vie," by Georges Pennetier. It contains the case stated on behalf of spontaneous generation, with the objections of the panspermists, and may be accepted as a summary of the discussions between Pasteur and Pouchet, and their several adherents. There is a good show of cheap woodcuts, which is accomplished by repeating them over and over again, sometimes three or four times. This is hardly a commendable way of " making up " an illustrated book, which we do not advise our English publishers to follow. -<j?^\i.A/Jilra, but of course not so closely. — Robert Ansloio, Wellington, Salop. Sundew. — When in Hampshire two years ago, I often found Brosera rotundifolia with small flies, dead, enclosed by the hairs on the leaves, but I never saw one in the act of being caught.— W. H. Beeby. A _ Geological Puzzle (p. 95).— A change of conditions similar to that shown by "W. B.'s" sec- tion is by no means uncommon. Is not each seam of coal underlaid by a bed of shale, its "underclay," and overlaid by another bed of shale, its "roof"? To explain such alterations of strata, we have only to imagine a submerged tract of land, first raiseel above the surface of the water, and then, after a time, again submerged ; and this frequently occurs, even in the present day.— John Hoplcinson. Tennyson as a Naturalist — Violets under Ash-trees. — I think here our poet has used poetic license, for I have almost invariably found the vicinity of ash-trees detrimental to all other vegeta- tion. _ An ash-tree in the neighbourhood of a field is quite sufficient to make the grass scanty, I have often seen it almost entirely eradicated by it ; and even in a wood it exercises a baneful effect on the growth of all surrounding trees. Some botanists say that this is occasioned by the great amount of nutriment which the Ash absorbs from the soil, rendering it but a poor support for vegetation ; others that the plant itself is poisonous. I incline to the last hypothesis, for the leaves are known to be detrimental to sheep and cows. Elder is another tree which appears to do no good to its neigh- bours, and few birds will build in it. — C. 0. Groom Napier. Hagg-Worm.— A short time ago the pages of the Gossip were enlivened with a discussion about the term Hagg. Referring to which, I would state that in this neighbourhood the common green snake is called "hagg-worm." — Wm. Wheldon. 118 HABDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [May 1, 1869. Hake British Animals. — In a letter I had from my sister a few weeks ago, she says that a relation of ours residing at Plymouth recently set a live-rat trap, and on looking at it in the morning, was surprised to find a female Black Bat (Mus rattus) in it, and some young ones trying to get at her. On opening the door of the trap a little, they ran in and settled down comfortably with their mother. — //. Budge, Islington. Otter— Early in 1SG5 an otter ahout a month old was found by a dog in Eish Bow, Oulton Broad, near Lowestoff, and given by its captor to_Mr. Isaac Beaumont, of Prospect Place, Mutford Bridge, who by a little care and kindness completely tamed it, so that it answered to its name, Peter, like a dog, and would follow its master about his garden, as well as let him do anything with it, though strangers would soon find that Peter could bite. He was feci on flesh, or, when fish could be procured, they were placed in a large bucket of water, into which Peter would dive, taking them alive. It eventually became so attached to its master that it refused to go into the Broad, though let loose, and urged by its master to take the water. It was unfortunately starved, in consequence of its owner being unable, through a severe accident— a broken arm— to procure fish for it. Another otter was shot in Eebruary last about the same place; showing that they still inhabit this fine piece of water.— F. li. M. The Otter, Badger, and Black Bat.— A few otters are still to be found' in the river Erome, Somerset, a tributary of the Lower Avon : one was shot there some five or six years ago. The contamination of the stream by the cloth-dyers renders the fishing of little value, else I fear that times would be even harder with the poor otters and kingfishers than at present. The Badger has not been seen in this neighbourhood, so far as I can learn, for many years; but a few years ago £ saw the dead body of one not, very long killed, among the bushes at the Pinhay Cliffs, Devon, near Lyme Regis. I am informed by a rat-catcher of great experience in these parts, that in addition to white and piebald individuals, he has on two occasions taken black rats, smaller than the ordinary rat, one near Westbury, Wilts, the last about a year ago, in a barn near Road, Somerset. — H. J. P. Bare British Animals. — In the parish of Campsie the killing of otters is not a very rare occurrence ; one, the skin and head of which I saw, was killed in the month of May last year ; another was caught in a trap last month : they were both old ones, and were caught at the same stream, which flows from the Campsie fells, and is filled with good-sized trout. The only case in which a badger was caught, was a number of years ago; but it was only by chance I heard of the otters, and there may have been badgers caught lately, without my having heard of it. — David Macnub, LUyhcin, Milton of Campsie, near Glasgow. The Badger. — Your correspondent, Robert Morton Middleton, will perhaps be interested to know that there are several badgers in a piece of gorse on a farm belonging to Earl Harrowby, in the parish of Willersey, Gloucestershire. Three have been destroyed within the last twelve months, but there are' yet some remaining. This information I obtained from the farmer who occupies the laud. — Anne Hertford, Willersey, nr. Broadway. The Hawthorn. — The unusual mildness of the season has occasioned the hedges in our neighbour- hood to assume the appearance of spring in winter. The Hawthorn not only put forth leaves, but I found whole branches with the blossom-buds fully developed, on the 21st of Eebruary. — Anne Halford, Willersey. Use oe Stones ry Spiders. — Like many other persons, I have observed a small stone suspended from a spider's web, but I must confess to consider- able doubt as to the suspension being the intentional act of the Spider. It seems to me far moi'e probable that the stone at the time the thread was attached to it was quietly reposing on the ground, and that subsequent shrinking of the threads, or some change in the position of the web's supports, raised it from the earth. If, as is so frequently the case, one of the main cords of the web was attached to a growing shrub, a light pebble would be very likely to be raised in time, as described. By whatever means, intentional or otherwise, the stone came into its pendent position, the Spider might find it advisable to steady it, with other threads when he found it, like "the Cavalier's" ladder of ropes, "swinging about in the breeze." — George Gvyon, Fentnor, Isle of Wight. Eish-moth. — "W. 0.," at page 91, inquires what is the scientific name of "a small insect called the Eish-moth about here ? " As no address is given, "about here" is somewhat vague; but from the brief description I have little doubt that the insect in question is Lepisma saccharina, which here, in the Isle of Wight, is known as the Sugar-moth, but in most parts of England 1 believe, is called the Sugar- louse (not the Sugar-mite, which is quite a different thing). It occurs in this house, but my servants tell me they are not aware that it any wray injures textile fabrics. They say it will endeavour to find its way to the sugar-basin, thus evincing the taste for sweets indicated both by its English and classical names, but it so often frequents rooms where no provisions are kept, haunting cupboards, window- frames, &c.j that it must be independent of a sac- charine diet, and seems to exist anywhere if the woodwork is somewhat old. A very similar, but larger insect, occurs here under stones in damp situations, and from its tapering form and pearly lustre, a friend of mine used to term it " the fish upon legs:" it is described under the name "Bristle- tale" or Machilis, in Gosse's "Evenings at the Microscope." Both genera furnish scales which are good objects for microscopical study. — George Guyon, Ventnor, Isle of Wight. Hare's Eur in Winter.— Mr. Busk communi- cated a paper, by Mr. Brands H. Welch, Assistant- Surgeon, 22nd regiment, at a recent meeting of the Zoological Society, containing observations on the American Hare (Lepus americanus), especially in reference to the modifications in the fur consequent on the rotation of the seasons, and the change of colour on the advent of winter. Mr. Welch's observations on this hare were based on specimens obtained in the province of New Bruns- wick, North America. Snipe.— A few days ago, while out shooting herons about five miles from Exmouth, I shot a " snipe," flying northward across the sea. Can any of your readers account for this very strange occurrence ? — W. P. C. May 1, 1869.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 119 Hemlock {Conium maculatum), derived from the Greek konao, to whirl round, in reference to the giddiness caused by eating the leaves. Having read an article in the Pall Mall Gazette for March 25th, in which Hemlock was pronounced _ by Mr. Harley and other toxicologists to be no poison, nor even a medicinal remedy, I am anxious to know how this agrees with various writers, who all attri- bute to it deadly properties. Professor Henfrey mentions that many of the TJmbelliferrc are poi- sonous ; viz., Conium maculatum, AEthusa Cynapium, Cicuta virosa, (Enanthe crocata, and other species, although they appear to lose the 'property under cer- tain circumstances ; and another writer states that much of the strength of this plant depends upon soil and climate. In northern latitudes — Russia for instance — it is eaten with impunity; in Italy, Greece, and Spain, it is poisonous in small quantities. Analy- sis by Schrceder— resin, extractive gum, albumen, a green fecula, various saline substances. Brande discovered an odorous oil, and an alkaline principle possessing a strong narcotic smell and a nauseous taste, insoluble in water, and in doses of half a grain producing dangerous symptoms. This substance is named Conia or Conein, C'7 H17 N. Geizer obtained an alkaline principle in the form of a volatile liquid, which had a yellowish colour, and a strong naseous taste, and an odour resembling Hemlock and To- bacco; it is sparingly soluble in water, and has a strong alkaline reaction, neutralizing acids, uncom- bined in the form of salts: it is actively poisonous. Used in the Materia Medica under the designation of "Conii Folia et Fructus," and seems to be of f^reat benefit in many instances. The effects in arge doses are vertigo, dimness of _ sight, nausea, faintness, and general muscular debility ; in larger doses the pupil becomes dilated, difficulty of speech, delirium or stupor, tremors, paralysis, convulsions, death. This medicine varies much in its strength if procured from different places or persons. If this belief of its being innocuous should become popular, there is no knowing what serious accidents might occur, and I think this matter should be well looked into before Mr. Harley's view is adopted by the general public. — Samuel A. Brenan, M.R.D.S., Vicar of Cushenclun, Co. Antrim. A Sand Query (p. 95).— Can the circumstance mentioned by your correspondent have any connec- tion with the luminosity observed when we walk on the sands at night ? I have frequently seen a phos- phorescent appearance where, and only where, my feet have impressed the wet sand. I supposed it to be due to a microscopic animal, but have not detected anything in the sand (under the micro- scope) to confirm this supposition. A similar appearance, which I think is mostly due to the reproductive Medusas of hydroid zoophytes, may frequently be observed in the sea, close to the shore. — John Hopkinson. Tormentil (p. 91).— Mrs.Watney must surely know that size, by itself, is of very little value as a distinguishing mark between species. It is espe- cially so as regards the Tormentil : even on the Surrey commons, where I first became acquainted with it, the flowers varied greatly in size, but never approached those of P. reptans) in this particular; but in Mid-Cheshire, where Mr. Holland directed my attention to it, the blossoms are as large as, or even larger than, those of P. reptans: and five- petalled forms are nearly as common as four-petalled ones. — James Britten, High Wycombe. Large Aerolite. — About five o'clock on Satur- day morning a very large aerolite, travelling from east to west, was seen over this city. It exploded with a loud report, causing violent vibrations in the air, which were felt as far as Penrith on the south, and Newcastle on the east. A man, who was pre- paring for market at Kirkbride, witnessed the strange phenomenon, and he describes it as " like a wap of straw " in the sky ; another account likens it to a pillar of fire " of the size of an ordinary gate- post," and emitting great heat.— From The Carlisle Journal of Tuesday, April 6th. I may state, the report wns distinctly heard here (Lampkigh), a dis- tance of forty miles from Carlisle. — J. Boioman. Snakes. — It is well known that a poisonous snake can be distinguished from a harmless one by the diamond shape of its head, which frequently has also a diamond spot on it ; the head of non-venomous snakes being oval. Is this merely intended to enable us to distinguish them, or has it also some connec- tion with the possession, or otherwise, of poisonous organs ? — J. H. Hawk-moth. — A few mornings since (April), whilst I was dressing, a full-sized Hawk-moth flew across my room, flitted about the window for a minute or two, making its peculiarly sharp buzz, and then fell down on the table. I had it carefully taken info a conservatory, where it resumed its flight. Though the windows were all shut, to keep out a cold rain, in looking for it an hour or two after, I was unable to find it. — W. B. B. Proliferous Cabbage-leaves. — " F. M. C." sends a leaf of cabbage with supplementary off- shoots springing from the main leaf; some of the new growths are in the form of little cups raised on stalks. Such growths are not very uncommon, and they are interesting, amongst other things, in show- ing that there is no such absolute distinguishing character between leaf and branch as is usually supposed ; for here we have a leaf giving off other leaves, just as a branch does. — M. T. M. Companionship. — At the meeting of the Zoological Society on the 8th of April, Mr. E. T. Higgins communicated a note by Lieut. C. C. De Crespigny, on the singular friendship existing between a Malacopterygian fish (Premnas aculcatus) and a species of Sea-anemone {Actinia crassicornis), as observed by Lieut. De Crespigny on the sea- coast of Labium. Fossil Coral. — The specimen forwnrcled by "J. W. S." is identical with Montlivantha Dela- bechii, figured and described in Milne Edwards & Haime's "British Fossil Corals." The genus is entirely confined to the secondary and tertiary systems, being represented by the greatest number of species in the Oolitic and Cretaceous formations. The species forwarded for identification is recorded as having been met with in the inferior Oolite of Somerset, Dorset, and Gloucestershire. "T. R.'s" Fungia patellaria (?) is probably the same or an allied species, but no particulars being given re- garding the structure of the specimen, the descrip- tion of limestone, or the locality from whence it was procured, it is perfectly impossible to arrive at any satisfactory conclusion as to its identity. Mont- livantha belongs to the solitary Lithophylliacese, a group of the Astreidai, and not to the Fungidas. The genus Fungia, as at present constituted^ is entirely restricted to the existing seas.— W. S. Kent. 120 IIARDWICKE'S SCIENCE. GOSSIP. LMay I, 1S69. NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. R. M. H.— The " Anthora " of Gerarde is Aconitum Anthora cf Linnaeus. E. j. W.— They are the crystals to which we alluded. Q E. F.— Dr. A. Wallace, Colchester, Essex. W. A. F. and J. S.W.— On oak-leaf, the "oak galls "figured and described in a former volume. On orange, a Coccus (in- sect). See Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science. E. \v. — In previous numbers the mode of drying flowers so as to preserve their colour has been discussed. P. (Guy's Cliffe). — Peziza vesiculosa. C. C. C— " Pritchard's Infusoria." 4th edition, 186l, 36s., plain ; Whittaker & Co. Smith's " Synopsis of British Diatomacere." 1856; Van Voorst, £2. lis. G. A. S.-We cannot promise. It is impossible to insert all the communications we receive that are approved. J. C— If original and good, they would doubtless be ac- ceptable, but as the engraving would be costly, they must be artistic. J. C. D.— What possible benefit can accrue from our con- tinually naming mosses for you, just to save you the trouble of learning to distinguish them for yourself? We cannot en- courage such systematic imposition. G. H.— Had you read Science-Gossip for April carefully, there would have been no reason for asking the question. We can furnish information, but there is something essential in the reader which we have no power to furnish. W. W.— The best plan to adopt, if printer's errors would be avoided, is to write plainly, so that there can be no doubt of the meaning. We are no great admirers of the book you allude to. p. s.— We can only insert one exchange for any month for the same correspondent, unless he resides abroad. S. J. B.— 1. Very doubtful. 2. No good entomologist uses cotton. W. C— All the plants to which the Irish " Shamrock' has been referred are flowering plants. A. C— The ova of the toad are deposited in chains, and of the frog in a mass. E. S. N.— Please send name and address to Mr. Robert Holland, Mobberley, Knutsford, Cheshire. Stanley's Collkcting-Case.— We observe with regret in the advertisement at p. xlii. of our last number that the maker of this case remarks, " See editor's opinion, Science- Gossip (No. 49), January 1, )86g." As we simply inserted his description of the case, as sent to us, without observation of our own, we decline, whatever our opinion may be, to have an opinion thrust upon us for advertising purposes; and therefore with all deference to Mr. Stanley, we must submit that the remarks referred to are his own, and not ours. Let mir readers turn to the page in question, and they will find no opinion given by the editor. — En. S. G. Belgravia.— Surely we have announced often enough that all communications not accompanied by name and address are at once destroyed without notice. W. E. G.— Bentham's "Handbook of the British Flora," 129. ; Lovell Reeve & Co. F. H. M.— No. 2 is Pteris serrulata. A. A., Jun.— The common scale insect (Coccus), tooplenti- ful in conservatories. G. H. H.— There are stoppered and capped bottles, but none to answer all your requirements. D. H. S.— The commoner British mosses are figured and described in "Stark's British Mosses," 7s. fid. ; Routledge. J. D. H.— No. 1. Onoclea sensibilit. 2. Barren. 3. Cyrto- inium fulcatum. 4. Pteris serrulata. V. R. B.— It is not strange to see a Brimstone Butterfly, even when the snow is on the ground. We have had so many notices of it during the past three months that we inserted none. G. S. T.-We cannot undertake commissions. Your offer can be inserted as an advertisement. Write to the publisher. W. P.— If your bird laid eggs, then it was evidently a "duck," notwithstanding its plumage being that of a " drake." E. D. B.— The larva of a " bot-fly " ((Estrus). A. H.— Yes, it is a common trick for spiders to feign death. M. C. — Not in our line. J. H.— For Nais Scotica sec Dalyell's " Power of the Creator," vol. ii., p. 130, plate \~, figs. 1—5. T. B. F.— The answer to your query, as we read it, is that hearing becomes less sensitive with age, " and nothing more." E. B. should try a little " benzole," touching therewith the specimens attacked by mites. D. H. S.— For Zygnemacice consult Hassall's " British Freshwater Alga;," or Annals 0/ Natural History, first series, vols. ix. and x. EXCHANGES. American T and F Shells for Foreign Bulimi or the rarer kinds of British Shells.— G. SherrilTTye, 58, Villa Road, Handsworth, Birmingham. Mosses. — Racomitrum ellipticum and Ji. protensum (both in fruit) for Desmatodon latifolius or D. nervosui. — Joseph Bowman, Cockan, Lamplugh, Cockermouth. A Few Slides ok Diatomace.-k (named) or other Micro- scope Objects wanted for a small collection of Alpine Plants from Mont Blanc, Pic du Midi, &c— R. Anslow, Leegomery Road, Wellington, Salop. Obi.iq.ue and Vertical Sections of Pteris aquilina (showing Scalariform Ducts) in exchange for other good ob- jects.— Send lists to John Carpenter, Waltham Cross, Herts. Lepidoptera. — Species of Northern United States for those of England, Germany, India, and Australia. Also cor- respondents solicited. — W. Webster Butterfield, M.D., In- dianapolis, Indiana, U.S. of North America, For Carp Scales send stamped and directed envelope to F. T., Post-office, Rugeley, Staffordshire. Correspondence and Exchanges wanted in Terrestrial Conchology, with American, Continental, and Colonial Conchologists, by Alfred Taylor, Hezmalhalch Yard, York Street, Leeds. Well Mounted Slides of Reproductive Organs of Moss (Bryum ligulatum) for other well mounted objects.— John H. Martin, 86, Week Street, Maidstone. Fossils from Chalk for Fossils from any other formation. Address, F.Stanley, Royal Sea Bathing Infirmary, Margate. British Ferns. — Po/ystic/ium lonchitis, and Polypodium alpestre, for other rare species or varieties. — J. Morley, Jun., Sherbourne Road, Bolsall Heath, Birmingham. Ferns, British or Continental, wanted for Canadian species, in good condition. — Lists on application to " Cana- dian," care of the editor of Science-Gossip. BOOKS RECEIVED. "Does Education Lessen Crime?" by William H. Groser, B.Sc, F.G.S. London: Longmans. "Le Naturaliste Canadien," publie sous le patronage de l'Institut Canadien de Quebec. Nos. 2, 3, 4. January, February, and March, I860. Quebec : 8, Rue de la Montague. "The Gardener's Magazine." Part XL. April, i860. London : E. W. Allen. " Land and Water." Nos. 166, 167, 168, 169. " Report of the Rugby School Natural History Society for the Year 1868." Rugby : W. J. Tait & Sons. " Darwinism,'' a Lecture delivered before the Torquay Natural History Society, February 1, 1865, by Thomas R. R. Stebbing, M.A. London : Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. " The American Entomologist." No. 7. March. St. Louis, Mo. : Studley & Co. " Proceedings of the Bristol Naturalists' Society." Vol. iv. Part I. " Report on the Culture of the Japanese Silkworm [Bomhyx Varna. Mai) in I867-8 in England," by Alexander Wallace M.D. Colchester : Benham & Harrison. "The Monthly Microscopical Journal." No. 4. April, I860. London : Robert Hardwicke. " The Popular Science Review," for April, 1863. London : Robert Hardwicke. "The Dental Register." Vol. xxiii. Nos. 2 and 3. Febru- ary and March, I860. Cincinnati : Wrightson & Co. " Proceedings of the Portland Society of Natural History." Vol. i. Part II. Portland, Maine, U.S. " Quarterly Magazine of the High Wycombe Natural His- tory Society." Vol. ii. No. 4. April, I869. " The American Entomologist." Vol. i. No. 3. Novem- ber, 1868. St. Louis, Mo.: Studley & Co. "Scientific Opinion." Part V. April, I869. London: Wyman & Sons. " The Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club." No. 6. April, I869. London : Robert Hardwicke. Communications Received.— W. W. S. — E W.— D. P. W— J. W. G.— W. D— J. H. R.— J. P. S.-D. H. S.-R. — A.— E. U. W.— W. W.— A. R.— G. E. Q.— E. J.-T. P A. A.-J. M.— T. H. W.-J. H.— E. A.-F. J- W.-F. B W. W.— E. W.— T. B.— C. B.— H. G.— A. J. B — G — H J.J. S.-F. H.— F. W.— G. B.-I. D.— W. R. T— C. E. O W. H. G.— F. S.— C. E.— E. G.-E. J. W.— R. A.— T. P. F J. H.— Q. E. F.— G. S. T.— W. H. B.— A. H.-C. J. M C. O. G. N.— J. S. W.— J. T. Y.— F. M. C— H. E. W.-J. — T. P. B.— E. W.— C. C. O— W. B. L— J. C— A. J.— W. -E. D. B.-F. B.-S. A. B.-G. A. S.-H. C. L.-P.-T. S J. B.— B. W.— J. H.— J. A.— T. D. R-— McV.— J. H. M.— J. -C. C. W.— S. E.— D.— R. M. H.— W. H. J.— F. W. C— J. — C. W. T.— G. G.— H. B.— F. W.— M. L.— A. S.-J. R j. t.-J. S.-R. T. A.-E. H.-A. A.-W. H.-F. W.-G. —J. B. B.-C. H. G.-F. J.-J. H.-G. O. G.-J. S. P.-M. — W. E. H.— F. R. B— W. B. B.— H. E. W.— N. P.— G. S. — F. K.— E. D. B.-P.— W. T.— J. F. W.— J. H.— A. J. J W. T. G.-J. H. (N.W.).— M. C— E. B.— F. T.-A. H.-C. _W H — R. B.-I. W.— W. W. B.— F. S.— J. P. F.— S. S J. B.— W. N.— A. T.— A. H. W.— G. H. C— G. H.— W. J. —A. C— T. S.— S. J. B.— W. C— J. C. R.— B. B. H.— G. S. —J. H.-W. H.-S. A. S.-F. S.— W. W.— T. G.-J. H. W J. A. H.-T. G. S.— F. B.— A. G. P.— H. B.-H. C. S W. E B — G. G.— F. R. M.— J. M., Jun.— H. F. P.— W. E. — F. H. M.— A. A.— B. B. H.— G. B.— C. A.-W. A. F.-J. E. — E. A. N.— J. S.— W. J. T. H. June 1, 1S69.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 121 SPRING FLOWERS. HE stereotyped heading, " Mildness of the Season," — so amusing to a naturalist when found (as in local papers it often is) in conjunction with a January Dande- lion or a Christmas Primrose — so frequently appears, year after year, in naturalists' perio- dicals, that a critic might re- mark that each successive season seemed to be earlier than its predecessor. Yet I would preface these somewhat disconnected remarks with a few brief notes on the flower- ing-time of plants during last spring, in order that they may be contrasted with the dates of the same plants as given in Gossip for May, 18G8. The mild weather which ushered in the year induced a number of flowers to put in an appearance long before they were due ; and until the beginning of March this continued : but towards the middle of the month cold weather set in, and vegetation remained almost stationary for at least a fortnight. The result of this was,'that while many plants blossomed much earlier than usual, others, from the sudden check, were kept back until their usual time of appearing. The following are the dates to be compared with those given last year : — Windflower (A)iemone nemo- rosa), March 3; Goldilocks [Ranunculus auricomus), April 12 ; Meadow Crowfoot {R. acris), April 4 ; Great Stitchwort (Stellaria Holostea), March 2; Wood Sorrel (Oxalis Acetosella), March 26 ; Mos- chatel (Adoxa Moschatellina), March 1; Golden Saxifrage (fihrysosplenium oppositifolium) , April 10 ; No. 54. Cowslip {Primula veris), March 2; Mezereon {Daphne Mezereum), February 21 ; Wood Spurge (Euphorbia amygdalo'ides) , March 2. The Daffodil and Toothwort I omitted to note on their first ap- pearance ; hence they are not entered above. Four of these plants appeared later, the remainder earlier, than last year. As an evidence of the sudden check to which I have referred, I may remark that between the 3rd and the 2Gth of March, only three wild flowers put forth their first blossoms in this neigh- bourhood, as far as I can gather from the observa- tions of careful "searchers of simples" who have as- sisted me in compiling my kalendar. The Hawthorn (Crataegus oxyacantha) was in blossom on April 26 in several localities ; and the Coral wort (Dentaria bulbifera), which Mr. Syme, perhaps wisely, con- siders a Cardamine, flowered on April 12 : the former six, the latter five, days before its earliest date during the last five years. In the Wycombe district, Violets of each Bucking- hamshire species have been remarkably abundant and luxuriant this season ; remarkably rich, too, in aberrant forms. Of the Sweet Violet {V. odorata) I found two tufts, in a lane leading from Downley to West Wycombe, having deep claret-coloured blossoms ; and adjoining the same lane was a large plot of a pink-flowered variety of the same species. Although the form V. imherbis, Leight., is said to be common, I have been unable, by diligent search, to discover it in this neighbourhood ; but, curiously enough, I found one blossom in which one of the lateral petals wanted the usual tuft of hairs. The Hairy Violet (V. hirta) has this year behaved in a most unexampled manner, apparently with the object of becoming as much unlike itself as possible — an object which it has certainly attained. I have gathered specimens which had the scent of Y. odorata, but the leaves of V. hirta ; others which were scentless, but approached V. odorata in the shape of the leaves, as well as iu their less conspic- uous pubescence; and one specimen, with the leaves and flowers of unmistakeable V. hirta, had the con- G 122 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [June 1, 1869. spicuous elongated scions, rooting at the extremity, which are supposed to characterise V. odorata. This plant, I suppose, corresponds with one referred to in "English Botany" (ii. IS), which was sent by Mr. J. G. Baker from Seafield, in Mid- West Yorkshire, "which he supposes to be V. sepincola of Jordan." My friend Mr. Holland will be amused at my citing instances like this, which tell so forcibly against my own theories as a " splitter " ; but the horrible [fate of Professor Ptthmllnsprts in "The Water-Babies," who ignored facts which did not coincide with his theories, is a warning which none but the most hardened could contemplate unmoved; besides, our great object is to arrive at the truth, and he would be unworthy of the name of a naturalist who would suppress facts simply because they run counter to his theories. But to return to V. hirta. Several pale-blue and white-flowered specimens have been gathered this season ; and the species has continued in blossom longer than usual : I found some as late as May 2nd. One plant which was brought to me had very small and numerous white flowers, and small pale leaves ; the rootstock was remarkably branched, and neither flower-stalks nor leaf-stalks were more than an inch in height, the former being slightly the longer of the two. I have noticed this season that both V. Reichenbach tana and V. Riviniana have produced a great many well-filled capsules from the ordinary blossoms : during former seasons this has been comparatively uncommon, most of the fertile flowers being apetalous, and appearing later. Some of our later-flowering specimens of V. Reichenbacliiana have very small petals, sometimes only three or four being present : Mr. Holland has sent me similar specimens from Mobberley, Cheshire, and looks on them as intermediate betwen the spring petalous blossoms and the apetalous ones of summer. But, as I have stated above, seed has this year been abundantly produced from the ordinary petalous flowers. Mr. Hampden G. Glasspoole sent me two speci- mens of V. Riviniana from Yarmouth, each blossom of which had two spurs, one of the lateral petals being thus transformed : iu other particulars the flowers were of the normal type. In the notes on Oxlips of various origins which have appeared from time to time in Gossip, a variety of the Cowslip (called Primula veris /3 major) was referred to as one of the claimants of the name. As far as my experience goes, this is somewhat rare ; but I have this year found one example of it in a field of cowslips : it had leaves like the Cowslip, but the corollas'were nearly flat, and paler than usual : at the same time, they were not nearly so large as those of Primula caulescens, which has been remarkably fine with us this season. P. intermedia, the true hybrid between the Cowslip and Primrose, I have not yet met with. I notice in gardens a very pretty single Primrose with bright purplish flowers, which I do not remember to have seen before this year : it is of a better colour than, and in every way far preferable to, those double, artificial-looking lilac Primroses, which remind one of the hideosities which used {lucus a non lucendd) to be called " violets," and were worn in ladies' bonnets. There is a superstition here that these " spring flowers," as they are called, may be produced by planting a common Primrose root in cowdung; while Polyanthuses may be obtained by placing a Cowslip root upside down in soot ! This latter notion is very widely diffused ; in fact, the " folk-lore " connected with Primroses would make by itself an interesting paper. The Windflower {Anemone nemorosa) has blos- somed very abundantly this season. This is one of the plants which, even in a wild state, not un- frequently become double : and this doubling is ac- complished in two ways ; either by the conversion of the stamens into petals (or sepals?) corresponding in size with those which are usually present'; or by their transformation into almost linear petals, about half as long as the sepals. The reddish-purple or bright pink tint noticeable in some specimens of the common form, especially when beginning to fade, is very beautiful. Occasionally, however, a pale blue shade is to be observed ; but this, I fancy, is rare. The only specimens I have seen thus coloured were some sent me last season by a kind friend, who fancied they were flowers of A. apennina. In a bed of Anemone leaves we shall notice a few on taller stalks than the rest, and if we gather them, we shall find them covered with little whitish dots, which are a species of JEcidium ;* a leaf of Anemone thus affected is figured in Bay's " Synopsis " from a specimen in Bobart's herbarium, and was for some time known as "the Conjurer of Chalgrave's Eern." Those interested in the preservation of our rare plants will be glad to know that Daphne Mezereum still holds its ground in two woods near Wycombe, one of which is now being inclosed for game ; con- sequently, unless it attracts the notice of the game- keepers themselves, we may hope that the villagers, who greedily transplant to their gardens all that they can find, will be deterred from hunting for and extirpating the Mezereon in one, at least, of its localities. And here I bring my spring gossip to a close, wishing my readers one-hundredth part of the pleasure in reading it that I have derived from ob- serving the plants mentioned in it. High Wycombe. James Britten. [* lEcidium leucospermum. The fungus affecting the leaves of the wood anemone, figured in Ray's "Synopsis,"wasnot this, but a species of Puccinia, more common than the yEcidium, the brown pustules of which bear a greater resemblance to the fructification of a fern. See " Microscopic Fungi," p. 60.— Ed. S. G.] June 1, I860.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 123 THE ANATOMY OF THE ZEBRA MUSSEL (Dreissena polymorphic) . "TVREISSENA POLYMORPHA is originally an •^-^ inhabitant of the rivers in the Aralo-Caspian province. Thence it found its way into the European rivers, and was recognized by Linnaeus as a member of the European fauna. The shell in the early part of this century became well known to collectors under the names of Mytilus polymorphs and Mytilus volgensis ; but it did not receive much attention from naturalists, and, in fact, its true zoological characters were entirely unknown until the year 1826. At this date it was found by M. Dreissens, an apothecary of Louvain, in a river near that city, and was by him sent to M. Van Beneden, director of the Louvain Museum, who described its anatomy minutely before the Erench Academy, pointed out in what manner it differed from Mytilus, with which genus it had been placed, and, recognizing it as the type of a new genus, named it Dreissena, after M. Dreissens. Van Beneden' s paper on the subject is published in the Annates de Sciences Naturelles for 1826. -a Fig. 88. Animal and shell of Dreissena. a, a, siphons. Its first discoverer in England was Mr. J. Sowerby, who found it in 1824 at the Surrey Docks, which it is supposed to have reached on some floating timber. It was next found on timber at Wisbeaeh in 1828 ; then in the Union Canal, Scotland, in 1S31 ; and in the Neone in 1836 ; finally, at Exmouth, in 1816. We have thus five distinct centres of introduction into Great Britain. Erom these Dreissena has spread far and wide, and is to be found throughout the vast canal system in England and in the several rivers connected with it. As far as I have been able to ascertain, it is not found in Ireland. Let us now turn to the anatomy of the Dreissena. 1. Of the nervous system. — This consists, as in most of the acephalous mollusks, of several pairs of ganglia. One pair lies immediately over the oesophagus, and sends out various branching nerves to the labial appendages— the mouth and the parts immediately surrounding it. Another and larger pair, called the branchial ganglion, is situated near the posterior adductor muscle, and supplies the branchiae and surrounding parts with nerves. A single small ganglia, with its nerve branches, is placed near the siphons. Such is the very simple nervous system of Dreissena. The various senses must of necessity be but slightly developed. Eyes, although present in some bivalves in a rudimentary state, do not appear to exist in the Dreissena : the senses of smell and taste, if they exist at all, must be of the weakest. The auditory capsule, which has been detected in some few bivalves, does not appear to be present in this one : the sense of touch, however, is evidently rather delicate. a Fig-. S9. Circulatory system, a, a, branchiae ; b, the heart.* 2. The circulatory system. — The heart, which is situated on the back of the animal immediately under the skin, consists of a single central ventricle and two auricules, one on each side. These receive the blood from the branchiae, of which there are two pairs, one on each side of the animal, com- municating freely with the branchial cavity. The auricles in] turn transmit the blood to the ventricle, whence it is distributed through the body. 3. The respiratory system. — Respiration in the Dreissena, as in other bivalves, consists in the ex- posure of the blood to the influence of water con- taining air. This process is performed by means of the movements of the mantle, with its siphons, and the gills, or branchiae. As before mentioned, there is a pair of gills on each side of the body. Each gill is composed of two laminae, divided * The ■woodcuts are engraved fac-simile from the author's sketches. G 2 121 HATiDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [June 1, 1869. internally by septa into a series of narrow chambers, the divisions being marked externally by lines. These chambers open into longitudinal channels at the base of the gills, which unite at the commence- ment of the exhalant siphon. Under the micro- scope the gill lamina3 exhibit a network of blood- vessels, fringed with cilia, opening into the gill- tubes. The mantle which envelops the whole animal has three openings — one a small slit on the side, through which the foot and byssus pass ; the others are in front, and are prolonged into siphons. One, the branchiala inhalent, has its orifice surrounded by a double fringe of tentacles ; through this the water enters, distributes itself over the gills, and passes out at the other, or exhalent siphon ; thus a continual current of water flowing in and out is constantly kept up. Fig. 90. Digestive system, a, a, labial tentacles ; b, stomach; c, caecal appendage ; d, intestine. 4. The digestive system.— The mouth is placed between the anterior nervous ganglia. The orifice is protected by two lips, which are prolonged on eaca side into a pair of membranous palpi: these are called the labial tentacles. The oesophagus is short, of the same size as the mouth, and is entirely enveloped by the ovary and liver. The stomach is situated between the heart and the anterior adductor muscle, and is also enveloped on all sides by the ovary and liver. This viscus is irregularly round in form ; the upper surface is smooth and homogeneous, the lower is permeated by numerous small openings which give entrance to the biliary ducts, On the left side there is a long csecal appendage nearly equal in length to the intestine, but of finer texture. The intestine which springs directly from the lower end of the stomach is thick and whitish. It runs obliquely forwards, from left to right of the median line of the body, plunges into the liver at its posterior extremity ; there it bends round, and returns upon itself on gaining the back of the animal where it is immediately under the skin ; then, after passing round the heart, it again beuds upon itself just above the posterior adductor muscle, and terminates at the exhalent orifice of the mantle. The liver is large, forming with the ovary, with which it is ultimately united, although not of course anatomically connected, by far the largest portion of the body. It pours its secretion by a number of minute canals into the under surface of the stomach, as before mentioned. Its chief mass is situated over the stomach, and it extends forwards and backwards. 5. The reproductive system. — As before mentioned, the ovary is of great size. It is at once observable on removing the shell, from its brilliant yellow colour. -a Fig. 91. Animal with left valve, and a portion of the mantle removed («), showing b, the ovary; c, gland of Bojanus. Its surface has an areolar appearance, caused by the fine granules of which it is composed. The Dreissena is monoecious. In connection with the reproductive system, it is necessary to mention the existence in Dreissena of that peculiar viscus called the gland of Bojanus, which in this animal is a small, dark-coloured body, situated at the apex of the shell. The structure of this gland is highly complex, and it has long been a puzzle to zoologists. It is composed of several cavities opening into each other. Prom its position and other circumstances, it is probable that it plays some part in the process of reproduction, but what is at present unknown. 0. The muscular system. — The muscular system is triple, or, rather, consists of three distinct muscles, two of which serve to move the valves of the shell, and a third which regulates the movements of the mantle with its siphons, and the foot and byssus. The former, named the adductors, are placed at the extremities of the valves of the shell, — one situated on a small shelf at the apex called the anterior, and June 1, 1S69.J HARDWICO'S SCIENCE GOSSIP. the other near the place where the valves open called the posterior. The latter, which is called the retractor muscle, is of considerable size, and is divided anteriorly into two portions— one regulating the movements of the mouth, mantle, and siphons ; the other, those of the foot and byssus. T. G. Ponton. WASPS AS DOMESTIC PETS. HAVING been much interested in the account, in " Homes without Hands," of the experi- ments made by Mr. Stone, in domesticating the Wasp for the purpose of observing its habits, I resolved to try, and though, from beginning late in the summer, I was unable to carry my experiment on as I should have wished, yet an account of the experiment, as far as it went, may not be uninter- esting to some of your readers, if only to show that a waspish nature is an amiable one, though usually considered the reverse. I also give Professor Henslow's method of taking wasps' nests, a method far simpler than any I have ever heard of, and the efficacy of which I have proved. The first thing towards the experiment was to prepare a box for the accommodation of the wasps : this was simply a common wooden box (procured from a grocer's), at the back of which I had a small hole cut, so that the wasps might have free exit and entrance : in place of cover of the box, I substituted a cover of glass, which could draw in and out, so that food could be placed inside when required. Two or three pieces of thin brass wire were placed across the length and breadth of the box : the whole was made firm by nailing it in an upright position to a wooden stand, under a tree, in a meadow some little way from the house. It was protected from the weather by some hurdles, arranged at a little height from the box, in the form of a gable, and covered with straw. The box being ready, the next question was how was the nest to be taken without injury to the taker or the taken ? I had read some time ago in the Mem. of Professor Heuslow, that he himself had invented a way of taking wasps' nests : it was described by him in the Gardeners' Chronicle for 1SI2. The method consists of simply " pouring about half a cupful of spirits of turpentine into and about the entrance-holes, after dark, when the wasps, with the exception, perhaps, of a few stragglers, are all in for the night : then place a flower-pan over it, and bank it round with earth." This has the effect of stupefying them ; and if desired, the nest may be dug up thirty -six hours afterwards with perfect security. This plan, so simple and easy to put into practice, I determined to adopt ; but I fancy, in giving thirty-six hours before the nest was to be dug up, Professor Henslow could have only thought of preserving the nest, and of the safety from stings of the person employed in taking it, and not of preserving the insects alive. My first experiment was carried on under my own directions ; but after fifteen hours, on digging for the nest, we found all the wasps in a state past recovery. I then thought a less quantity of tur- pentine and fewer hours might be attended with success. I fortunately heard of a very large nest, and easy of access, and accordingly the experiment was repeated. The nest had the same quantity of turpentine poured in and round the entrance-holes, and the other directions were followed with regard to the flower-pan and banking up ; but instead of waiting fifteen hours, in two hours' time our gar- dener and coachman ventured to dig for it, and brought it to me under a large bell-glass just two hours and a half after the turpentine had been poured in. The wasps were then fast recovering from their stupor, but the servants had dug up the nest without the slightest inconvenience to them- selves. Two or three drops of chloroform dropped on wadding under the bell-glass soon intoxicated the wasps sufficiently to allow me to remove them one by one with a pair of forceps into the box pre- pared for them. The nest I deprived of its cover and strong pieces of the comb, containing the grubs, at the bottom of the wire bars. As all this had to be done late at night, the box and its contents were placed in an out-house for the night ; the door of the box was stuffed quite tightly with paper, several small holes to admit air having been bored at the top of the box. The next morning the men found the house full of wasps, having eaten away a good deal of the paper, and they had already begun to cover the wire bars with a thin layer of paper. The wasps were most amicable, allowing the box to be carried down to the meadow, and following it, but making no attempt to sting the person who carried it. They further allowed the box to be firmly nailed on to the stand, and quite established their claim in my eyes to being highly good-natured, by allowing me to open the glass front sufficiently to allow of my putting my hands in, and inserting an extra brass bar across the box without attempt- ing to sting me, though they were working all the time, and one or two crawled on my hand, which was gloveless. I doubt whether bees would allow such interference. The wasps built steaddy, cover- ing over the grubs. The queen wasp kept in sight for the first two days, and seemed busily employed looking after the grubs ; but as soon as the comb was covered, I saw her no more. The wasps in the space of ten days built a small nest. I did not begin my experiments until the middle of August; so the wasps had not so good a chance. I got another nest in the way already described, and with the same success in taking it, but the weather became colder, and the wasps did not finish any nest. I never got stung by them except once, when a wasp 126 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [June 1, 1869. crawled up my neck and got entangled in my hair ; this I put down entirely to its not being able to ex- tricate itself, for they frequently alighted on my hand and wrist without attempting to sting. I fed them daily with beer and sugar mixed together, and put outside their box. A stray hornet came daily to feed with them, but I never saw it interfere with the wasps at all. I saw it in the midst of some dozen wasps feeding; but wheu a large drone fly at- tempted to share the repast, the hornet flew at it, and carried it off bodily. With regard to stings, I may mention that equal parts of common salt and sweet oil will allay all irritation and swelling. One great preventive against such a catastrophe is to be very quiet in your dealings with wasps; any flurry or bustle when you have to handle or feed them excites them greatly, and they would be then very likely to sting. I watched them for weeks, and found them most in- teresting pets, and hope to continue my experiments this summer. X. WURALI. fTVHIS celebrated poison, also known as Urari and -■- Curare, which was first published to the world by Waterton in the account of his travels, is believed to be the product of more than one plant, the principal ingredient being the juice of Strychnos toxifera, a tree of some rarity even in its own country, Central America. The indefatigable traveller Humboldt never saw the tree itself, only dried branches. Sir R. Schomburgk, the discoverer, or rediscoverer, of the Victoria regia, who spent seven years in traversing Guiana from end to end, saw the living plant, but neither flower nor fruit. Mr. C. Wallis was the first who had it in his power to give an exact description of this remarkable climber from personal observation ; but it cost him no little trouble to find out the habitat of the solitary plant he was able to examine, so rare is it, and so jealously guarded by the Indians, to whom the life- destroying juice is as valuable as gunpowder to a European hunter. This single tree was the only source from whence the precious poison could be obtained within a compass of many miles ; it was therefore prepared by the natives residing in the neighbourhood, and bartered by them among the more distant tribes. Wallis, who did not himself see the poison pre- pared, tells us that the Indians bod clown the ex- pressed juice, not, however, in its pure form, but, as stated by other travellers, mingled with the sap of Lasiosloma cirrhosum, Paullinia cururu, Piper geniculatum, &c. According to Humboldt, the venom of serpents is not unfrequcntly added to make the mixture "thick and slab." As soon as it has reached the consistency of syrup, and before it cools, it is poured into small clay vessels, or cala- bashes, made from the fruit of Crescentia cujete. When wanted for use, it is moistened with warm water, and smeared on the heads of arrows, which are blown with wonderful accuracy through tubes, often sixteen feet in length, each tube being a single "internode," or space between two joints in a noble reed, named Arundinaria Schomburgkii. So deadly are the effects of the wurali that the stricken animal dies almost immediately, though, singularly enough, the juice of the plant in its fresh state may be applied to the body with impunity. Wallis several times squeezed the juice from the bark, wood, and even seeds of Strychnos toxifera, without experiencing any ill effects ; from which it may be inferred that the poisonous property resides in the root, as is the case with more than one of the " veneniferous " plants. This frightful poison has an alkaloid base known among chemists as Curarine, which, how- ever, is believed to be identical with, or to approach very near to, strychine, of whose fatal powers when taken internally we have had several lamentable instances of late years in this country. Humboldt tells us that the Otomaki, or earth- eating Indians, of the Orinoco, make a strange use of the Wurali, or Maracuri, as they call it, in their warfare. Their great object in battle is to close with their enemy, and woe to the unhappy wretch who encounters the embrace of an Otomak ! The crafty warrior has anointed his thumb-nails with the deadly wurali, and, thus armed, uses every effort to tear the skin of his opponent : should he succeed, — and the slightest scratch is sufficient, — victory is insured to him, and a sudden and cruel death to his baffled enemy. W. W. Spicer. The Green Lizard (Lacerta viridis). — An individual of this species, originally purchased at Covent Garden, escaped from my Ward i an case in June, 1867. One day last week I recovered the little tenant, nearly two years having elapsed from the time of its escape. Odd enough, I myself made the capture, but only about two hundred yards from my house, in a sandy bank, close to a road leading to a great railway station. It was a warm sunny day, and my attention was attracted to the spot by several passers-by, who had been arrested in their way to and from the station by the beautiful creature appearing at the mouth of the holes which it had excavated in the bank to a considerable length and depth, and where, at one place, was a kind of nest formed by a large quantity of bits of dry grass. With a spade I dug the lizard out, and re-obtained it in more than its original brilliancy, and very plump. It appears then that the species can well survive our milder winters, but I think that Dr. Martin endeavoured to naturalize them in the Isle of Wight without success.— B. G., North Staffordshire. June 1, 1869.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 127 PREHENSILE ANTENNA OF THE ENTOMOSTRACA. By Major. Holland, R.M.L.I. IN Science-Gossip for July, 1865, we Lave an illustrated paper on Cyclops quadricomis : in the July number for 1866 we get one on the Baphniadee, profusely illustrated; and the October number of 186S gives us an interesting sketch of the heart of B. Bulex. These collectively contain so much information concerning the several families of this subdivision of the Crustacea, that one has to be careful to avoid repetition. In the summer every ditch and pool supplies us with water-fleas in myriads ; and even the dwellers in large cities, who never wander" by meadow, lake, and stream," but love the fair face of Nature none the less, because the exigences of stern duty shut it off from them, may enjoy an hour's fishing with a pipette in their water-jugs with good sport if their main comes from the reservoir of an old- established company; in Devonshire I could always make sure of three varieties of Daphnia iu the carafe in my dressing-room. Like many other very common things, they are very beautiful and very wonderful : perhaps nothing sends the embryo microscopist into such a fever of enthusiasm as the first good view of one of these tiny creatures, with throbbing heart, moving eyes, palpitating flanks, and nacreous reticulated shell flashing rainbow hues, as it gasps and struggles in the small drop of liquid on the slide. Like all other animals, they present us with evidences of design, showing us special adaptations of certain parts or organs— the enlargement of this, the modification of that, to meet some new requirement of the creature's life- conditions, or the non-development beyond a rudi- ment, or total suppression of some element of the original type of the order, which would have been superfluous, perhaps harmful to the being, in the particular province allotted to it. In the Baphniadee the first pair of feet of the male differ considerably from the corresponding limbs of the female, being furnished in the former with a strong claw or hook attached to the extremity of the second joint, which enables them to seize and hold fast any object; and it seems that the gentleman Daphnia would not be able to get on at all without this arrangement; for the lady Daphnia is a coquette. " Sighing and singing of midnight strains " won't do for her ; " deeds not words " is her maxim ; respectful admiration from a distance is all very well for some people, but she will never requite a passion so coolly controlled ; she prefers audacity; at first she affects alarm mingled with indignation, and leads her inamorato a fine dance if he is silly enough to allow himself to be discouraged by her seeming reluctance ; she demands a judicious amount of rightly-timed gentle violence, and when her suitor, in a moment of happy inspiration, boldly seizes her hand, or, to be more precise, catches her first pair of feet with the armed first pair he is furnished with for the purpose, she ceases to say nay, and welcomes his wooings with the warmest sympathy. But coquetry is not confined to fresh water ; there is flirting in the briny ocean, and the love- chase goes on swimmingly even in brackish rivers and estuaries ; everywhere living things dance to the good old tune of " C'est V amour, V amour, I'amour." In salt, or half salt and half fresh cruising-grounds, the gallant knights of Biaptomus Castor, of Anomalocera, and other distinguished orders, who would be Benedicts, must chase and catch their fast-dashing brides like the wild Tartars of the Steppes ; and as to the old love game of " catch me, kiss me," there is added " and keep me if you cany They are provided (instead of armed feet) with hinge-jointed antennae, with -which when they have caught they can hold fast the aggravating damsels. The fair Cyclopida must be superlatively flighty, they literally require to be assailed right and left, and Nature, like a good kind mother, ever meeting the need of her children, and determined never to spoil sport, has provided their cavaliers with hinge- joints in both of their antennae ; though one such weapon is found to meet the requirements of most genera. This enlargement in the right or in both antennae renders the male distinguishable at a glance. The ocean swarms with these curious Branchiopoda, whose cast-off cases and exuviae form no inconsiderable portion of the muddy ooze of the deep-sea beds. Somebody mentions that he has seen a Daphnia moult no fewer than eight times in seventeen days : what a heap of " old clo " there must be to be worked up into new fabrics of some sort, out of the exploded suits of Entomostracans alone. Fig. 92. Female of Labidocera magna, nat. size. Fig. 93. Male of Labidocera magna, nat. size. Here we have a pair of Pelagic Entomostracans taken by the towing-net in the South-west Pacific. I can find no record of the capture of this species on our own coasts, but I suspect that it is to be found in the waters of the warm current that tempers the climate of our western shores. The 123 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [June 1, 1869. species owes its name to the conformation of the right antenna of the male — Labidocera, from Xaj3ig, forceps, and Ktpag, a horn — with the Latin adjective magna, in virtue of its great size. These are a species of the genus Calanus, of the order Lophyropoda. When fully developed, each antenna in either sex consists of twenty-five segments ; of these the first thirteen present nothing remarkable, but all the remaining segments in the right antenna of the male enter into the composition of the remarkable prehensile organ depicted below. Fig. 91. Hinge-joints of right antenna of male Labidocera magna, x 250. "This organ is composed in the following manner: the fourteenth and four following segments are dilated into a large flask-like organ, the neck of which is eked out by the nineteenth and twentieth ; the next two segments are fused together, and are articulated with the foregoing by a simple joint, and the whole of the remaining segments form another piece similarly articulated with the intermediate piece ; so that the whole results in two simple joints, susceptible of flexion in one direction only. Two processes of the same nature, but differently placed, and more elongated, lie side by side upon the fore part of the first compound segment. This piece and that which succeeds it act upon each other like a pair of jaws, each furnished with an array of sharp conical teeth, while the last compound member of the series plays over the upper surface of the eighteenth segment." (Dr. McDonald, E.R.S., in Mag. Nat. Hist., 1S53.) The fifth pair of legs also differ in the sexes, the right leg of the fifth pair of the male forming a powerful prehensile apparatus. These formidable instruments look more like engines of war from the armoury of Mars, than snares and lures from the repository of Cupid. They certainly meet with very hard knocks some- where, for in innumerable specimens subjected to the microscope, the grappling antennae were found broken at the hinge, the two ter- minal articulations having been torn off, whether in mortal com- bat with a rival knight jousting a Voutrance for possession of the queen of beauty, or by the indig- nant struggles of some surpass- ingly chaste Vestal of the Deep, I cannot determine. It has been my fate to speak of the universal distribution of parasites, in a previous number. " The intestinal canal of animals," says Leidy, "is most frequently infested by entoparasites on ac- count of the ease with which their germs enter into the food. Aquatic animals are more troubled by Entozoa than those which arc terrestrial, because the water affords a better medium of access than the air;" and our Labid- ocera forms no exception to this rule. Having opened his thorax for the purpose of examining his internal economy under the micro- scope, a low power detected a tiny object apparently on the move : the quarter-inch and B eyepiece showed it to be an Entozoon, wholly unlike anything I have ever seen or heard of anywhere. Fig. 95. Entozoon from the thorax of Labidocera magna, x 450. The body (um), known by its very dark brownish-purple blossoms, is naturalized in some places, but seems to have no claims to be con- sidered a native: a white-flowered variety sometimes occurs. G. nodosum or G. angulatum (perhaps both) " has been reported from Hertfordshire, Yorkshire, and Cumberland" {Cybele,\. 259) ; also from Surrey and Perthshire ; and in the British herbarium at the British Museum, there is a specimen of G. macro- rhizum, to which the following note is attached : — " Growing in great abundance on walls at the North Hall, called by the common people Valery Ann; Bev. Aaron Neck, St. Mary Church, Newton Abbot, Devon, Sept. 3, 1803." The Mountain Cranesbill (G. pyrenaicum) may be regarded as a connecting link between the perennial and the annual species. Although much larger in all its parts than any of the latter, its root-leaves bear considerable resemblance to those of G. molle ; indeed, in a young state, the plants are liable to be confused, as the root-leaves of G. molle often attain a very large size. It may be owing to this resem- blance that we find no reference to G. pyrenaicum in Bay's " Synopsis," although Hudson had previously mentioned it : Curtis, too, united it with G. molle. it may be distinguished from all the preceding by the absence of a rhizome, the root being long and tapering. When the flowering-stems of this Cranes- bill first shoot up above the leaves, the buds appear to grow in a dense head ; but as the stems elongate and the blossoms develop, we see that the former are branched, the branches proceeding from the axils of the leaves. Prom the same axil both a flowering branch and a two-flowered peduncle often proceed; and these axillary stems are again branched, so that the plant, when in full flower, presents a somewhat straggling and untidy ap- pearance. The stem-leaves are more deeply cleft than those proceeding from the root, and the upper are nearly sessile ; the flowers are about as large round as a fourpenny piece, with deeply-notched petals of a peculiar bluish-purple, slightly tinged Avith red, which we have never seen accurately ren- dered in any plate of the plant. Although called the Mountain Cranesbill, it is by no means restricted to elevated situations ; we find it by roadsides, often so covered with dust as to be almost undistinguish- able, or in waste places near houses, which latter circumstance has caused its nativity to be doubted. We have little doubt, however, that, like the Gout- weed and Celandine, which frequent similar locali- ties, it is really an indigenous species in most of its English habitats, although its occurrence in Scotland is more liable to suspicion. Mr. Baker, speaking of it as a North Yorkshire plant, says, "I have no- hesitation in considering the species as native. I have not seen it within our limits as a garden plant, and it grows upon hedgebanks hke pusillum, molle, and columbinum ." In the neighbourhood of London, as about Chelsea and Brompton, G . pyrenaicum is- very abundant ; it blossoms from the middle of May until late in the autumn. II. Annuals. — We will first consider theDove's- foot Cranesbill (67. molle), the resemblance of which to the Mountain Cranesbill has already been men- tioned. This is a soft plant, growing by roadsides, on banks, or in clover fields, with prostrate, or ascending (sometimes almost erect) stems, and small pink flowers, with deeply cleft petals, which do not become of so blue a tint when fading as these of G. pyrenaicum. The Dove's - foot is, however, a much smaller plant than the Mountain Cranesbill, and the stems, even when nearly erect, are much weaker than those of that species : the leaves, too, are usually of a lighter green. Pale- flowered forms are common, and a white one is not unfrequent : near the village of Lake, in the Isle of Wight, is a bank covered for some considerable distance with this latter variety. The Small- flowered Cranesbill (67. pusillum) grows in the same situations as 67. molle, but is much less com- mon; it is often passed over in mistake for the Dove's -foot, although a little examination will discover important points of difference between them. The leaves of G. pusillum are more deeply cut (the upper often to their base) ; and the seg- ments of the rootleaves sometimes do not touch, and, as far as our investigation goes, never overlap,, as do those of 67. molle. The petals, although notched, are not bifid as in G. molle, and the flowers are smaller, and not so pink. It is difficult to describe satisfactorily the differences in colour of the flowers of some of our Cranesbills ; but any one acquainted with the plants will notice that there are such differences, although a verbal de- scription may be inadequate to present them properly to the reader. The corolla is not so flat aa that of 67. molle, and five of the stamens are abor- tive, being without anthers : this is one of the most distinctive marks of 67. pusillum, which in this par- ticular approaches the Storksbills {Erodium). One may occasionally find the anthers defective in other species ; but with them it is the exception, while in ] 54 HABDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [July 1, 1869. G. pusillum it is the rule. Again, the carpels of G. molle and G. pusillum are remarkably unlike, as the accompanying figures (from "English Botany ") will show ; in the former they are " transversely wrinkled with prominent ridges," and glabrous (fig. 119) ; in the latter " without transverse wrinkles," and " downy, with short hairs " (fig. 117). The Both two-flowered and three-flowered peduncles oc- curred on the same plants. In specimens since received from Cornwall and Wiltshire, the peduncles are invariably two-flowered. G. rotundifolium is the rarest of our Cranesbills. Mr. Watson gives Glou- cestershire and Suffolk as its northern limit as a native plant, regarding its occurrence farther north as having been erroneously recorded, or as an intro- duction with ballast ; in the south of England it is more frequent, but can scarcely be called common. Fig. 119. Carpels of G. molle. Small-flowered Cranesbill is more straggling and untidy-looking than G. molle : its stems are weaker, and less hairy: both species flower from spring until late autumn. Dr. Bromfield* says of G. molle : " The herbage has a perceptible musky fragrance on a warm day, in addition to its usual rather strong odour, which is retained for some time after the plant is gathered ;" while G. pusillum is destitute of this fragrance. The Bound-leaved Cranesbill (G. rotundifolium) is sometimes a tall plant, with erect, soft stems, and roundish leaves covered with whitish hairs, by which it is rendered conspicuous at some little distance. At other times, however, it resembles G. molle in habit, and has many, much - branched, ascending stems proceeding from the root. A single glance at the flowers will at once determine this species ; they are pale pinkish-white, or some- times rose-coloured, and the petals are entire. The specific name, rotundifolium, is, perhaps, scarcely appropriate, as, although the general outline of the leaves is round, they are not entire, although the earlier ones are less divided than the rest. Young botanists often mistake immature plants of G. molle for this species; the root-leaves of both being round. Those who do not know 67. rotundifolium will therefore do well to wait until their -supposed specimens are in blossom, before they announce their discovery, as there can then be no danger of mistake; and a few inaccurate statements of this description seriously detract from the botanical reputation of those who make them. The peduncles are shorter than in most of the species : they are usually described as two-flowered, but specimens which we collected at Oxford three- years since were, in several instances, three flowered. In one specimen, three flowers proceeded from the same base ; in two or three others, one blossom was below the other two: the accom- panying figures, drawn from these specimens, will illustrate this peculiarity, which, as far as our own observation goes, is confined to this species (fig. 120). * " Flora Vectensis." Fig. 120. Abnormal peduncles of G. rotundifolium. Perhaps the Long-stalked Cranesbill (G. columbi- num) is the most elegant of our species, although it is difficult to give any one the preference. It has very deeply-cut leaves, divided to their base with pointed segments, often tipped with red : the root- leaves are on long stalks. When growing among clover, with which it is frequently introduced, it is decumbent, spreading along the ground, the pedun- cles ascending; but on hedgebanks it assumes a more luxuriant habit, and the slender stems are sometimes almost erect, at others spreading. The flowers are rather large, but not flat, as in some of the species ; for the sepals have long awns, which equal or exceed the petals in length, and the blossom consequently assumes a bell or vase-shaped appear- ance. Its colour is not easy to describe ; Mr. Syme calls it " purplish-rose," but this hardly character- izes it, although it is difficult to find a better term. Both leaves and flowers are on remarkably long- stalks ; in specimens now before us, the peduncles and pedicels each average two inches in length, some exceeding it ; and these are in plants which have not yet attained their full growth. The flowers are less numerous than in the preceding species, and the petals, which are slightly notched, are very fugacious. Although widely distributed, the Long-stalked Cranesbill is by no means a com- mon plant ; it is most frequent in chalky districts. We may note that the species called by Gerarde G. columbinum, is that now known as G. molle; taking into consideration the received name, "Dove's -foot," of this plant, in conjunction with the French Pied de Pigeon, and the corresponding Dutch name given by Gerarde, it seems a pity that the specific appellation, columbinum, should have been transferred to the Long-stalked Cranesbill. July 1, 1869.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 155 The Cut-leaved Crancsbill (as 0. dissectum is called par excellence) is a common and very variable species. When it grows"; on the hedgebank we are attracted to it in April or May by the deeply-cut, usually rather hairy, root-leaves, which staud con- spicuously forward on their long stalks : these leaves die off in the summer, and the stem becomes much branched. At the beginning of June this species is in perfection; the small rose-coloured flowers then appear, and the graceful root-leaves have not begun to wither ; and a bank covered with it, such as we not unfrcquently come across in some country lane, is very ornamental. The stem- leaves, which are much cut, and but slightly stalked, are opposite. Although a tall plant, it is (except in spring) one of the least conspicuous of the Cranesbills, the petals being small, not longer than the calyx, notched, and very fugacious ; the -flowers seldom expand fully, save in bright sunshine ; the peduncles are shorter than the leaf-stalks, and the axillary blossoms are often concealed by the leaves above them : the carpels are not wrinkled. In some situations. the plant assumes a procumbent habit, and in open places the root-leaves are on shorter stalks, and less conspicuous. The stem, though erect, is usually weak, varying in height from eight inches to two feet. The Cut-leaved Cranesbill is generally distributed, and blossoms from May until late in the season. The Shining Cranesbill (67. lucidum) is a de- servedly admired species, which often finds a place in the gardens of flower lovers. No stain, however, rests upon its character as a native plant : if the gardens have given the woods the Dusky Craues- bill, it is to the hedgebanks that they are indebted for this pretty little plant. The leaves are round in outline, with broad segments, and shining as if brushed over with gum ; at the latter end of June they become bordered with red, sometimes red alto- gether : the stem is much branched, usually from the axils of a pair of leaves. When G. lucidum first flowers, the blossoms appear to lie close to the root, so imbedded are they in the dark shining leaves; but as the stem elongates and branches, the plant becomes straggling, and less ornamental than in the earlier stage. It is useful to grow with the Wood Scorpion-grass {Myosotis sylvatlcd), as both can be pulled up at the beginning of June to make room for summer plants ; and both have by that time perfected and dispersed a sufficient quantity of seed to ensure a supply of each for the next spring. Or the plants, when pulled up, may be shaken over any spare bit of ground, and the produce of the seed thus scattered may be planted out the follow- spring in the beds where required. The calyx ins of G. lucidum is worth noticing; it is pyramidal, the edges of the sepals forming projecting angles. But it is only three of the sepals that are conspi- cuous ; these are broad, transparent, and greenish- white ; the other two are narrow and white, with a central green line. The petals are of a bright rose- pink, with a white claw, usually entire, but some- times slightly notched ; they contrast prettily with the pale yellow anthers. Although the flowers are small, they are conspicuous from their brightness and abundance. It is to be wished that, for garden growth, a form could be obtained in which the pro- cumbent habit should be retained, and the blossoms increased in size and number : probably by careful selection such a result might be attained. The segments of the upper leaves are more pointed, and somewhat approach those of Herb Robert in ap- pearance ; the whole plant has, in a less degree, the scent of that species. Although not a rare, it is by no means a common plant : it prefers chalky dis- trcts, and usually grows on hedgebanks, covering large spaces ; sometimes it may be found on roofs of cottages ; and Withering says it is frequent among corn on a chalky soil, a habitat in which we have not detected it. Lastly, we may note the elasticity with which the carpels, when mature, spring from their axis: in G. rotundifolium, they adhere by their awns for some time, and even after the seed is dropped; but in G. lucidum they go off at a touch, almost as suddenly as those of the Wood- sorrel. " There are worse things than the common weed, 67. Robertianum for twining itself round the sides of a rustic basket, or crawling over a rockwork." This is the qualified praise which "The Cottage Gardener's Dictionary " condescends to bestow up- on Herb Robert, one of the commonest, and one of the prettiest of our Cranesbills. Not only are there " worse things," but, in our humble opinion, there are few better for such purposes. Who, that has seen a stoneheap by the woodside, covered in April with the delicate fern-like foliage of this plant, the two bright red seed-leaves still adhering to the stem, can have passed; such a natural rockwork by without an admiring glance ?— or, later in the season when the stems become red, and the numerous pink flowers expand, who has not been struck with the elegance of its growth and the beauty of its colours? There are people who care for none of these things, but we would not be reckoned among them. It is hardly necessary to describe so well-known a plant : its elegant foliage and white-veined flowers are familiar to almost every one : so is its strong aro- matic scent, which some, with Gerarde consider disagreeable, while others (ourselves among the number) think it pleasant. A variety with pure white flowers is cultivated in gardens, and some- times occurs in a wild state ; we have found it with but a faint tinge of pink at Capel Curig, North Wales : both these variations are permanent. The outline of the leaves is pentagonal, and the sepals are unequal, as in G. lucidum. We have before referred to the former Luse of this plant as a li HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [July 1, 1869. styptic ;* and it has been considered a specific for gout. It is generally distributed throughout the kingdom ; but Mr. Watson tells us that at the village of Castletown, in Braemar, he "saw plants of this species potted and housed as ' geraniums,' with the care which English cottagers bestow upon pelargoniums." Time will not permit us here to say much about our cultivated Geraniacece ; but we may just re- mark in passing that both those used for bedding, and the various greenhouse species, are equally Pelargoniums; and those who distiuguish the former as Geraniums and the latter as Pelargoniums, have no ground whatever for the distinction. A pretty variety of G. Robertianum (G. purpureum) grows on shingly seashores in the South of England ; it has smaller leaves and flowers, and is more branched. The Crauesbills do not appear to be particularly popular in the rustic mind, if we may judge from the fact that but few have local names. G. phaum is sometimes called " Mourning Widow ; " G. molle, iu South Bucks, is " Starlights ; "and G. lucklum is called "Robins" in South Devon. Even G. Robertianum figures in but few of the lists we have received; but the number, variety, and we may add, incomprehensibility, of its names in our own district somewhat atones for this deficiency. They are as follow :— Bird's-eye (applied to many other flowers) ; Cuckoos (generic for spring flowers) ; Cuckoo's-eye ; Cuckoo's " Vittles " (the usual name for Wood-sorrel) ; Stinking Bob (in allusiou to its odour, and its name, Herb Robert) ; Ragged Robin ; Billy Button ; Sailor's Knot ; Nightingales (from flowering about their time of singing ?) ; Sol- diers' Buttons ; Garden Gate (a common name for Viola tricolor) ; and Knife and Eork (in allusion to the two-flowered peduncle). In Sussex it is Stink- ing Bob ; in Cambridgeshire, Red Robin ; in Glou- cestershire, London Pride; in South Devon, Birds'- eyes, Robin-flower, and the Wren's-flower. Robin may be a corruption of Robert ; but some of these names seem to indicate a more intimate connection of the plant with birds than is at all usual. None of the Crauesbills dry satisfactorily, except, perhaps, G. sanguineum ; and drawings of them in most cases fail to represent the blossoms in their proper colours. The illustrations to "English Botany " are no exception to this rule ; and a lady of our acquaintance, whose wild-flower drawings have been greatly and deservedly admired, declares her inability to obtain, by any mixture of colours, the exact hue of the blossoms of G. sanguineum. Under these circumstances, therefore, it is the more necessary that those who would seek to improve their acquaintance with our Crauesbills should do so — not from books, not from pictures, not from dried specimens, but from the living plants themselves. High Wycombe. James Britten. * Science-Gossip, v. 134. THE BULLFINCH. (Pyrrhula vulgaris.) ri^HOSE who know the Bullfinch only as a cage- -*- bird would hardly recognize him in his native haunts, so different does he there appear. In a state of nature there is scarcely a more active and restless bird ; in a cage " what a falling off is there ! " Let us take a peep at him in some of his favourite resorts, and compare him with the sluggish songster that hops lazily from perch to perch, and pecks alternately at hemp and sugar. We have not to go far from the house, for in the orchard hard by we are almost sure to find a Bull- finch ; but we must go very quietly, for he is a shy bird, and never suffers too near an approach. Do you hear that note ? There it is again ; a soft double, whistle, uttered very plaintively. That is the call-note of the Bullfinch, and there is the author of it on the top of yon cherry-tree. Now he is off. Do you see the white upper tail-coverts as he flies ? You cannot mistake him on the wing. And there goes the hen ; she is much plainer in her attire, but shows the same patch of white when passing from tree to tree. Now let us watch them a little. They are apparently hunting for insects, but, sad to say, they are destroying a great many blossom-buds. Cherries, apples, plums, are all in turn attacked, and it is lamentable to think that a songster of such pleasing exterior is not to be trusted in an orchard. Yet so it is, and those who wish for a good show of fruit must drive away the Bullfinch from the buds ; not, as some thoughtless gardeners do, with a charge of shot, which strips off more buds in a second than a Bullfinch could pick off in an hour, but by means of scarecrows and frequent visits to the trees. In this way you may save your fruit from the destroyer, and still hear his pleasing song. But it is only at a certain period of the year that the Bullfinch can do the damage of which we complain. When the young are in the nest they are fed almost entirely upon in- sects, chiefly caterpillars ; in autumn the old birds find blackberries and various seeds; while in winter the fruits of the hawthorn and dog-rose furnish their chief food. In some parts of the country are happily still to be found those delightful green lanes which were formerly more numerous, branching off from the high road for a mile or two, and leading only to green fields. These are known as "occupation roads," being for the most part used only by the occupiers of the adjoining lands for the purpose of carting hay and other produce, and driving sheep and cattle to and from pasture. In these lanes there is no regular roadway. The turf extends the whole way between the hedges, and but for the deep ruts made by the waggon-wheels, one might July 1, 1869.1 HARDWICKE'S SCI EN C E-G 0;SSIP. 157 almost regard them as long and very narrow fields. It often happens that in such lanes as these the hedges remain untrimmed for years, and grow to a considerable height; while in many places the lanes are so narrow that the trees on either side meet overhead. Nothing can be more beautiful than the appearance which a lane like this presents in the month of May. The hawthorn is then in full bloom, and the hedges are thickly draped with its white clusters. The banks are hidden with ferns and wild flowers, and a thick short turf stretches invitingly under foot. This is the spot for an orni- thologist, for here the small birds love to congre- opportunity occurs. As autumn goes by and winter approaches, we find him by the cover-side and in more sheltered situations. Many a time when standing, gun in hand, at the corner of a wood, waiting for the approach of the beaters, have we been enlivened by watching the actions of the Bull- finch and his friends the Tits, and we fancy some of our friends would laugh if they knew that we had allowed a hare to go by without shooting, in order to note the manoeuvres of our feathered friends. It seemed to us at the time that there was a greater pleasure in observing the actions and habits of a living bird than in contemplating the body of a dead Eig. 121. The Bullfinch. gate. The Chiff-chaff, Willow Wren, and noisy Whitethroat are heard and seen at intervals as we stroll down the long vista. The Swallow, first seen like a speck at the end of the lane, comes skim- ming over the ground impetuously towards us, only rising overhead when within a few feet, to avoid a collision ; while the Chaffinch, Yellowhammer, and Great Tit, then in their best plumage, keep flitting in and out before us, and look brighter than ever against the background of white " May." It is in a lane like this that the Bullfinch takes up its abode in summer, visiting the nearest gar- dens, and making raids upon the fruit-trees where hare. But few, probably, would have agreed with us at such a moment. We are obliged to confess that we never shot a Bullfinch, not even to ascertain by dissection the nature of its food ; but, so far as we have been able to observe this bird when feeding in a state of nature, we should say that it is not insectivorous in the strict sense of the term, although, as before stated, the young are fed upon larvae of various kinds, until they are able to take care of themselves, when they forthwith regale upon buds and fruit. The nest is a truly wonderful structure, so loosely put together, and yet so symmetrical in shape. It is 158 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [July 3, 1SG9. formed of twigs and fibrous roots, and looks as if a sudden gust would at once scatter all the mate- rials ; but they are so cleverly woven together, and the interior is so compactly lined with fine fibre, that the outside twigs, which appear so loose, are all held firmly in position. The eggs are five or six in number, of a pale blue ground-colour, spotted and blotched towards the larger end with purplish brown. Not unfrequcntly these spots are so regularly dispersed over the sur- face as to resemble a crown of thorns. The young, when hatched, are curious little fellows, their heads and bills seeming so disproportionate in size to the rest of the body. They are wonderfully clamorous for food, and the energies of the old birds must be severely taxed in flying to and fro all day with their mouths full. We have sometimes felt inclined to leave a Bull- finch undisturbed on a fruit-tree, in consideration of the amends he would ultimately make by destroy- ing insects for his family. But in this case we are not prepared to say that the good would quite counterbalance the evil. "We fear it would not. Nevertheless, we prefer to treat our little friend like a spoilt child, .and would rather miss a few cherries and plums than lose the pleasure of seeing him in the garden and of listening to his cheerful song. J. E. Harting. EBAGILLABIA CROTONENSIS (7? Kilton). By E. C. S. Boper, E.L.S., &c. N the May number of Science - Gossip some notes appeared by Mr. Kitton on the diato- macere occurring in the water supplied to the city of New York, called, from the river which supplies it, " Croton water," and forwarded by Dr. Edwards to my late friend Dr. Walker Arnott, of Glasgow. Erom samples I have myself received of these Croton-water gatherings, I have no doubt Mr. Kitton is perfectly correct in his determination of the majority of the species that occur, and I fully concur with him in thinking that Asterionella gracil- lima, Hantzsch, is merely what is known here as Asterionella formosa, Hass., or at most a slight variety of that species. But I regret to find that he has been induced to give a new name and specific character to the form called Fragillaria crotonensis, especially as I know lie strongly objects to this l>eing clone without full and satisfactory evidence. At the same time there is no doubt the species of Fragillaria are extremely variable in form, and with- out a very extensive suite of specimens any one may well be led astray. Through the kindness of Dr. Arnott and other friends, I have a very complete collection of gather- ings of this genus, including" fifty slides of F. captc- cina and its varieties alone, from various localities ; and this very form figured as a new species was one on which I had some considerable correspon- dence with Dr. Arnott only a few months before his death. Erom a most careful consideration of all these gatherings, I have no doubt that the form in ques- tion is a Fragillaria, as Mr. Kitton supposes, but it is F. capucina, var. y, of W. Smith's " Synopsis," vol. ii. p. 22, but of which he gives no figure, and states that it has only occurred to him in the Bos- thorn Mere gathering supplied to him by Dr. Arnott. I have a slide of this; and the same variety occurs in another slide from Mr. Hardman, of Liver- pool, and also in one from "Tol'-y-Llyn," in Wales, from my friend Mr. Groves, and in all combined with the true F. capucina. The passage from the typical form to the variety is best marked in the last gathering. Mr. Kitton describes his species as "Erustules linear, inflated at the central part, where they cohere and form a ribbon-like filament." Smith describes F. capucina as with "Valves linear," and says of var.y, "Frustule subsilicious, adhering imperfectly;" and in his note on the species he says, " When dry, the frustules in this variety shrink, except in the central and extreme portions, and remain loosely attached by these parts." Erom the slides I have, I agree with Dr. Arnott in thinking that the frus- tules frequently occur quite as strongly silicious in this variety as in the typical form, but it may pro- bably be as Professor Smith suggests, a sporangial state of the species, though Dr. Arnott considered this doubtful; but it certainly is not entitled to rank as a distinct species. THE MAY-ELY. (Fphemera vulgata.) rpilE May-fly has been, historically,' very badly -*- treated, and made appear a much poorer creature than it really is. As children, we were told, on the best nursery authority, that there was a poor gnat that lived a single day and then died ; a story ..which filled our little minds with wonder and pity. It was a relief afterwards to learn that this one day of winged existence was preceded by three years of aquatic life ; but this was qualified by the intelligence that through this long period it lived on mud. Such, indeed, was the assertion of Swammerdam, and this strange opinion, stamped with his great authority, has been received and handed down for more than two hundred years, almost to our own day. Mud was always found in the larva on dissection, therefore it must eat and live on it. Messrs. Kirby and Spence had some misgivings on the subject, and thought it must eat, in addition, decaying vegetable substances. The Bev. J. G. Wood, with his usual sagacity, while July ], 1869.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 159 testifying to the constant presence of the mud, thinks it probable that it is taken involuntarily with its other food, whatever that may be. In a translation of Louis Eiguier's entertaining summary entitled "The Insect World," published in this country last year, it is correctly stated that this larva feeds on small insects ; but no authority is quoted, and the mud question is not stirred. My acquaintance with the Ephemera was made accidentally some years ago. Dipping for Daphnire ;tnd other small crustaceans, an advanced larva, or pupa, of Ephemera vulgata was included in the capture, and all together transferred to a small aquarium. In a fortnight afterwards not a water- flea was left. The pupa, quivering with excitement from head to tail, swooped with unerring aim on the doomed crustaceans, so long as any were left, and he felt an appetite. A second supply was given, and shared the like fate ; and now the growth of the pupa was completed. One fine May morning the graceful .fly was found in the window ; from which it escaped into the open air. It had left three or four exuviae, thrown off from time to time, and one of these, perhaps the last, exhibits, when mounted in balsam, a perfect impression of the mouth, and may throw some light upon the nature of the food. The jaws, when open, form a wide funnel for the more ready capture of a nimble prey ; when closed, they seem designed to interlace each other and form a compact front to bar all escape. The teeth exhibit a row of slightly curved bars on one side, opposed on the other to a raised block, crowned with sharp serrated edges, and could be brought together with crushing effect on the poor little crustaceans. The back of the mouth is partly closed by a singular and curious contrivance ; a deep egg-shaped sac extends across it, opening into the throat by valves or slits, fenced on the outside with fine hairs, which would permit the downward passage of a too lively Daphnia, but prevent its return. And here we may probably account for] the constant presence of mud in the intestinal canal. A mouthful taken involuntarily in a struggle at the bottom with a lively prey and swallowed with it, would be retained by the fine sieves across the valves of the throat and pass into the stomach. Such a condi- ment might be even beneficial (for all such contin- gencies are weighed) by dividing the food, or, as seems very likely, by increasing the gravity of the body after a meal, and so enabling the larva to remain without effort at the bottom. My aquarium contained no mud, yet the pupa throve well ; but in streams and eddies it might be difficult for so light a creature, furnished with a large breadth of branchial plates, to maintain its place or remain in concealment, without ballast ; or it might be useful in other wavs which we cannot even guess. S. S. THE LEPIDOPTEPJST'S GUIDE.* ~]\/rANY a time and oft have we been solicited to -"-■- name a book for the use of those who have no knowledge whatever of the art of rearing, catch- ing, or preserving insects. Through nearly all orders this query has traversed, but ofteuest has it related to the Lepidoptera alone, and the editorial murmur has been little other thau a grumble in reply. At length a light has broken upon us, and we rejoice in the prospect of a happier future. Let any one now inquire for a guide, and we have an answer ready; one which we have had serious thoughts of keeping permanently in type, or stereo- typing : it is— the title of the book announced at the foot of this page— Dr. Knaggs's " Lepidopter- ist's Guide." The author is just the man, of all others, we should desire for a cicerone, and so would all who seek the service he proffers, As oue of the editors of the Entomologist's Monthly Maga- zine we may at once take it for granted, without any further assurance that the science of the book is all right, that the subject is treated by a practical hand, and one well up to the work. But that is not all, there is another recommendation, and a very strong one with our readers,— the author has such a happy knack of popularizing his subject, so facile in saying a plain thing iu a plain way, so clear in his instructions, so hearty and enthusiastic in his work, that any one would wish himself an ' ignoramus again to have the pleasure of such a teacher. In these days of compiling, and book- making, and dealing freely with other men's brains, your reviewer can hardly resist the temptation to become enthusiastic when he encounters a book that is really original, and, like the present, a reflex of the author himself, and his own flesh and blood experiences. Let us briefly scan the book itself, and see what its closely but clearly printed one hundred and twenty pages contain. It is a " Lepidopterist's Guide," all about moths and butterflies that the inexperienced collector wants to know. Of course some of the hints and methods are everybody's pro- perty, but the author in the preface cautions the reader against supposing that all comes out of his own head, and he has no desire to appropriate what does not belong to him. He gives old or well- known methods, whenever he has no better of his own to offer, or no better are needed. The little bits of fun which sparkle here and there is not the sort of thing for us to condemn. We do not think that because a writer deals with scientific subjects * The " Lepidopterist's Guide," intended for the use of the young collector, containing full instructions for the collect- ing, management, observation, and preservation of Lepi- doptera in all their stages. By H. Guard Knaggs, M.D., F.L.S, London : Van Voorst. 160 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [July 1, 1S69. he is never to be guilty of a pun or indulge in a joke; on the contrary, we have a horror of a long lace, protracted ad infinihim. But— back again to the book — we have the egg state, the caterpillar state, the chrysalis state, and the perfect state ; and in all states hints for collecting, management, observation, and preservation. Looking over the pages for something to quote in illustration, we found ourselves involved in a dilemma, because of there being so much to quote, that we could not come to a resolution as to which was the best for the purpose ; and as we have not yet made up our minds, it is exceedingly probable that we shall postpone the experiment till the query of some cor- respondent sends us to the book for an answer. What can we say more than we have said to assure our readers of the good opinion we have formed from a brief and hurried acquaintance with this "Guide",? Will no one give us companion guides in other branches of natural history, and especially a plain and easy guide to the study of insects in general ; a kind of portable manual of entomology such as would enable a youth, not yet a collector, to recognize Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera, and all the other opteras, and thus prevent some of the mistakes so commonly made, and do good service to science. We heartily re- commend every " young collector," and every one who wishes to become a collector, to purchase this book. Eor others, who have either done collecting, or do not intend to begin, we pity them in their loss of such an excellent companion and " Guide." ZOOLOGY. Tame Fishes. — The pond (Lombock) was well stocked with fine fish, which come every morning to be fed at the sound of a wooden gong, which is hung near for the purpose. On striking it, a number of fish immediately came out of the masses of weed with which the pond abounds, and followed us along the margin expecting food. — Wallace's Malay Archipelago. Rake Birds in Norfolk. — I have much pleasure in recording the occurrence of the Buddy Sheldrake in Norfolk. On the 2Cth of March last an adult male was killed on the Snettisham beach by a Mr. Wright, in whose possession it now is. This is the first instance of its occurrence in this county on record. The Crane. — On the 1st of May two Cranes were seen by a crow-boy on a barley-field at Hemsby, in East Norfolk ; he called a man, who followed them with a gun, and succeeded in killing one in a field in the adjoining parish of Summerton. This bird was sent to London to Mr. Hume, the owner of the soil, for whom it has been preserved. A crane has since been killed on the Severn, which may possibly be the bird seen in company with the Summerton specimen. Mr. Stevenson has kindly given me a list of the occurrences of the Crane in this district, as follows :— One killed at Feltwell, 183G ; one killed at Kirkley, near Lowestoft, April, 1845 ; a bird of first year killed at Matham, Feb., 1850 ; a Crane seen by Mr. H. M. Upcher, near Warhand, afterwards seen in Sandringham Marshes, spring, 1865; two seen, one killed, at Summerton, May, 1S69. Marsh Harrier, two males ; Hen Harrier, one male, one female ; Montagu's Harrier, two males. All the above killed at Hickling Broad, with the exception of one of the Marsh Harriers, which was killed at Catton, between the 12th and 22nd of May. Two Hawfinches killed at Brook, near Norwich, on 15th May; male and female: the female con- tained an egg almost fit for exclusion. Golden Eagle. — Mr. Stevenson has succeeded in establishing the Golden Eagle as a Norfolk bird, from a specimen found dead upon the Stiffkey Marshes in November last. — Thomas Southwell, Norwich. The Australian Wild Hokse. — "The wild horse, of Australia," says the Avoca Mail, " will un- questionably, at no distant date, like the mustang of the South American pampas, occupy in vast numbers the almost boundless plains of the interior. On the South Australian border, in Victoria, where some few years ago wild horses were comparatively few in number, large herds are now to be found. During periods of continued drought these herds travel immense distances in search of pasture, and on some stations detract considerably from the value of the runs to the north-west. The neigh- bourhood of the mallee scrub at the present season appears to be a favourite resort for wild horses. Feeding on the plains in mobs of from fifteen to thirty mares with colts at foot, the sire, a stallion whose progeny are usually of one colour, is most careful of his family, on the slightest alarm leading his charge at full speed under shelter of the almost impenetrable scrub. Several successful musterings of these steeds of the plain have been made of late, we are informed, and some of the colts broken in and sent to market, but from the cheapness of horseflesh all over the colony, the speculation has not paid. Many hundreds have been shot on the various stations, but apparently without reducing their numbers. Wild cattle in the neighbourhood of the mallee scrub have also become a complete nuisance. On the sheep stations beef of excellent quality is supplied all the year round as rations to the men employed. The wild cattle are hunted like the buffalo of the North American plains, and are said to be gradually increasing in numbers and spreading towards the Ear North. The most astonishing circumstance attaching to these wild July 1, 1869.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 161 herds of cattle and horses is that, notwithstanding on the stations near their haunts sheep and other stock are dying very fast from the effects of the drought, these denizens of the plain appear in ex- cellent health and sleek as moles. A most beautiful sight it is to see a large mob of wild horses startled on the plains, galloping at full speed, their unkempt manes floating in the wind, the speed of which they seem to equal ; their tails sweeping the ground — they present to the eye a perfect embodiment of beauty and freedom." — Adelaide Observer. Leeches. — A curious fact concerning these useful creatures has come under my notice lately, and as it may interest some of the readers of Science-Gossip, I give the particulars as I received them from a neighbour. Two leeches having been made use of, were then restored to their former condition, put into a small ornamental pond in the garden, in which were growing waterlilies and other plants, and they were thought no more of. About two years after their introduction, six fine gold-fish were put into the pond, and greatly to the dismay of their owner, the following morning two of these were found dead and literally covered with leeches, aud all the others were so dreadfully mutilated that they soon died from the effects of their wounds. On examination, the pond was found to be swarm- ing with leeches, from the size of threads to the full-grown, plump, and, I must add, handsome-look- ing animal ; it was cleared of them, and the bottom, sides, and holes of the pond lined, to prevent further mischief. The workmen employed offered the leeches for sale to the chemists, who refused them as they were not imported from abroad, but a physician here considered them quite equal to their foreign congeners. — C. K F., Redland, Bristol. Norfolk Rarities. — Two fine specimens of that rare visitor to Norfolk, the Crane (Grits cinerea), have been shot this spring ; one on the 7th of May, at Somerton, another on the 4th of June, at Picken- ham. About a fortnight previous, a fine Badger {Meles Taxus), weighing 26 lb., was captured near the latter place. — K A., N. A Cat devouring a Slow-worm. — This after- noon, seeing my cat busily munching something edible she had discovered in the garden, I was induced to notice her proceedings more closely, and was surprised tto find she was masticating the remains of a slow- worm, of which she had consumed a considerable amount. The portion of the unfor- tunate reptile yet remaining was about five inches long, and as the creature appeared to have been ten or more inches in length before it was injured, at least half had been consumed. The viscera were protruding, but the hapless animal was still living and capable of some movement, so, though it did not show any sign of suffering, I deemed it humane to end its existence with the nearest available weapon — the garden roller. This is the first instance that has occurred to.me of a cat devouring any reptile, and in this month's number of the Zoologist, the re- pugnance of caruivora to prey on the Batrachia is particularly noticed. — George Guyon. Tree-frog. — A few mornings ago I introduced a house-fly into the vivarium, and one of the green tree-frogs.sprang at it from his perch ; he missed his aim, but the secretion with which the tongue of the frog is furnished stuck the insect against the glass, where it remained nearly motionless, appa- rently stunned by the blow it had received. The frog, as usual, adhered to the glass where he had alighted, and seeing some slight movement of the fly, with another snap and gulp secured his prey. These little frogs often miss their stroke, but in such cases I have always seen the fly dart away ; in this instance, though the attempt failed, the gluti- nous saliva sealed the insect to the spot, as it were, till the stroke was repeated with success. — George Guyon, Ventnor, Isle of Wight. Earthworm.— At a recent meeting of the Zoo- logical Society, a communication was read from Dr. W. Baird, containing additional remarks on an Earthworm (Megascolex diffringens), of which the occurrence had lately been noticed in North Wales. Dr. Baird had recently obtained specimens of this worm from two localities in the Eastern counties, but there appeared to be little doubt of its being an, introduced species. Landrail (Crex pratensis), called in the North and East Ridings of Yorkshire, "Corn- crake," " Meadow-crake," and " Daker-hen."— The following shows the arrival of this spring visitor for the last six years: 1861, April 17th; 1S65, May 1st ; 1866, May 7th ; 1867, May 13th ; 1868, May 11th ; 1869, May 1st.—/. Hanson, York. Otters. — The Otter is to be found in the river Seven, a tributary of the Yorkshire Rye. The Seven rises in the North Yorkshire moors, runs through [th e pretty dale called Posedale, and the wood-embowered valleys of Cropton and Appleton- le-Moors, through Sinnington, to the Bye. I have frequently found fish remains, and more than once have caught and found fish that had been bitten by the Otter. I have frequently been present at otter- hunts in the river, and on one occasion a bitch was killed in the mill-dam at Appleton, which we found weighed 21 pounds. The mill-dam and the Nut- holm is a frequent resort and breeding-place, and the pursuit of them with otter-hounds affords excel- lent sport. Some years ago otters were frequent in the Kyle, a tributary of the Yorkshire Ouse, and within the last ten years feetings of the animal have been traced upon the sand and mud at Linton Lock, ten miles above York. — John Ranson, Linton- on-Ouse, York. 102 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. LJl-ly 1, 1S69. BOTANY. Habenaria bifolia. — In two specimens that I have gathered this year, there have been pollen- masses growing out of the tip of the spur, on the under side of the lip, and in one of them from the centre and base of the back of the centre leaf of the calyx, whilst in almost every blossom there was one at the base of the column. They are irregularly egg- shaped masses of pollen, the glands of the stalks swelling into a bulb where they grow out of the spur or lip. On examination with a microscope, I found that with a fine needle I could draw tbe pol- len-masses out, which lay loosely in the two-celled anthers, which made me think at first that I had shaken some out unawares, and they had adhered. But on trying to move them, I found them firmly fixed even after they had been a fortnight in my press in paper changed every day. This spring I have found unusual numbers of imperfect flowers and uncommon varieties, as the peculiar variety of Stellaria media mentioned in Hooker's "British Flora" as having been found near Cork, by Mr. James Drummond. — M. C, Kent. Polystichum aculeatum. — I have a dried frond of the common Prickly Pern (P. aculeatum), which has taken a very remarkable form. It grew in my own garden, and had been but recently transplanted from the woods; so that the change of soil and situation probably exercised an influence upon its growth. The lower half of this frond has all thev characters of P. aculeatum, and differs in no way from the rest of the fronds upon the plant ; but at this point it abruptly changes, and the upper half exactly resembles P. lonchitis, not only in general form, having short undivided pinnae, but even in the absence of brown scales upon the rachis. Whether this frond shows that aculeatum and lonchitis are permanent varieties of one species, as some botanists think, I do not venture to say. The other half of my frond way be only the variety that is known as lonchitidioides, but I have compared it over and over again with veritable lonchitis, and I can detect no difference.— Robert Holland, in Quart. Mag. High Wycombe Nat. Hist. Soc. Wolefia aerhiza. — To the localities named at p. 138 for this little plant, the following, from the last Report of the London Botanical Exchange Club, may be added : — " A pond in a large meadow on Apse Farm, near Sunbury Lock, between Walton- on-Thames and Moulsey Hurst, Surrey; also in a splash of water, very near the church, in the parish of East Moulsey, a short half-mile from Hampton Court station." — James Britten. Local Name of the Goosebeery. — Throughout a great part of Lancashire — all the district around Rochdale — the Gooseberry is always called " Fay- berry." You are asked to take "Fayberry pie," and the iword is in constant use. A correspondent writes to me that this word is an Anglo-Normanism, being derived from " faye," or " faie." Our older poets used the word " fay " for '' fairy." " Fay- berry " therefore means " fairyberry." He further remarks that our Lancashire men have retained the word, but have lost all tradition about it ; but in Ireland there is a tradition connecting the Goose- berry with a fairy, the Leprahawn, who is re- presented as pursuing his occupation seated on a Gooseberry bush, but apparently no corresponding name. It is remarkable that one other distant county has supplied us with a similar name for the Gooseberry, namely Norfolk, where it is called " feaps," " feabs," or " fabes." I should be much obliged to any correspondent who could tell us something more about the doings of this Irish fairy, and whether there is any Irish name for the Goose- berry tree which would connect it with fairies, or if any tradition yet exists in any part of England which would account for the name " fayberry." — Robert Holland. New Peziza. — At a meeting of the Linnean Society, March 18, Mr. W. G. Smith exhibited fresh specimens of a new British Peziza, P. (Discina) macrocalyx, found by Mr. J. A. Clarke, of Street, Somerset. Sctrpus parvulus. — Found last year "on mud flats at the mouth of the river Avoca, Wicklow, Ireland ; Mr. A. G. More and Mr. Charles Bailey. In the sixth edition of [ the 'London Catalogue/ Scirpus parvulus was placed in the list of excluded species, as it was believed to be extiuct in the only known British locality, namely, near Lymington, Hants, where it was found by the Bev. G. E. Smith about 1840; the discovery of this plant last summer, therefore, on the east coast of Ireland, by Mr. A. G. More, was a welcome surprise to British botanists." — Report, London Bot. Ex. Club for 1S6S. Mistletoe. — I quite agree with Mrs. Watney, that in spite of the customs of the Druids, the Mistletoe is eminently a Christmas berry now-a- days, and the owners of orchards where it grows reap quite a harvest from it at the merry season. It is almost unknown in the north as a native, but it comes to us in truck-loads by rail from Hereford- shire and Worcestershire, and its valued sprays are put in the most conspicuous place in our Christmas decorations. — Robert Holland. Wood - soerel, the true Shamrock. — I have heard it asserted that the true Shamrock of the Irish was the Oxalis Acetosella, our Wood-sorrel. It is a much prettier plant than either of the trefoils now said to be the Irish Shamrock, and one of the old English names given to the Wood-sorrel was Sour Trefoil. — Helen E. Watney. July 1, 1869.] HARDWlCKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 163 MICROSCOPY. The Microscope. — Whether for purely scientific, recreative, or educational purposes generally, the microscope supplies the most effective, perhaps, and certainly the most easily applied, amongst the num- berless agencies of the present day. To quote the eloquent words of one of the most eminent natural- ists : "Great and gorgeous as is the display of Divine power and wisdom in the things that are seen of all, it may safely be affirmed that a far more extensive prospect of these glories lay unheeded and unknown until the microscope revealed it. Like the work of some mighty genii of oriental fable, the brazen tube, through its crystal portals, exhibits a world of won- der and beauty before invisible, which one who has gazed upon it can^ never forget, and never ceases to admire." Nor is this all. The microscope teaches us to see a world in every atom, and that every grain of sand may harbour within it the tribes and the families of a busy population. It tells us that in the leaves of every forest, and iu the flowers of every garden, and in the waters of every rivulet, there are worlds teeming with life, and numberless as are the glories of the firmament. It can be used without a teacher. It is equally interesting to the child and to the man. It can be employed alike at home and abroad. Its instructions are the exhibition of facts ot the most astonishing variety and beauty. It un- folds, on the one hand, thg most recondite laws of science; and on the other, it illustrates the com- monest matters of every-day life. It fascinates the more it is cultivated. And all its revelations display the perfection and the glory of the works of God. — Circular of the State Microscopical Society of Illinois. Egek, Deposit. — There is a stratum, discovered by Ehrenberg at Soos, near Eger, in Bohemia, that consists almost entirely of the remarkable discoid forms of an oval figure, curved twice hi opposite directions, and from their resemblance to a shield, have been named by him Campylodiscus clypeus. When the learned Professor visited this country in 1841, he brought with him the first specimens that had been seen of this earth. The discs in almost every instance are very perfect, and in addition to their curious shapes, have markings worthy of notice. — Quekett' s Histology. [The Editor has a few slides of this deposit for exchange for any good mounted objects.] Lepisha saccharina. — " G. M." recommends a good cluster of scales viewed with an inch objec- tive and spot lens, as the best mode of exhibiting them. Scale of Dace. — We have already given figures of the scales of several of our common fresh-water fishes, and to these we add another, that of the Dace (Leuciscus vulgaris). It must always be re- membered that the dorsal and ventral scales will differ considerably in form, and that in preparing and mounting scales for the microscope it is prefer- able to have scales taken from different parts of the body. We -are compelled to rest content with figuring the prevalent form. We should be happy Fig. 122. Scale of Dace. to receive specimens of the scales of any of the less common fresh-water species, in order to continue this series. Careful and accurate identification in- dispensable. Mounting Small Insects. — 1 have adopted suc- cessfully the following plan of preparing and mount- ing very small insects for the microscope, such as parasites and acari from birds, beetles, &c. Having procured the parasite alive, I place it on the inside of a sheet of tolerably good note-paper, folded, and when in the act of running, I close the paper and press it tightly in a book, which, for -want of a better press, I put between two books hi my bookcase. By this means I find the legs, antenna?, &c, nicely extended, all the expressed moisture absorbed by the paper, and the skin apparently un- broken. I allow it to remain in the book about two days, when it is carefully removed from the paper, put into the turpentine bath, and afterwards mounted hi balsam in the usual way. — A. A., F. Q. M. C. — The annual excursion dinner of the Quekett Microscopical Club came off on the 23rd of June, at Leatherhead, with entire satisfaction to all parties concerned. Of course the toast of the evening was "The Quekett Microscopical Club," which was immediately succeeded by "The Royal Microscopical Society," acknowledged by Dr. Miller. This was one of the most successful of the social gatherings of the club, and those who were absent have reason to regret that they allowed the finest day of the season, and an excellent opportunity for enjoying themselves, to pass without recognition. 164 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [July 1, 1869. NOTES AND aUERIES. Missel-thrush and Missel-toe. — The missel- thrush or missel-toe thrush (Tardus viscivorus) is an Old World species, which has become much more common in the British isles within the memory of man. In some parts of this country it is familiarly known as the storm-cock. To "missel" signifies to smear, and the bird is understood, or supposed, to smear its toes with the viscid berries of the fa- miliarly known parasitic plant, which is accordingly denominated the "missel-toe." Which first ob- tained its ordinary vernacular designation, the bird or the plant, it would be difficult now to find out, nor does it overmuch matter. We do not remember that the formerly common word " missel" is retained in any other instance. — Land and Water, May 22, 1869. Maiden Trees (p. 113).— The barren oak-tree described by Mr. Dingley, in all probability produces only male flowers, the female flowers being entirely suppressed, or, if female flowers are produced, they are probably imperfect in some way. Either of these conditions is unusual, but quite possible, and an examination of the young shoots at the season of flowering would perhaps bring to light some curious facts. The oak is a monoecious tree, producing separate male and female flowers on the same branches ; but, probably in this one instance, the suppression of one set of sexual organs has been more fully carried out, and the Birmingham "Maiden Oak" has become, in fact, a dioecious tree. It would be well for those who can do so, to look out for other barren oak-trees, and observe the condition of the flowers, if any are ever produced. Though I have never noticed that certain oak-trees are barren, I have often remarked barrenness in individual hollies. I have seen trees which year after year produce vast quantities of flowers, but upon whose branches I know from experience it is always useless to seek for scarlet berries at Christmas-time. This lias puzzled me considerably, for the flowers were apparently perfect, having both stamens and pistils ; but upon comparing them with flowers from a fruit- bearing tree, 1 now find that the pistils are not fully developed, having ovaries, but no stigmas. I have not yet found one solitary perfect flower upon any of the barren holly-trees I have examined, and hardly an imperfect flower on any usually fruitful tree. These facts seem to show that in the holly there is an approach to a dioecious habit ; indeed, it may prove to be the case that fruitful trees are never self-impregnated, but receive the pollen from the barren trees through the agency of insects. — Robert Holland. Local Names of Butterflies (p. 110).— The working-men naturalists, of whom there are so many in the manufacturing towns of Lancashire and Cheshire, also make a distinction between white and coloured butterflies. They call the former " butterflies," the latter " red drummers." These men, pent up in t he mills all the week, go into the country on Saturday afternoons and on Sundays to collect. Many of them are well up in the Scientific names, and know the habits of each insect, what the caterpillar feeds on, how it " makes up," and when to look for the perfect insect; but they have generally a strange fancy for collecting certain species by hundreds and thousands, in order to make pictures of them. Tor this purpose the but- terflies are paved as close together as possible, often overlapping each other, in various patterns, forming, when the colours are well blended, a rich and beautiful mosaic. But not unfrequently they are worked up iuto a picture — a representation of George and the Dragon, Adam and Eve, or some such subjects, in frames three or four feet square. These are hung on the walls and are greatly valued. I cannot conjecture what can be the meaning or derivations of the Buckinghamshire name "hobhow- chins," unless "hob" has some connection with the fairies. The " huddieduddies " does not seem to me to express the soft slimy nature of a snail, but rather the round fat form ; for I have a vague re- collection of some childish riddle, the exact way of asking which I forget, but which had this rhyme in it, " Hoddy-doddy, All head and no body " ; the answer being "a snail." The word "hoddy," or as in Buckinghamshire "huddie," seems, I think, to refer to the snail's house being in the form of a hood. — Robert Holland. Notice. — A gentleman who has made a rock- work, planted with ferns, in the front of his house, near Winchester, has placed up the following notice, and found it efficient :— " Beggars, beware ! Scolopendriums and Polypodiums are set here." — Evening Star, May 29th, 1S69. Cats before a Storm. — " J. H." asks if cats are aware of an approaching storm? I am quite sure they are under atmospheric influence. I have three cats, and invariably notice that before a high wind they race in an excited manner about the house and grounds. — E. A. S. Cat and Puff-balls.— Our torn cat is_ very fond of both puff-balls and mushrooms ; he will eat either of them, and finds them out by scent directly they are brought into the room. — H. C. Leslie. Hybernation of Humble Bee. — Allow me to correct two errors which appeared in last number of Science-Gossip. At page 135, the 16th line, "in the insect tube," should have been "in the insect tribe." In the 27th line of the same page also, " definitive" should have been " depuratiye." — IF. Bevan Lewis. Leaf of Indian Pink.— I have just met with a somewhat curious, and I think not very common, transformation of a leaf of a seedling pink, in which the two edges of the leaf seem to have joined together, and form a kind of conical cup at the end of the stalk.— E. T. S. Otters.— If Mr. Middleton will refer to the last six or seven numbers of Land and Water, he will hardly find one without some account or other of Otters. May 15th, there is an account of a hunt by the Carlisle otter-hounds. — W. Priske. Cure for Whooping Cough.— I remember being told some years ago that in some parts of Sussex the dark hair cut off the cross on a donkey's back, chopped up finely and spread between bread and butter, is an infallible remedy for this malady, and has really been given by the poor to their children. This recipe, as well as the cure for jaun- dice mentioned in Science-Gossip of June, surely requires the greatest amount of faith on the part of both patient and nurse before their virtues could be of any efficacy, as they are both of so revolting a nature. — C. E. F., Redland, Bristol. July 1, 1869.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 165 More Light for Drawing— If "W. E. B.," Swansea, will buy a Bockett lamp, or else have one of the metal chimneys fitted on to an ordinary parafine lamp, he will get all the light he requires. But I fancy if he were to use Mr. Scantlebury's plan he would get more light still, as the mirror intensifies the light on the paper. I have found that Mr. Scantlebury's is the most perfect method for drawing ; but I have somewhat modified it, and clone away with the expense his apparatus would lie, by slipping off the mirror of my microscope and fitting it by means of a wine-bottle cork on to the stand of my condensing bull's-eye ; then I direct the rays of light through the object bv means of one of Collins' Bockett lamps— C. B.H. Microscopic Preparation. — ;"H. W." had better procure "The Microscope in Medicine" by Prof. L. Beale, where he will find all he requires respecting both transparent and opaque injection, treated at far greater length than the narrow limit of a reply in Science-Gossip would permit. The pro- bable cost at a second-hand book-shop would be about five shillings. — /. W. G. The Blood.— Mr. Scott's difficulty relative to the white corpuscles of the blood probably depends on the term white as applied to them. The more applicable term is colourless. A high authority states the relative proportions of the globules in the blood of the higher mammalia, to be one colourless to two or three hundred coloured. In man, however, we have reason to believe the colourless exist in far greater proportions. A case of anaemia (where the red are deficient in quantity) or of Leucocythcemia (where the colourless are actually, and not merely relatively, increased in quantity), will at once, by microscopic examination, satisfy Mr. Scott that these corpuscles really exist. For their detection he should rely on the following dis- tinctive features : — Colourless. Red. Sate) f ™th of au iuch- ^th of an inch- Form — Spherical. Biconcave, flattened discs. Cedents- {HSSaS} OMMbt The red have a great tendency to adhere in rouleaux ; hence, the colourless remain more or less isolated. The effects of osmosis may be readily remedied by employing a medium such as glycerine diluted to the same sp. gr. as that of Hsematoglobuline. — W. Bevan Lewis, L.R.C.P. (Loud.). Preservation of Insects. — If Mr. Alfred Allen, instead of dipping his moths in benzole, will try the following recipe, he will find that no insect what- ever will touch them. Dissolve corrosive sublimate in spirits of wine, adding the sublimate until a whitish deposit is formed upon a black feather dipped in the solution ; then add about one-sixth more spirits ; dip the moths in this, then drain off the fluid from the wings, and let them stand in a thorough draught to dry. — C. B. II. Boiled Lobsters.— Perhaps some of your readers can tell me why lobsters and prawns change colour when boiled. — F. G. Mountford. Management op Leeches. — You have had two or three paragraphs upon this subject. Years ago I used to have a good deal to do with them, and no way of treating them is more successful than, when they are taken off a patient, to put them on a plate with some brown sugar ; where they are left a short time and then washed. I have repeatedly re-used them in the course of a quarter of an hour or so. The keeping of them depends almost entirely in constant change of water, and well washing them from the skin or slime they throw off. — E. T. S. Suspended Moles.—" The mole-catchers are in the habit of suspending their victims on branches, mostly those of the willow, or similar trees ; but their object I never could make out, nor could they give me any reason, except that it was the custom." — (Wood's " Common Objects of the Country," p. 25.) The object the mole-catchers have in view is plain enough. They wish to let their employers see that they are attending to their duties, and attending to them successfully. In order to do this they sus- pend their victims in some public place on the farm, or in the village. In this neighbourhood the mole- catchers are in the habit of emptying their baskets by the roadsides in some public part of the village, where they can be easily seen. I have frequently seen them, and smelt them too. I have counted thirty in a heap. — /. Ranson, York. Vegetable Haiks. — Those interested in the hail's of plants as microscopic objects will find beautiful stellate examples on the under side of the leaves, and on the stems of Aralia papyri/era, the Chinese rice-paper plant, fine specimens of which may be seen in the Subtropical Gardens at Battersea Park. I have a small quantity of the leaf, and shall be glad to send some to any of your correspondents on receipt of address and stamps to cover postage. I have also a small quantity of pollen of Cobea scandens, and a few mounted slides of same for ex- change.— Fig. 147. Thuiaria thuia, magnified. b. capsule. Fig. nO. Thuiaria thuia, nat. size. Fig. 14S. Hydrallmnnniafaleata, magnified, a. capsule. cells, or calycles, are only on one side of the branches, closely crowded together (fig. 148), and the capsules are abundant in the spring, pear- shaped, a little ribbed longitudinally when dry, with slightly contracted tubular mouth (fig. 148, a). In all the remaining species which are included amongst Sertuiarians, the cells are projecting, and in rows on opposite sides 'of the stem. All the species which are now united in the genus Ser~ tulariella (with one exception) are very small. The cells are distinctly alternate, and usually at a greater distance apart than in the other groups. The mouths of the cells are always toothed, and are closed by a prominent operculum. The first species is the " Great Tooth Coralline " {Set -tulariella polyzonias), which is the commonest of all, and occurs on shells, seaweeds, and other zoophytes all around the coast. It is very variable in size, and in the form of the calycles, sometimes not more than half an inch in length, and sometimes forming plant -like masses. The cells have four teeth on the margin (fig. 149), and the capsules are ovate, and wrinkled transversely throughout then- length; the mouth of the capsules is tubular, sur- mounted by four teeth (fig. 149, a). The male and female capsules differ considerably in size and colour. -x. - Fig. 149. Sertulariella polyzonias, magnified, a. capsule. Another species with pinnate branches {Sertu- lariella Gayi) is found on the Cornish coast, and a few other localities. The cells are very similar, sometimes a little wrinkled transversely in this species, but the capsules are distinct, for the mouth is only two-lipped, and the upper half only of the capsule is transversely wrinkled. Mr. Alder found a third species as a parasite on zoophytes, brought in by Newcastle fishing- boats, but it is too rare to require further notice here. The "Snail Trefoil Coralline" {Sertulariella rugosa) is found on the " sea-mat," seaweeds, and other zoophytes. It is less than an inch in height, either erect or creeping. The cells are barrel- shaped, and ribbed transversely (fig. 150). The capsules are three or four times as large as the calycles, similarly shaped and ribbed, with a four- toothed orifice (fig. 150, a), one of the teeth being very minute. Two other species are rare {S. tenella and S.fusiformis), and both very small. The fifteen British species which are divided as equally as they can be between the two genera, Diphasia and Sertularia, might be classed artificially two or three ways into two divisions. For instance, some have the cells or calycles opposite each other in parts, others have them alternate. Again, although all are more or less branched, some have the branches pinnate, or arranged in a feathery manner, and in others the branching is forked or irregular. But the division into two genera which 200 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Sept. 1, 1869. Mr. Hincks lias followed is the one we feel most disposed to adopt even fur this superficial review. Fig. 150. Sertulariella rugosa, magnified, a. capsule. In the Diphasia group the calycles are more or less decidedly opposite, as they are also in half the species included in Sertularia, but the mouths of the cells in the former are either entire, or only obscurely toothed, whilst in the latter either two- lipped or pointed. The capsules differ in the two genera, although this character is of very little ser- vice in determining empty skeletons. In Dipkasia there is a spherical pouch in the upper portion of the'capsule which is absent in Sertularia. ■ Fig. 151. Diphasia rosacea, natural size. Of. the seven species of Diphasia, two are irregu- larly branched, two irregularly pinnate, and three decidedly pinnate. Of those branching irregularly, the smallest aud most delicate is the "Lily Coral- line " {Diphasia rosacea). The shoots are very slender and delicate (fig. 151), chiefly parasitic on other zoophytes. Its texture is thin, and the cells are subject to folding and wrinkling when dry on this account (fig. 152, a). The capsules have eight longitudinal ridges, ending in as many projections at the apex (fig. 152, h, e). This is usually minute, seldom exceeding one or two inches in height. The other irregularly branched species is the "Sea Tamarisk" {Diphasia tamarisca). It is of a robust habit, and often of a large size. The cells Fig-. 152. Diphasia rosacea, magnified, a. calycles; I. male capsule ; c. female capsule. have the upper half diverging, with a three-toothed aperture. The male capsules are the smallest, and somewhat heart-shaped, generally arranged in rows. The female capsules are larger, and much lacerated at the mouth. This species occurs on shells, &c, in deep water, and is not very common. The irregularly pinnate species are Diphasia attenuata and Diphasia fallax, neither of which is particularly common. The former bears some re- semblance to the Lily Coralline, save that it is of a firmer texture, and the cells do not shrivel in dry- ing. The capsules are strongly spiny at the apex, with six longitudinal ridges. Generally parasitic on other zoophytes. Diphasia fallax is feathery in its ordinary con- dition, and usually bears a number of curled tendrils. The steins are thick and dark coloured, with plumose branches. The calycles are tubular and diverging ; the capsules elongated, and surmounted by four stout spines. Hitherto found only on our northern coasts, attached to other zoophytes. Of the three remaining species, which have regu- larly pinnate branches, Diphasia alata is rare. The cells are very small and peculiar, with the upper portion projecting abruptly. The other two are Diphasia pinnata and Diphasia pinaster. The two forms described by Johnston and others as Sertularia pinnata and Sertularia nigra are now admitted to be male and female of D. pinnata. The height is often six inches or more, and of a dark colour when dry. The cells or calycles are rather small, springing but little from the stem, with a wide even mouth (fig. 153). The capsules are pro- Sept. 1, 1869.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 201 duccd freely, the male only one- third the size of the female, and bluntly toothed at the apex ; the female obovate and divided by longitudinal lines into four lobes. This species is almost confined to the coasts of Devon ami Cornwall, in deep water. Fig. 153. Diphasia pinnata, magnified. Diphasia pinaster, as now understood, includes also two species of Johnston, the male Sertuiaria pinaster, and the female Sertuiaria margareta. It attains from two to six inches in height, and is of a light horn colour. The cells or calycles are cylin- drical, the upper half very abruptly turned outwards, so as to cause a fold at the angle (fig. 151). The male capsules are ovate, and almost quadrangular in the upper portion, with a spine at each angle. The female capsule is oval, with four longitudinal ridges, and about eight divergent spines in two series on the upper half (fig. 151, a). It is not an uncommon species, and seems to be well distributed. Fig. 154. Diphasia pinaster, a. calycles; b. female capsule. The true Sertularias may be grouped in a similar manner. Four species have the cells more or less opposite in their arrangement, and only one of these has the branches regularly pinnate. This is S. filicula. Two species are very small and but slightly branched, and the other {S. operculata) is one of the commonest of zoophytes, and branches much and irregularly. The " Sea Hair Coralline " {Sertuiaria operculata) is very slender and delicate, the opposite calycles divergent, ending in a sharp point, with a small intermediate tooth (fig. 155). The capsules Fig. 155. Sertuiaria operculata. a. natural size; b. magnified. are pear-shaped and large, with a circular lid (fig. 156). It is parasitic on seaweeds a little below low-water mark, and may nearly always be picked up on the shore. The "Sea Oak Coralline" {Sertuiaria pumila) is seldom more than half an inch in height, and yet it attaches itself in such clusters to some of the larger seaweeds as almost to cover their stems. The calycles are in pairs forming a V-shaped figure. The capsules are ovate, with a tubular rim. This and its ally, Sertuiaria gracilis, are Fig-. 156. Capsule of the tWO Small and slightly Sertuiaria operculata. branched species above alluded to. The latter is not more than half the size of its companion species, more delicate, and quite trans- parent. The cells are alike in form, but smaller. The capsule has a narrower neck and is less rimmed. Both are equally common on seaweeds and other zoophytes. The " Fern Coralline " {Sertuiaria filicula), as already observed, has feathery branches, and oppo- sitely arranged cells, or calycles (fig. 158). It is more slender and delicate than the majority of the pinnate 202 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Sept. 1, 1869. zoophytes. "It is cast on shore in large, tangled masses, and may be known at once by its zigzag stems, its peculiar colour, and its exquisite delicacy." if '■■"- ■ *4=; % . Fig. 157. Sertularia pumila. a. natural size; 4. magnified. The'calycles are flask-shaped, and the capsules pear- shaped, with a short tubular mouth (fig. 158, a). Fig. 158. Sertularia filinula, magnified, a. capsule. Eour species of Sertularia have the calycles alternate; two of these have branches pinnately arranged, and two have the branches much divided into secondary branchlets. Of the pinnate species, one {Sertularia fused) is rare, smaller than the other, with the calycles in two rows, the mouths of the calycles turning alternately in opposite directions. The other, called the " Sea Fir Coralline " {Sertularia abietina), is sometimes a foot in height. The calycles are large, flask-shaped, with the mouths turned out- wards and upwards (fig. 100). The capsules are ovate, with a short mouth, and smooth, or slightly wrinkled transversely when dry (fig. 160, a). Very common on shells, &c, from deep water. The two remaining species have slender stems, with short branches somewhat spirally arranged. The branches again are much subdivided. The " Squirrel's Tail Coralline " {Sertularia argentea) is the smaller of the two, the branches more rigid FA* Fig. 159. Sertularia obiethiu, natural size. and erect. The calycles are shorter, swollen below, with a bent aperture, pointed on one side Fig. 1 60. Sertularia abietina . a. calycles; b. capsule, magnified. (fig. 161, a). This is the most common species on shells fiom deep water. Fig. iGl. Sertularia argentea. a. calycles; 6. capsule. Sept. 1, 1869.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 203 The " Sea Cypress " {Sertularia cupressina) lias long wiry stems, the branches drooping and less rigid than in the " Squirrel's Tail." The calycles are longer, tubular, and with a two-lipped aperture (fig. 102, a). Thecapsules are similar in both species, rather more cylindrical in this than the former, with two spines at the upper end, and a prominent mouth (fig. 162, h). Fig;. 162. Sertularia cupressina. a. calycles; b. capsule. These brief characters with accompanying figures will, we hope, enable anyone to name such specimens of the Sertul avians as he may collect during his rambles on the shore. We have purposely omitted all description or reference to the living animals, as foreign to our present purpose ; but those who desire to pursue the study, and become better ac- quainted with these interesting organisms, we refer, with confidence, to the Rev. T. Hincks's " History of Hydroid Zoophytes," recently published by Van Voorst ; or an article on " Sertularian Zoophytes," by the same author, in the last number of the Popular Science Review. SEA ANEMONES * rpHE modern aquarium exposes the spectator to -*- many wonderful surprises. Coiled up against the transparent crystal walls of the basin he ob- serves living creatures of the most brilliant shades of colour, and more resembling flowers than animals. Supported by a solid base and cylindrical stem, he sees them terminate like the corolla of a flower, as in the petals of the anemone : these are the animals we call Sea Anemones — curious zoophytes, which, as all persons familiar with the seashore may have observed, are now seen sus- pended from the rocks, and presently buried at the bottom of the sea, or floating on its surface. These charming and timid creatures are also called * Extracted from the " Ocean World," translated from the French of Louis Figuier, and published by Messrs. Chapman & Hall, to whose kindness we are also indebted for the illus- trations to this article. Actinia, as indicating their disposition to form rays or stars, from the Greek clktIv, a ray. The body of these animals is cylindrical in form, terminating beneath in a muscular disk, which is generally large and distinct, enabling them to cling vigorously to foreign bodies. It terminates above in an upper disk, bearing many rows of tentacles, which differ from each other only in their size. These tentacles are sometimes decorated with brilliant colours, forming a species of collarette, consisting of contractile and often retractile tubes, pierced at their points with an orifice, whence issue jets of water, which is ejected at the will of the animal. Arranged in multiples of circles, they dis- tribute themselves with perfect regularity round the mouth. These are the arms of this species of zoophyte. The mouth of the Actinia opens among the tentacles. Oval in form, it communicates by means of a tube with a stomach, broad and short, which descends vertically, and abuts by a large opening on the visceral cavity, the interior of which is di- vided into little cells or chambers. These cells and chambers are not all of the same dimensions ; in parting from the cylindrical walls of the body, they advance, the one increasing, the others getting smaller, in the direction of the centre. Moreover, they have many kinds of cells, which dispose them- selves in their different relations with great regularity — their tentacula, which correspond with them, being arranged in circles radiating more or less from the centre. The stomach of the sea anemones fulfils a multi- tude of functions. At first it is the digestive organ ; it is also the seat of respiration ; and is un- ceasingly moistened by the water, which it passes through, imbibes, and ejects. The visceral cavity absorbs the atmospheric air contained in the water ; for the stomach is also a lung, and through the same organ it ejects its young ! In short, the reproductive organs, the eggs, and the larvse are all connected with the tentacles or arms. In the month of September the eggs are fecundated, and the larvae or embryos developed. As Eredol says in " La Monde de la Mer," " these animals bear their young, not upon their arms, but in their arms. The larvaj generally pass from the tentacula into the stomach, and are afterwards ejected from the mouth along with the rejecta of their food — a most singular formation, in which the stomach breathes and the mouth serves the purposes of accouche- ment— facts which it would be difficult to believe on other than the most positive evidence." "The daisy- like anemones [Sagartia bellis, Gosse) in the Zoological Gardens of Paris," says Eredol, " frequently throw up little embryos, which are dispersed, and attach themselves to various parts of the aquarium, and finally become miniature anemoues exactly like the parent. Au actinia 204 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Sept. 1, 1S69. Pig. 163. Sea Anemones. 1,2,3. Actinia sulcata, 4. Phymactes St. Helena. 5. Actinia capensis. 6. Actinia Peruviana. 7. Actinia St. Catharinx. 8. Actinia amethystina. 9. Comactis viridis. which had taken a very copious repast ejected a portion of it about twenty-four hours later, and in the middle of the ejected food were found thirty- eight young individuals." According to Dalyell, an accouchement is here a fit of indigestion. The lower class of animals have, in fact, as the general basis of their organization, a sac with a single opening, which is applied, as we have seen, to a great variety of uses. It receives and rejects ; it swallows and it vomits. The vomiting becomes necessary and habitual — the normal condition, in short, of the animal — and is perhaps a source of pleasure to it, for it is not a malady, but a func- tion, and even a function multiplied. In the sea anemone it expels the excrement, and lays its eggs; in others, as we have seen, it even serves the pur- poses of respiration; so that the animal flowers may probably be said to enjoy their regular and periodi- cal vomit. The sea anemones multiply their species in another manner. On the edge of their base certain bud-like excrescences may often be observed. These buds are by-and-by transformed into embryos, which detach themselves from the mother, and soon become individuals in all respects resembling her. This mode of reproduction greatly resembles some of the vegetative processes. Another and very singular mode of reproduction has been noted by Mr. Hogg in the case of Actinia ceillet. Wishing to detach this anemone from the aquarium, this gen- tleman used every effort to effect his purpose ; but only succeeded, after violent exertions, in tearing the lower part of the animal. Six portions remained attached to the glass walls of the aquarium. At the end of eight days, attempts were again made to detach these fragments ; but it was observed, with much surprise, that they shrank from the touch and contracted themselves. Each of them soon became crowned with a little row of tentacula, and finally each fragment became a new anemone. Every part of these strange creatures thus becomes a separate being when detached, while Sept. ], 1SC9.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 20c 1. Actinia dianthus. Eig. 164. Sea Anemones. 2. Cereus qemmaceus. 3. Actinia bicolor. 4. Sagartia viduata. 5. Cereus papillosus. 7. Actinia equina. 8. Sagartia rosea. 9. Sagartia coccinea. 6. Actinia picta. the mutilated mother continues to live as if nothing had happened. In short, it Las long been known that the sea anemones may be cut limb from limb, mutilated, divided, and subdivided. One part of the body cut off is quickly replaced. Cut off the tentacles of an actinia, and they are replaced in a short time, and the experiment may be repeated in- definitely. The experiments made by M. Trembley, of Geneva, upon the fresh-water polypi were repeated by the Abbe Dicquemare in the sea anemones. He mutilated and tormented them in a hundred ways. The parts cut off continued to live, and the mutilated creature had the power of repro- ducing the parts of which it had been deprived. To those who accused the Abbe of cruelty in thus torturing the poor creatures, he replied that, so far from being a cause of suffering to them, " he had increased their term of life, and renewed their youth." The Acthdadce vary in their habitat from pools near low-water mark to eighteen or twenty fathoms water, whence they have been dredged up. " They adhere," says Dr. Johnston, "to rocks, shells, and other extraneous bodies by means of a glutinous secretion from their enlarged base, but they can leave their hold and remove to another station whensoever it pleases them, either by gliding along with a slow and almost imperceptible movement (half an inch in five minutes), as is their usual method, or by reversing the body and using the tentacula for the purpose of feet, as Reaumur asserts, and as I have once witnessed ; or, lastly, inflating the body with water, so as to render it more buoyant, they detach themselves, and are driven to a distance by the random motion of the waves. They feed on shrimps, small crabs, whelks, and similar shelled mollusca, and probably on all animals brought within their reach whose strength or agility is insufficient to extricate them from the grasp of their numerous tentacula; for as these organs can be inflected in any direction, and greatly lengthened, they are capable of being applied to 206 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Sept. 1, 1S69. every point, and adhere by suction with consider- able tenacity, throwing out, according to Gaertuer, of their whole surface a number of extremely minute suckers, which, sticking fast to the small protuberances of the skin, produce the sensation of roughness, which is so far from being painful that it even cannot be called disagreeable. " The size of the prey is frequently in unseemly disproportion to the preyer, being often equal iu bulk to itself. I had once brought me a specimen of A. crassicornis, that might have been originally two inches in diameter, which had somehow con- trived to swallow a valve of Pecten maximus of the size of an ordinary saucer. The shell, fixed within the stomach, was so placed as to divide it com- pletely iuto two halves, so that the body, stretched tensely over, had become thin and flattened like a pancake. All communication between the inferior portion of the stomach and the mouth was of course prevented ; yet, instead of emaciating and dying of atrophy, the animal had availed itself of what undoubtedly had been a very untoward accident, to increase its enjoyment and its chance of double fare. A new mouth, furnished with two rows of numerous tentacula, was opened up on what had been the base, and led to the under stomach ; the individual had indeed become a sort of Siamese twin, but with greater intimacy aud extent in its unions ! " The sea anemones pass nearly all their life fixed to some rock, to which they seem to have taken root. There they live a sort of unconscious and obtuse existence, gifted with an instinct so obscure that they are not even conscious of the prey in their vicinity until it is actually iu contact, when it seizes it in its mouth and swallows it. Nevertheless, though habitually adherent, they can move, gliding and creeping slowly by successive contractile and relaxing movements of the body, extending one edge of their base and relaxing the opposite one. At the approach of cold weather the Actinia-dec descend into the deepest water, where they find a more agreeable temperature. We have said that the sea anemones are scarcely possessed of vital instinct ; but they are capable of certain voluntary movements. Under the influence of light, they expand their tentacles as the daisy displays its florets. If the animal is touched, or the water is agitated in its neighbourhood, the tenta- cles close immediately. These tentacles appear occasionally to serve the purpose of offensive arms. The hand of the man who has touched them becomes red and inflamed. M. ITollard has seen small mackerel, two to three inches long, perish when touched by the tentacles of the Green Actinia (Comactis viridis, Allman). This is a charming little animal ; " the brilliancy of its colours and the great elegance of its tentacula crown when fully expanded," says Professor Allman, "render it eminently attractive ; hundreds may often be seen in a single pool, and few sights will be retained with greater pleasure by the naturalist than that pre- sented by these little zoophytes, as they expand their green and rosy crowns amid the algae, millepores, and plumy corals, co-tenants of their rock-covered vase." The toxological properties of the Actinia have been attributed to certain special cells full of liquid; but M. Hollard believes that these effects are neither constant enough nor sufficiently general to constitute the chief function of these organs, which are found in all the species aud over their whole surface, external and internal. Though quite in- capable of discerning their prey at a distance, the sea anemone seizes it with avidity when it comes to offer itself up a victim. If some adventurous little worm, or some young and sluggish crustacean, hap- pens to ruffle the expanded involucrum of an actinia in its lazy progress through the water, the animal strikes it at once with its tentacles, and instinctively sweeps it into its open mouth. This habit may be observed in any aquarium, and is a favourite spec- tacle at the " Jardin d'Acclimitation " of Paris at noon on Sunday and Wednesday, when the aquatic animals are fed. Small morsels of food are thrown into the water. Prawns, shrimps, and other crusta- ceans and zoophytes inhabiting this medium chase the morsels as they sink to the bottom of the basin; but it is otherwise with the Actinia ; the morsels glide downwards within the twentieth part of an inch of their crown without its presence being sus- pected. It requires the aid of a propitious wand, directed by the hand of the keeper, to guide the food right down on the animal. Then its arms or tentacles seize upon the prey, and its repast com- mences forthwith. The Actinia are at once gluttonous and voracious. They seize their food with the help of the tentacula, and engulf in their stomach, as we have seen, sub- stances of a volume and consistence which contrast strangely with their dimensions and softness. Iu less than an hour M. Hollard observed that one of these creatures voided the shell of a mussel, and disposed of a crab all to its hardest parts ; nor was it slow to reject these hard parts, by turning its stomach inside out, as one might turn out one's pocket, in order to empty it of its contents. We have seen in Dr. Johnston's account of A. crassi- cornis that when threatened with death by hunger, from having swallowed a shell which separated it into two halves, at the end of eleven days it had opened a new mouth, provided with separate rows of tentacula. The accident which, in ordinary animals, would have left it to perish of hunger, be- came in the sea anemone the source of redoubled gastronomical enjoyment. " The anemones," Fredol tells us, " are voracious and full of energy ; nothing escapes their gluttony ; Sept. 1, 1869.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 207 every creature which approaches them is seized, en- gulfed, and devoured. Nevertheless, with all the power of their mouth, their insatiable stomachs cannot retain the prey they have swallowed. In certain circumstances it contrives to escape, in others it is adroitly snatched away by some neigh- bouring marauder more cunning and more active than the anemone. " It is sometimes observed in aquariums that a shrimp, which has seen the prey devoured from a distance, will throw itself upon the ravisher, and audaciously wrest the prey from him and devour it before his eyes, to his great disappointment. Even when the savoury morsel has been swallowed, the shrimp, by great exertions, succeeds in extracting it from the stomach. Seating itself upon the extended disk of the anemone, with its small feet it prevents the approach of the tentacles, at the same time that it inserts its claws into the digestive cavity and seizes the food. In vain the anemone tries to con- tract its gills and close its mouth. Sometimes the conflict between the sedentary zoophyte and the vagrant crustacean becomes serious. When the former is strong and robust, the aggression is repelled, and the shrimp runs the risk of supple- menting the repast of the anemone." If the Actinias are voracious, they can also sup- port a prolonged period of fasting. They have been known to live two and even three years without having received any nourishment. Although the sea anemone is said to be delicate eating, man derives very little benefit from them in that respect. In Provence, Italy, and Greece the Green Actinia is in great repute, and Dicquemare speaks of A. crassicornis as delicate food. " Of all the kinds of sea anemones, I would prefer this for the table ; being boiled some time in sea-water, they acquire a firm and palatable consistence, and may then be eaten with any kind of sauce. They are of an inviting appearance, of a light shivering texture, and of a soft white and reddish hue. Their smell is not unlike that of a warm crab or lobster." Dr. Johnston admits the tempting description, and does not doubt their being not less a luxury than the sea urchins of the Greeks, or the snails of the Roman epicures, but he was not induced to test its truth, Rondeletius tells us, having, as Dr. John- ston thinks, A. crassicornis in view, that it brings a good price at Bordeaux. Actinia dianthits also is good to eat, quoth Dicquemare, and Plancus directs the cook to dress it after the manner of dressing oysters, with which it is frequently eaten. Actinia corincea is found in the market at Rochefort during the months of January, February, and March. Its flesh is said to be both delicate and savoury. Bkitish Association. — The meeting for next year (1870) will be held at Liverpool, under the presidency of Professor Huxley. ELOWERS OE THE OCEAN. " Thou boundless, shining;, glorious sea, With ecstasy I gaze on thee, And as I gaze, thy billowy roll Wakes the deep feelings of my soul." From the German. npilE study of ocean flowers, commonly called sea- -*- tceeds, is a very interesting one, and attractive even to those who only seek the excitement of look- ing on pretty things. Now, when the town is every- where emptying itself of its living inhabitants, and casting them on the seashore, one may hope to be forgiven even for indulging in a little commonplace gossip about the very common things to be found in such localities. Alga?, or seaweeds, are distinguished by their colour. They are divided into three classes— the red, the olive, and the green : I dare say some of my readers will here exclaim, as a young lady friend of mine at Tenby did, "Why, olive is a shade of green!" True, but neither olive nor green are primary colours. Green is a secondary colour formed by a combination of blue and yellow, and the olive-coloured seaweeds, the Melanospermai, which grow upon rocks, exposed to the rise and fall of the tides, belong to a different class, to the CMorosperma or green Alga;. Although I repudiate all intention of attempting to be learned in this paper, I must begin my description in clue form ; therefore take one of the olive-coloured weeds of the order Fucaccce. Fig. 165. Halidrys siliijuosa, nat. size. There is a little bushy-tufted, olive-coloured sea- plant, found on the rocks, called Halidrys siliquosa, a nice long name ; but I really never heard a local 208 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Sept. 1, 1869. or English one given to this weed. It is very plentiful on the "Welsh coast, and is interesting to the naturalist on account of the numberless small zoophytes that are to be met with on its fronds. Its air-vessels resemble pods, and from this likeness comes the specific name of Siliquosa ; " Halidrys " being taken from two Greek words signifying oak- trees, and certainly the tiny tufts fixed on the stones at low-water mark by an expanded disk do resemble Lilliputian oak-trees. The beautiful fairy -like plumes of the Plumularia crisiata are found on this seaweed in full perfection. I have seen some of these delicate zoophytes in an aquarium, but they never live long in one. When staying at Little Hampton on the Sussex coast a few years ago, 1 used to amuse myself by collecting all the seaweeds and uncommon objects of the seashore, for they were mostly novel to me then, that I could fiud, and, keeping them for a short time in sea-water, which I carefully changed every day, to study their wonderful construction at my leisure. I think I must have filled all the finger- glasses at the Beech Hotel with my specimens. The kind old landlady humoured my invalid fancies, and the window-seats and tables in my drawing- room looked, when the sun was shining on these impromptu aquariums, rather like a chemist's shop. The colours of some of the sea anemones are singu- larly lovely ; they are aptly called living flowers, Antlwzoa. I shall never forget a Crass I found there. When very anxious for its dinner — that is, fully extended — its tentacles expanded to their utmost length, it nearly filled a finger-glass, and looked exactly like a magnificent blossom. It was difficult to believe that the thing was a living creature, that it moved and eat ; but had I placed it in a larger glass, it would soon have left the stone on which I found it, and which I brought it home on, for some other place in the aquarium. It is interesting to watch a" Crass" free itself; but you must not attempt to remove it by force, as its base is very sensitive, and therefore the chances are ten to one that you will injure it by trying to detach it. I kept a " Crass " for some time in a large globe ; had it by itself, for the " Crass" is not an amiable individual, and is apt to kill any other creatures who live in the same aquarium, such as prawns or shrimps ; besides it sulks, and it is not strong, and if it, in a fit of temper, makes up its mind, perverse animal, to die, it poisons the water, and the poor anemones suffer. I lost some very nice " Mes " once in this way. I had bought a large glass aquarium of Mr. Alford Lloyd, and I drove out to Southsca to fill it. I knew I could find some of the Actinia Mesembryanthemum, called for brevity "Mes" there. I had a "Crass," sole occupant of this large Crystal Palace. My Crass sulked, he shut up, he evidently disliked the Actinia, and, to make short this history, he died in the aquarium, and most of my pretty sea-flowers followed his bad example. The Sea thong, as the fishermen call the Riman- thalia lorea, is a curved cup-shaped seaweed; its long, strap-shaped, branched filaments' spring from the middle of a small green cup, and though it is by no means an ornamental object in one's collec- tion, still, for the sake of its quaintness, I say get a specimen. It is very common. The red weeds are the most beautiful when mounted, therefore collectors (misnamed) who only care to bring away with them little scraps of pretty coloured weed, mostly seek for Bonnemaisonia and Plocamium, varied by an occasional bit of grass- green Viva or Cladopliora, throwing aside all the more sombre-lmed specimens of the olive-green class, such as I have already described. Fig. 166. Plocamium coccineum. Of all the favourite "weeds" which the casual visitor picks up and carries home as a memento of the sea, none is more beautiful or common than that which botanists call Plocamium coccineum. It is of a beautiful crimson hue, when growing in deep water, but very soon after it has been cast on the shore it loses its brilliancy, becomes bleached by the sun, and ultimately subsides into a dirty white. Darker in colour, perhaps less common, more feathery, but scarcely less beautiful, is Lasya coccinea. But the large leaf-like fronds of the Delessaria sanguined, more like delicate crimson oak-leaves, and as large as oak-leaves, are regarded as a treasure, especially if the form and colour approach to perfection, and the margin is compara- tively unbroken. But, alas ! during the calm sunny weather when the citizen seeks the shore the treasures of the deep are not cast up in such pro- fusion as during the blustering days of March, and such "fair-weather sailors" are compelled to rest content with what they may find, and be thankful. Sept. 1, 1S69.] IIARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 209 But to return to the more sombre weeds, after this long digression. The common Wrack is another member of the fucus tribe, and there is not a child who has been at the seaside but knows this seaweed, aud has probably tried some experiments with it in the frightening line on a nervous nurse or youuger sister, by slyly throwing a handful of its dark air- vessels into the fire. It is easily distinguished by these same air-ves- sels on the fronds, and a midrib which runs up the centre of the frond, although there is another algea very like it, the Fucus nodosus, but in this last the midrib is wanting. The Wrack is to be met with on every coast. It is the most common, and I may add the most useful, of all seaweeds. It covers the rocks at the Mum- bles, and lines the beach with a dark fringe of brown all along Carmarthen Bay ; I made its acquaintance there early in life, and ;having been told by an old sailor on the sands to carry a basket- ful home, and put it on the kitchen fire " when the cook had turned her back," like a good, obedient little girl, followed his directions. Cook was dishing up when I entered her domain, and stared at my unexpected appearance ; but, thinking I had come in late from the beach, and wished to place my basket in the kitchen, turned her back to deposit a couple of fowls on the dresser, when into the fire went the " Bladder-wrack." Poor cook ! the heat of the kitchen, and sundry cordials which she took for " the spasms," had made her nerves weak ; she gave a loud scream as the wrack exploded, and let the dish, fowls and all, drop on the floor. I scam- pered off in mortal terror, and dined, I remember, that day iu a lumber room on bread and water, mentally blessing the old sailor for his sage advice. The Scotch and Irish are much better acquainted with the valuable properties of this seaweed jthan the Welsh are ; they use the " Kelp-ware " and "Black-tang" (as they term it) on their farms and potato-gardens — it makes capital manure ; but in Wales it is allowed [to dry upon the shore, wasting its iodine on the desert air. Darwin, writing of this fucus at Tierra del Fuego, says that it has saved many a ship from being wrecked on that most dan- gerous coast, by marking out the sunken rocks to which it clings. It floats like a buoy on the surface of the water, rendering useful service to navigators. When looking for seaweeds and sea anemones, I always make a practice of poking up everything in the shape of shell that comes in my way. I bring home "a vast amount of rubbish," doubtless, as a person once, more truthfuly than politely, told me ; still I find many grains of wheat in the chaff. I assure you it does well for the experienced and scientific who have a good collection to pass by with a shrug of mild contempt the ignorant health- seeking, sand-grubbing mortal who carries a heavy wallet, but depend on it the best way to gain enjoy- ment and instruction at the seashore is to bring home all you find, then study, class, and arrange them in your own den. There are many useful in- expensive books to be had which will aid the young student, but I very strongly advise people to use their own eyes, watch the living specimens, note down all they observe, and then compare their ex- perience with the knowledge recorded by others. Helen E. Watney. ZOOLOGY. The Scallop (Pecten ope rcularis).— As a proof of the tenacity of life possessed by this species, a fisherman assured me that he once put a quantity in a bag into a cupboard aud forgot them, till, after the lapse of a week, turning them out he found them alive. — "A Year at the Shore." The Eeathee. Star (Comatula rosacea). — Li in- fancy the Feather star is seated at the extremity of a long slender jointed stalk, attached at its lower end, whence it rises erect, like a plant. Indeed the whole animal, in this condition, with its cup-like base and elegantly incurving arms, seated on its tall stem, has so close a resemblance of outline to a flower, that the fossil specimens, which are very numerous, and of large size, are known as Lily- stones, and technically as Encrinites, which word has the same allusion. After a while the radiating portion, or flower, separates from the stalk, and swims freely, contracting its arms to give the im- pulse, in the manner of a Medusa. — P. H. Gosse, "At the Shored Wonders oe the Deep.— One haul of our dredge in the soft warm oozy chalk mud off the North of Scotland brought up from a depth of 500 fathoms upwards of forty specimens of vitreous sponges. Many of these were new to science, and some of them resembled closely the beautiful " Venus's flower-basket " of the Philippines, while among them were probably two species of Hyalonema, the strange "glass-rope sponge" of Japan. Eour specimens of this wonderfu new form of vitreous sponge were brought up in this haul. They were loaded with their glairy sarcode, and had evidently been buried in the ooze nearly to the lip. — Prof. JF. Thomson, in Ann. Nat. Hist. Curious Egg.— I have in my possession a very curious variety of the Yellow-hammer's egg ; it is not more than half the size of the Gold-crest's egg, of a dirty white, mottled over with yellowish buff, and spotted at the small end with ash colour. It was taken by a friend of mine from a nest which contained four eggs; the remaining three were all of the usual colour.—/. JF., Brighton. 210 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Sept. 1, 1S69. Sturgeon in the Wye.— I understand from Mr. Alexander Miller, lessee of the Duke of Beau- fort's salmon fisheries in the Wye, that a Sturgeon was caught on Tuesday last at Tintern abbey, a few miles above Chepstow. The fish was seven feet long and weighed 128 pounds. — F. Buckland, in "Land and Water." The Common Pea Crab {Pinnotheres pisum) is an inhabitant of our own coasts, and frequently found residing within the shell of the common edible mussel ; but it is very remarkable that the female crabs are very much more numerous than the males, and that, although the male crab may be at times captured at a distance from his strange lodging, we know of no instance of a female being taken in any situation but within the shell of some mollusc. — Crab, Shrimp, and Lobster Lore. Defence of Colias.— I must say a word in defence of my friends the Colias butterflies. The writer of a paragraph in the Dec, 1SGS, number of Science-Gossip mentions having caught fourteen specimens of the Edusa in one week. Now, although they may occasionally be comparatively common in the south of England, it is not always the case, and in some parts, including the locality from which I write, the Edusa is scarce, and the Hyale or Europome much more so. I have never seen one of the latter on the wing. Considering how many enemies they already have in birds and cold winters, not to include the wanton destruction by boys, it does seem a pity to kill so many, when probably a much smaller number would suffice the collector, if carefully caught ; and I think your cor- respondent must have done his best to exterminate the Edusa for the present from the neighbourhood he mentions. As the pursuit of natural history becomes increasingly popular, it behoves all true lovers of nature to set the example of preserving, rather than destroying, the rarer kinds of both plants and animals. — Falmouth, Aug. 9th, 1SG9. Sand Worm {Pectinaria Belgica). — "On the outside sands," says Professor Kingsley, "between the end of the Marina and the Martello tower (at Hastings), you may find at very low tides great numbers of a sand tube, about three inches long, standing up out of the sand. I do not mean the tubes of the Terebella, so common in all sands, which are somewhat flexible, and have their upper end fringed with a ragged ring of sandy arms; those I speak of are straight and stiff, and ending in a point upward. Draw them out of the sand— they wdl offer some resistance— and put them into a vase of water ; you will see the worm inside expand two delicate golden combs, just like old-fashioned back- hair combs, of a metallic lustre, which will astonish you. With these combs the worm seems to burrow head downward into the sand ; but whether he always remains in that attitude I cannot say. His name is Pectinaria Belgica. He is an annelid, or true worm, connected with the serpulse and the sabellse, and holds himself in his case like them, by hooks and bristles set on each ring of his body. In confinement he will probably come out of his case and die, when you may dissect him at your leisure, and learn a great deal more about him thereby than (I am sorry to say) I know." Brighton Anemones.— Of tbe Actiniadte severa species are found on our coast, or are procured by dredging. Anthea cereus is here obtained of a green colour ; its numerous tentacles, which are not re- tractile, are tipped with purple. It is, for an actinia, active in its habits, and very voracious. Of Sagartia we have six species, namely S. troglodytes, which is found on rocks between tide marks, fre- quently in the deserted holes bored by the pholas, S. aurora and S. Candida ; also S. parasitica, whose favourite place of abode is on the shell inhabited by the hermit crab, or on Pecten maximus ; S. bellis and Actinoloba dianthus, formerly called Sagartia dianthus, which is generally considered the hand- somest of the British species. A. dianthus is gregarious, being frequently found in considerable numbers in the coralline zone, or on scallop or oyster beds. It also frequents pools between tide marks. Sagartia bellis is also gregarious. Of this species there are six varieties. The genus Bunodes derives its name from its rough and warty skin. We have three species— namely, B. Gemmacea, B. clavata, and B. crassicornis, the largest of our sea anemones, and the most common of the genus. It is generally found near low-water mark The species of Actinia most common on our coast is A. mesembryanthemum, which is abundant between tide marks. Six varieties, distinguished, as in the case of the other Actiniadce, by their colour, have been found along our coast by Mr. Pike. A. mar- garitifera has also been found here, but is less common. — Merrifield's Nat. Hist, of Brighton. Badger in Cornwall. — One day last month a fine badger was captured [in Burnewhall cliffs, St. Buryan, Cornwall. I fear before very long they will become extinct in many parts of the country. I have not heard of one being met with in Cornwall till now for some years. — LL. Budge. Collas edusa in Reading.— On the morning of the 24th of last month I had the pleasure of seeing close to our town a dozen of the above insect, and of capturing one of them, a male. As Mr. Stainton in his "Manual of British Butterflies and Moths " does not give us Berkshire in his list of places where it has been met with, this new locality for the " clouded yellow " may be of interest to some of your many subscribers. — Henry Moses, M.D., Bainton House, Reading. Sept. 1, 1SG9.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 211 BOTANY. Toad Elax.— There is a little insignificant plant, the Ivy-leaved Toad Elax {Linaria cymbalaria), which at this season of the year is well worth searching out for the sake of observing a curious habit, which it exhibits in regard to the preserva- tion of its seed. It is common enough wherever there are rough stone walls or ruinous buildings ; for although it is said to have been originally a native of Italy, it has found the climate and air of England so congenial that it has gradually spread over the whole country. One thing is certain, wherever it has chanced to establish itself it flour- ishes in the greatest luxuriance and ripens its seed abundantly. Now, as the wall or building on which it grows is usually perpendicular, and the plant, raised several feet above the ground, extends its flowers some two or three inches away from the wall, it seems at first sight almost impossible for the seed to be preserved. Stretched out at the end of a stiff wiry thread, it is nevertheless a necessity of its nature that it should germinate in the wall itself, not merely because that is its proper habitat, but if it dropped straight to the ground it would (like the seed in the parable) be trodden under foot or else be scorched up for lack of moisture. To preserve its progeny from so disastrous a fate, this humblest of flowering plants is endowed with a property which really seems analogous to the instinct of the animal. No sooner have the organs of fructification done their work and withered away, than the stalk, now supporting ^the seed capsule, begins to bend away from the light, very slowly and imperceptibly, but appreciably, if watched from day to day : gradually it twists completely round, and the seed vessel faces the wall. But this is not sufficient: the office of the pedicel is not accomplished until its precious burden is placed in safety. Eor this purpose it draws close to the face of the wall or building, and then actually seems to search out a rough chink or hollow, into which it may thrust the capsule, in order that the seeds may find a secure resting-place when separated from the parent plant. Similar instances of vegetable instinct — similar, that is, in principle, though not so striking in effect— may be seen in two other plants of a widely different nature. The cyclamen takes its name (Greek Kuklos, a circle) from the fact of the flower- stalk curling into a close spiral, in the midst of which the seed-vessel lies snug and safe under the shelter of the leaves, from whence by degrees it works its way into the soil. The African earth- nut (Arachis hypogcca), one of the papilionaceous plants, allied to our horse-shoe vetch and coronillas, is largely cultivated by the negroes for the sake of its pod, which is an important article of food, and is dug by them out of the earth, as its specific name implies {Hypo ge, under the soil). But how does the seed-pod thus become subterranean ? The flower-stalks, when they have finished their duty of elevating the stamen and pistil to catch the life- giving rays of the sun, begin their second office of aiding the seed-vessel to mature by turning com- pletely round and thrusting it into the ground, where it lies in a state of repose, until dug up by some hungry negro, or until its dormant vitality is called into action by the effects of the rainy season. — W. W. S. Carpels op Geraniums.— I felt rather sorry that Mr. James Britten, in his paper on Cranesbills in the last July number of Science-Gossip (not June, as mentioned by Mrs. Watney), should not have pursued the matter a little farther, and have described the curious coiling up of the persistent stigmas attached to the carpels after detachment from the plant. I had long noticed this circum- stance, and never, remembering it being alluded to by any botanical writer, thought it was known to all. However, as Mrs. Watney says in the August number, "And more than one botanical writer draws attention to the singular appendages," it appears the circumstance. The facts of the case are these : when the carpels become detached from the receptable, the awn, or persistent style, becomes convolute or spirally twisted for about half its length ; on becoming detached and falling off, the portion of the style not convoluted is bent back at right angles to the portion convoluted; and now the wonder begins. The spiral awn is highly hygio- metrical, and the carpels falling on the earth, the mechanical operation of boring commences, the seeds actually worming or cork-screwing themselves into the soil, after the manner of a gimlet, and the portion of the awn not convoluted (or spirally twisted) acting as a handle or lever! — Thomas Williams, Bath Lodge, OrmskirJc. Maiden Hair.— In Germany there is a legend attached to a well near which this fern (Asplenmm trichomanes) grows most luxuriantly. A lady keeping tryst with her lover, he was suddenly, after the fashion of Germany in those days, trans- formed into a wolf. The lady fled before him, and in her haste fell over a precipice, her black hair tangling in the bushes as she descended. On the spot where she fell a clear spring welled up, and round about her hair took root. The well is called " The Wolf's tSpring," and the little custodian of the glen, after telling you the story, hands you a bunch of the "Maiden's Hair."— Chanter'' s " Ferny Combes." Veronica Buxbaumii. — I wish to record in Science-Gossip another station for V. Buxbaumii. I am not aware that it is known as a Cumberland plant. It is growing very luxuriantly by the road- side, in a place where some rubbish has been 212 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Sept. 1, 1SC9. thrown, )n my parish of Westward. This species of Speedwell, though known only a few years ago to be British, is turning up in various and distant places. How it is dispersed it is difficult to say. — B. W. MICROSCOPY. Cynodon dactylon. — This grass, found in Cornwall, is very common in India. Powell states, in his " Handbook," that " the flowers of this plant present a most beautiful object, when examined by the microscope. ... It is mentioned in the 'Atharvan Veda' as the plant with a hundred roots and a hundred stems." Down of Wild-fowl. — We would recommend collectors, when taking the eggs of wild-fowl, to bring away with them some of the down from the nest, for we believe that when the birds are not seen, the colour and character of the down will suffice to indicate the species. — Land and Water, July 31st. [We have urged the examination of the down of birds upon microscopists as affording a new and in- teresting field for research. This paragraph confirms us in the conviction that great variety will be found, and that the subject is well worthy of atten- tion.—Ed. S.-G.] Expanded Zoophytes. — I have employed the following method to kill the common zoophytes of our coast with their tentacles expanded : — I take a small saucer, such as sold at artists' colour shops, and place the zoophyte in it, covering it with sea- water, then float the saucer on the top of fresh water in a quart basin. When the zoophyte finds itself at rest, it protrudes and expands its tentacles. When I think they are fully expanded, I suddenly sink the saucer in the fresh water. The sudden im- mersion in an unkindly fluid kills the polypes before they have time to retract their tentacles. A little care is required to submerge the saucer instan- taneously, and the result kwill be satisfactory. Of course they may then be mounted in a cell with gly- cerine in water. — C. Battledore Scales of Butterflies.— An in- teresting paper on this subject, with figures of fifty- three scales, by Mr. John Watson, of Manchester, is published in the August number of the "Monthly Microscopical Journal." The Ciliated Ceramium. — The Cerarnium eiliatum, a thick tuft of which I obtained, is com- posed of many slender much-branched threads, each of which at the tip forms two hooks or curls looking towards each other, a feature which is more or less characteristic of the genus, and which here, where it is strongly marked, imparts a very singular and unmistakable aspect to the plant. The stems and branches are jointed at regular intervals, and every joint is quite clear and colourless in the cen- tral part, and purple at both extremities; add to this, that at each joint there is a circle of stiff glassy prickles, which stand out in a radiating manner ; so that, on the whole, the species is one of the most pleasing objects one can find, especially when sub- jected to microscopical examination. — Gosse's " Tenby." Adventure in a Diatom.— While examining some diatomacese one day in the course of last sum- mer, I chanced to be favoured with a peep at a phenomenon of a most unusual and ludicrous de- scription. It was one that, I presume, would have greatly delighted not a few of the gullible disciples of those credulous philosophers who, all regardless of facts, persist in treading reverently and blindly in the footsteps of the great Berlin naturalist, and claim for the diatomaceas an animal nature. For this once, certainly, I was almost converted, and very reasonably too, for the circumstances furnished, at first sight, the most convincing argument con- ceivable. The gathering that supplied the above was composed chiefly of Surirella gemma. One specimen on the field of the microscope, to my amazement, contained in its interior an animalcule of the Euglena (Ehr.) genus. For a short time after the diatom came into view, the imprisoned Euglena was motionless, apparently bewildered, or overcome with the novelty of its position. Pre- sently, however, "calling home its scattered senses," it began very slowly and deliberately to look about its chamber of imprisonment; now elongating and then contracting itself, in such a manner that if the poor diatom were possessed of animal sensibilities, strange indeed must have been its feelings. That the animalcule was within the diatom was evident from the fact that all the movements of the former were limited by the walls of the latter; and at the same time the changes of form and place of the Euglena were accompanied with and produced correspond- ing alterations of the endochrome of the diatom. The question that this incident started was, how did the animalcule reach the interior of the frustules, since its valves and cingulum (or walls) were apparently unbroken ? Can it be, after all, notwithstanding what has been said to the contrary, that diatoms go in for special feasts, when they prefer to dine on more dainty and substantial fare than they are accustomed to partake of on ordinary occasions ? Ay ! that's the rub ; how came it there, poor wretch ? Thus, 1 think : when the drop of water which contained them was covered with the thin glass, the Euglena must have been under the diatom, and in contact with the surface of the slide. The diatom was, from some cause or other, minus one valve, that nearest the objective only remaining. This, with the con- necting zone attached to it like a box-lid, confined the animalcule under and within it. — B. Taylor, Whitehaven. Sept. 1, 1869.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 213 NOTES AND QUERIES. Oranges were known in this country in the time of Henry the Eighth, but I find no account of the orange-tree being cultivated in England prior to Queen Elizabeth's reign. The Seville orange-tree appears to have been first planted the year before the East India Company was incorporated, and two years previous to the return of Sir Francis Drake, our first circumnavigator. It is said to have been introduced by Sir Francis Carew, and first planted at his seat at Beddington, in Surrey. — Phillips, "Fruits of Great Britain." Leaf Transformation.— As some of the readers of Science-Gossip are interested in the curious transformations we find in plants, I venture to send another specimen of an Indian Pink, where the principal stalk, instead of growing as it should do, has thrown out at the end a leaf on a long stalk, with the edges so united as to form a kind of tubular vessel, with a small opening at the upper end.— E. T. S. Precocious Infants. — Along with the Cocoa- nut palm are great numbers of the Areca or Betel- nut palm, the nuts of which are sliced, dried, and ground into a paste, which is much used by the betel-chewing Malays and Papuans. All the little children (at Matabello), even such as can just run alone, carried between their lips a mass of the nasty- looking red paste, which is even more disgusting than to see them at the same age smoking cigars, which is very common even before they are weaned. — Wallace's "Malay Archipelago." The Holly. — This tree appears to have been formerly called Hulver, by which name it is still known in Norfolk, and Holme in the southern counties, as appears by the name it has given to many places where it grows naturally, as the Holm- wood, oetween Horsham and Dorking. Mr. Evelyn says that the vale near his house in Surrey was anciently called Holmesdale. — Sylva Florifera. Mochras, or Phul supyari. — This kind of Mochras, which looks not imlike Sembal gum, is in reality not a gum at all, but a brown astringent gall- blister, that is found on the Areca catechu palm, called " saigata gond " in Gurgaon. In my own collection is a sample of this gum which I got at Sealkote, called "Mochras, or phul supyari" (flower of the areca), which last name, though "flower" is incor- rect for a gall, yet indicates the origin. This is imported from Hindustan and Bengal, &c. ; so that " Mochras " has three meanings : — 1st, Sohajna gum; 2nd, Sembal gum; 3rd, Areca galls. — B. Powell, " Handbook of Economic Products." [This has long been a disputed point in Europe. Will some one of our Indian correspondents collect themselves, and send us, a small sample of gum direct from the Bed Sembal tree (Salmalia Mala- baricci) ? It has been affirmed that this tree does not produce any gum: surely this could be proved. Further, we have examined pounds of the so-called "galls of areca" or Mochras, without a trace of insect remains being found. Are they galls at all ? -Ed. S.-G.] Sea-Bottom Chalk. — There can be no doubt whatever — indeed it is admitted by all microsco- pists— that chalk is now being formed in the depths of the Atlantic ; but an idea which suggested itself to us before we proposed our cruise has now ripened into a conviction, that it is not only chalk which is being formed, but the chalk — the chalk of the cretaceous period. — Prof. Wyville Thomson. Bleaching Zoophytes.— I have seen the skele- tons of sertularian zoophytes mounted for the microscope, which are beautifully white and clean. Can any one inform me how it is done ? I have tried the chloride of lime of the shops in solution, without satisfactory results. — M. 0. P. Crabs changing Colour. — The change of colour which takes place in many of the Crustacea during the process of boiling has long been a sub- ject of remark. The common and edible crabs of this country have their tints far less affected than the lobster, the peculiarly rich blue shade of whose shell when in a living state is too well known to need any lengthened description : this, as is well known, changes to a bright red in the cooking-pot, and the uniform of the police is exchanged for that of the line regiments. This strange metamorphosis researches have shown to be entirely dependent on chemical laws. The pigment on which the blue shading and tint depend is a peculiar fat-like sub- stance, which possesses the singular property of becoming scarlet when subjected to seventy degrees of heat, as shown in the centigrade thermometer. A colouring matter of very similar properties was some time since discovered in the beaks and legs of certain birds. The lobster pigment is soluble in spirits of wine, by which agent it can be extracted from the shell ; but the colour changes at once from blue to red ; and on adding either nitric of sulphuric acid, the charged spirit is changed to a green of a remarkably fast or permanent character. — W. B. Lord. Samlets. — Is it a fact that anglers are prohibited from taking "samlets;" and has it been proved, without doubt, that " samlets " are young salmon ? I have my doubts on the subject, but of course, if proved, I must give in. — W. J. Hill. Bees. — As a practical apiarian, I have much pleasure in answering the queries of your corre- spondents. J. L. Phelps need not be at all alarmed at the want .of sticks in his hive ; in my opinion they are much better dispensed with ; the combs do not want the support, and if at any time the bees are " driven " for the purpose of removing the combs, they are difficult to be cut out. A swarm of mine lately took possession of an old hive fur- nished with combs, and having sticks pushed through ; as I routed them out of it to transfer them to a "Woodbury Bar and Frame Hive," I had to remove the comb piece by piece to get at the queen, and found the sticks very seriously incon- venience me. Perhaps " J. L. P." is not aware that bees fill their honey-bags before swarming, and con- sequently require to De almost provoked) before they will sting. Now for "F. S." The swarming into the small cape (cap ?) must be apparent, not real ; two queens never exist in the same hive. I would advise "F. S." to remove it in the same way that he takes his supers. Brood comb is not in- frequently made in " supers," and _ some apiarians use gradings three-sixteenths of an inch wide to ex- clude the queen and drones from the supers ; this width will allow the workers to pass freely. Now let me put a query before your readers. I keep the Ligurian, or Italian Alp Bee {A. ligustica) ; one of my queens, this year, has been impregnated 214 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Sept. 1, 1SG9. by a black drone, consequently the stock she is at the head of is hybridized. Other apiarians have met with the same difficulty, and several plans have been suggested for keeping the Ligurians pure. Now is it not a remarkable circumstance that two dis- tinct species should thus be liable to cross ? Why should not the different species of wasps cross in like manner? Is it probable the hybrid drones would be able to fertilize a queen?— D. I). B., Cantab. At Hastings. — In the spriug, Doris bilineata comes to the rocks in thousands, to lay its strange white furbelows of spawn upon their overhanging edges. Eolides of extraordinary beauty haunt the same spots : — the great Eolis papillosa, of a delicate French grey ; E. pelluc/da (?), in which each papilla on the back is beautifully coloured with a streak of pink, and tipped with iron blue ; and a most fantas- tical yellow little creature, so covered with plumes and tentacles that the body is invisible, which I believe to be the Idalia aspersa of Alder and Han- cock. At the bottom of the rock-pools behind St. Leonard's Baths may be found hundreds of the Snipe's Eeather Anemone (Sagartia troglodytes) of every hue, from the common brown and grey snipe's feather kind to the white-horned Hesperus, the orange -homed Aurora, and a rich lilac and crimson variety, which does not seem to agree with either the Lilacina or Bubecunda of Gosse. A more beau- tiful living bouquet could hardly be seen than might be made of the varieties of this single species from this one place. — Bev. C. Kingslcijs " Glaucus." Blood Corpuscles. — That the colourless and red corpuscles of human blood are in some way, and that intimately, connected, as conjectured by your correspondent Mr. E. T, Scott, there is very little cause to doubt. In making this assertion I am supported by one of the highest physiological authorities. It is believed that the process is in some way as follows : — viz., the red corpuscles, which are supposed to be only the liberated nucleus of the colourless, are so acted on by a red fluid which they contain as to change their hue; at maturity the sac, or outer envelope, of the colour- less corpuscles bursts, allowing their egress. If I may be pardoned for expressing my opinion, it is that the red corpuscles exist in greater abundance in the warmest system, if healthy. A warm and healthy constitution is one in which the superin- cumbent heat of the body is given off in the shape of perspiration from the skin. The complexion of a person who is capable of enduring much warmth, without the system relieving itself in this way, is seldom of so ruddy a hue as that of one in a different condition. This must be attributed to the effect of carbonic acid. Without going further into the sub- ject, I shall end with the query — If the presence of this ingredient can cause a diminution of the red tint in the skin, which below the epidemical tissue we know to depend on the smaller blood capillaries for its colouring matter, why not attribute to it the preponderance of colourless corpuscles in the blood of a body most charged with it ? — W. W. S. Beaufort, Clifton Bead, South Norwood. Flora of Bucks. — We are happy to learn that our worthy correspondent Mr. James Britten has secured an appointment, so congenial to his tastes, at the National Herbarium, Kew Gardens. All communications relative to the Elora of Bucks, or local names, should be addressed to him there. Age of Eish.— There does not seem to be any guide for ascertaining the age of a large fish; but in Mr. Rooper's "Autobiography of Salmo Salar in Elood, Eield, audEorest," we find, speaking of a large salmon, " I consider him to have been fully seven years old, reckoning ab ovo ; " thus, e^s; deposited December 1861 ; hatched Febmary or March 1862 ; went to sea as a smolt, May 1861; returned a six- pound grilse, June 1865 ; went to sea in April IS 66; returned a twelve-pound salmon, September same year ; went to sea in April 1867 ; returned a twenty- pound salmon September 1867 ; went to sea in May 1868, and was captured as a thirty-pound salmon in October of the same year. Scales of Holm Oak. — The stellate scales from the leaves of the common Evergreen, or Holm Oak (Quercus ilex), are beautiful microscopic objects, and especially so when viewed by polarized light on a green and purple selenite stage. The tree itself is common in parks and gardens, and is a native of South Europe. It was introduced into England in 15S1. I shall be pleased to forward a specimen leaf to any reader of Science-Gossip on receipt of stamped envelope. — B. H. Moore, IS, Albert Build- ings, Bath. Elight of Birds. — I should feel greatly obliged to any of your readers who would kindly supply me with reliable information as to the velocity of flight in birds, or point out whence such information is to be obi ained. — T. Southwell, Bark Lane, Noncich. Science-Gossip Society. — Under this title a society has been started in Ipswich "for the pur- pose of exciting more interest in the study of Geology, Botany, Chemistry, Natural Science in General, and Archaeology." Rules are drawn up and printed, a committee of officers appointed, aud all promises well. The venture has our best wishes. Cats in the Water. — I have seen a cat eat a frog that it had just caught ; it pulled off a limb at a time, after killing the animal with all the usual barbarities. That cats will take the water is also on record ; there was a cat, or rather a family of cats, if I remember aright, at the " Complete Anglers," Marlow, that used to swim after the dead fish thrown out of the punt wells by the fishermen. This could no doubt be corroborated. — C. C. C. Cats and Starfish. — Is there any violent an- tipathy between cats and starfishes ? It is a com- mon belief about here that a " five-finger " laid out in the garden will effectually scare away all stray cats, and I have known them often to be procured for that purpose. Opinions are divided as to the wray in which it acts, some saying that the cats eat the starfish, and are poisoned by it ; others, that they are frightened away by its mere presence. I tried it myself, and found the bait carried away, but am not aware that the required effect was produced. — Wm. Field. Dr. Thudichum's Rabbit. — In the August number of SciENCE-Gossir, wherein appeared my article on this subject, I discovered that I had stated that 58,000 Trichini were computed in the fifth part of a grain, which should have been 58 only, as the next sentence would lead the reader to conclude; but, worse still, the length of the vcrmicule is stated in figures as the T-nnr hundred thousandths of a line, whereas it should be the 1,166 hundred thousandths of a line.—/. Crowther. Sept. 1, 1S69.J HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 215 Bacillaria paradoxa.— My query in March number respecting the habitat of this singular dia- tom, in which I doubted it as an exclusive marine and brackish genus, has elicited an answer from India, in your June number, from Major Hobson, from which it now appears conclusive that it is also a fresh-water genus. Since then I have been some- what diligent in searching after its fresh-water localities in and around the metropolis, and the following can be recorded : — River Lea at Edmon- ton, about twelve miles from the River Thames ; Regent's Canal, Regent's Park, about seven miles from the river ; Surrey Canal at Cambcrwell, about four miles from the river ; the Surrey Commercial Docks, in the timber ponds ; and the Arictoria Docks. Perhaps the last two localities may at times be slightly brackish, especially the latter; the remainder are in connection with the river, but at a distance where the water is quite fresh. At present, I, and a few friends interested with me, have failed to find it in water which is not in connection with a tidal river ; nor have I heard of any one who has, except Major Hobson. I may add that I have kept these algse alive in fresh Mater for a week or so. Respecting the extraor- dinary "military" movements of this fastest mover of all the Diatomacea3, I cannot but believe that it must be caused, in common with all Diatoms, by the influence of light effecting forces within the frustule, in connection with growth, of which we know but little, remaining one of those mysteries of nature which baffle whilst exciting inquiry. — Thomas Simson, Upper Lewisham Road, S.E. Food for Bullfinch. — Will you be kind enough to tell me the proper food for Bullfinches ? If I give them hemp-seed I find they get too fat aud die suddenly, and if I only give them rape and canary seed, they look bad and ragged in their feathers. I have two nice cock birds, but looking rather ragged and bare. — L. C. Whelan. Value of Sparrows.— A few years ago the streets of New York aud Brooklyn were infested with bugs and worms that riddled all the vegetation, hung in great festoons from the trees, swung in the air on every side, drove the whole population from what was once the cool and comfortable shade, making the sunny side of the street the refuge of the pedestrian, and the parks no longer pleasure resorts, but nuisances. People were always dodging these pests in walking; in the cars they picked them from each other's bonnets, in church from each other's backs. It was like a plague of Egypt, aud people cried out for a Moses. The little Euro- pean house sparrow undertook that role, and was successively introduced into the parks and open spaces, and everywhere its enemy aud ours vanished before it. The difference in enjoyment between a summer in New York now and three years ago is very great, which difference of comfort must be laid to the account of our faithful little ally. Sparrows are now seen in this country by the thousand, and not only are they scavengers of cities and keepers of parks — not only do they make streets habitable and shade trees grateful, but they are worth their weight in gold to fruit-growers in the country round about. The only sufferers, indeed, by their domestication here are the comic papers, which used to be full of woodcuts describing the old discomforts — Adolphus making love to Angelina with a pair of the banished enemies hang- ing to the waxed ends of his moustache, she wearing a cluster of them en chignon, and so on. All that resource is closed now for the humorous artists. But to the original question— Are we ungrateful to our feathered friends ? Not so, as one who walks through Central Park will see, observing the palaces we have built for them, or who ever glances of a morning at their original settlement in Union Park — the Jamestown, so to speak, of these little colo- nists—and notes the hotels we have provided for our winged allies, while a steady old policeman is posted as faithful guardian of their rights and interests below.- — Neio York Times. On the Alcoholic Compound termed Punch. • — Chastened and invigorated by the discipline of physical research, the philosopher fear- lessly climbs the never-trodden peaks of pure thought, whence he surveys without dizziness the shadowy domain which lies beyond the horizon of ordinary observation. The empirical art of punch- brewing is coextensive with civilization. But the molecular commotion which agitates the palate of the punch-drinker and awakes in his brain an indescribable feeling of satisfaction could only be apprehended by one whose mind had been previously exercised on the parallel bars of acoustics and optics. Taste is due to vibratory motion. A pep- perment lozenge, for example, dissolving in the mouth, may be likened to a vast collection of minute tuning-forks vibrating synchronously. Pulses are imparted to the nervous filaments of the tongue and palate, and are translated by the internal sense into peppermint. What was molecular agitation is now taste. With punch properly compounded, we ob- tain saporous vibrations of various degrees of rapidity, but so related that their simultaneous ac- tion on the organ of taste produces an agreeable harmony. The saccharine, acid, and ethylic trills are rhythmical, and a glass of punch is truly the analogue of the sonnet. The instinct of man has detected many such harmonies which have yet to be investigated. Eor example : what palate is insensi- ble to the harmonious effect of roast hare and currant-jelly ? But where is the philosopher who can lay his hand upon Ins heart aud say he has de- termined the relation of the saporous vibrations of the jelly to those of the hare ? My own researches on this point have deepened my natural humility, and I now eat my currant-jelly with the simple faith of a little child. Experiment has proved that the juice of three or four lemons, aud three-quarters of a pound of loaf-sugar dissolved in about three pints of boiling water, give saporous waves which strike the palate at such intervals that the thrilling acidity of the lemon-juice and the cloying sweetness of the sugar are no longer distinguishable. We have, in fact, a harmony of saporific notes. The pitch, however, is too low, and to heighten it, we infuse in the boiling water the fragrant yellow rind of one lemon. Here we might pause, if the soul of man craved no higher result than lemonade. But to attain the culminating saporosity of punch, we must dash into the bowl, at least, a pint of rum and nearly the same volume of brandy. The molecules of alcohol, sugar, and citric acid collide, and an entirely new series of vibratious are produced — tremors to which the dullest palate is attuned. In puuch, then, we have rhythm within rhythm, and all that philo- sophy can do is to take kindly to its subtle harmonies. It will depend in some measure upon previous habits, whether the punch when mixed will be taken in excess or in moderation. It may become a dangerous ally of gravity and bring a sen- tient being to the gutter. But, on the other hand, it may become the potent inner stimulus of a noble outward life. — Exeter Change for the British Lions. 21G HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Sept. I, 1869. 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, contri- butions should not be received later than the 15th of each month. No notice whatever can be taken of communica- tions which do not contain the name and address of the writer, not necessarily for publication, if desired to be with- held. 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. We are always prepared to accept queries of a critical nature, and to publish the replies, provided some ot our readers, besides the querist, are likely to be interested in them. We do not undertake to return rejected manuscripts unless sufficient stamps are enclosed to cover the return postage. Neither can we promise to refer to or return any manuscript after one month from the date of its receipt. All microscopical drawings intended for publication should have annexed thereto the powers employed, or the extent of enlargement, indicated in diameters (thus : x 320 diameters) . Communi- cations intended for publication should be written on one side of the paper only, and all scientific names, and names of places and individuals, should be as legible as possible. Wherever scientific names or technicalities are employed, it is hoped that the common names will accompany them. Lists or tables are inadmissible under any circumstances. Those of the popular names of British plants and animals are retained and registered for publication when sufficiently complete for that purpose, in whatever form may then be decided upon. Addrkss No. 1Q2, Piccadilly, London, W. Name and Address.— Communications not guaranteed by the name and address of the sender cannot be noticed. R.— The figures are too roughly executed to be engraved, and the information no more than we have already given. A. P.— We do not insert exchanges of scientific instru- ments. G. H. R.— A fungus not uncommon in such situations, named Polypurus igniurius. W. C— Most probably lihodites Eglanterite, Hart ; but we found no insects. H. L. M. — It is a parasite on the heather and other plants, called " Dodder" (Cuscutti Europeea). J. S.— Consult *' Blackwall's Spiders of Great Britain," published by the Ray Society. G. E. Q.— The name of the gnat stands corrected to Culex nemorosus. — C. W. W. G., Belfast— The aphis was probably Adelgcs corticalis, or A. abietis.— C. W. T. V. P. — Address, but no name : hence we could not write. It is of no use on such questions giving a mere negative or affirmative lure. E. C— The spiders (male and female) are small darkly coloured examples of Linyphia minuta, Black.— 0. P. C. R. V. T.— No. 1 is Chara fragitis, Des. ; 2 is Ranunculus heterophyllus, Fr. — B. D. S. H— It is not extraordinary for some barren fronds of the "parsley tern'' to resemble the fertile fronds in their upper portions. Sometimes soti are also produced on parts of otherwise barren fronds. S. A. S.— On hawthorn leaves is Septoriu oxyacanthce, Kunze. E. L.— Although broken in transit, from the fragments we should think not. W. J. H.— The " cingulum,"an accessory to the reproduc- tive apparatus. See E. Ray Lankester's exhaustive papers on the " Anatomy of the Earthworm," Quart. Journul of Micro- scopical Science, 1864-5. r. \v. V.— It is best to poison the plants with a solution of corrosive sublimate in spirits of wine. Camphor may keep insects away, but will not kill them. It is a good plan to use a coarse strong-smelling; brown paper for covers, and to air the plants by turning them over, and looking at them every two or three months. A herbarium in constant use, and kept in a very dry place, seldom suffers from mould or insects. G. E.— We inserted your long notice la^t month, quite con- trary to practice, and cannot do it again. Three lines is our " exchange'' limit. Some people, it seems, cannot afford to keep a conscience. A. Y. — White flowered specimens of Erythrcea centaurium are certainly not uncommon. H. G. — It is such a very common occurrence for Vorticella nehuVfera to be attached to Daphnia or Cyclops that we wonder you should have never met with it before. There are figures extant in such a position in a book before us dated 1746. H. W. — Very like a "hallucination." A. E. J. — Galls caused by an insect. See our constantly repeated notices about name and address. C. F. G.— The two insects a.re—Chrysis ignita (blue and copper) and IHegachile centunculuris. — C. 0. W. B. R. A. E.— The plant sent is Saxifraga aizoides. E. C. — The flowers are Calluna, are quite normal, but not fully developed. We cannot tell what has checked the full expansion of the flowers. — M. T. M. EXCHANGES. Alpine Plants for rare British Roses and Mosses. — J. H , Garrybank, West Hill, Upper Sydenham. Mounted Diatoms from American Deposits (Monmouth, Cherryfield ; Duck Pond; French's Pond: Sing-sing, Hud- son's River; Perley's Meadow; South Bridgton, &c.) for good Entomological Slides or Wood Sections. — " Portland," care of Editor of Science-Gossip, 192, Piccadilly. Paulownia imperialis. — For Seeds, send stamped and directed envelope to " Oporto," Editor of Science-Gossip, 192, Piccadilly, W. South American Eggs in exchange for British, also British for other British.— F. W. Marratt, 6, Kemble Street, Kensington. British Plants (dried) in exchange for others. — Send lists to J. C. Hutchinson, 8, Lansdown Crescent, Glasgow. Uxio margaritifer for other Land and Fresh-water Shells, or British Lepidoptera.— John Stewart, 28, St. John Street, Perth, N.B. Ferns, as last month, and sixteen others. — George Edey, Rochester. Fifty Entomological and other slides for Palates of Mollusca or Zoophyte*, mounted or unmounted.— J. O. Har- per, Dereham Road, Norwich. Betony Brand.— Send stamped envelope to J. Maughan, Bank, Barnard Castle. BOOKS RECEIVED. "The Canadian Entomologist." Vol. I. No. '.2. July, 1869. Toronto. " Land and Water." Nos. 184, 185, 186. "Scientific Opinion." Part IX. August, I869. London Wyman& Sons. "The Gardener's Magazine." PartXLIV. August, I869. " Le Naturaliste Canadien." No. 8. July, I869. Quebec : 8, Rue de la Montagne. "The 5, Bow Churchyard, Magazine." Nos. 3 and 4. May and August, 1S69. "The Monthly Micrcscopical Journal." No. 8, August, I8G9. London : Robert Hardwicke. "The American Entomologist." No. 8. April, is6g. St. Louis, Mo. : R. P. Studley & Co. " First Annual Report of the Trustees of the Peabody Aca- demy of Science." January, I869. Salem : Mass., U.S. "Dental Register." Vol. XXIII. No. 8. August, 1869. Cincinnati : Wrigtataon & Co. "Despotism," by the Author of "Vital Life." London: Longmans. " Sixth Annual Report of the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club." 1868-9- Communications Received.— J. G.— T. D. R B. G.— G. E.— H.— E. C— O. P. C.-J. B.-B. H. E. W.— J. H.— T. S.— T.H.— T. W.— T.W. W.- -C. (Dublin).-A. T.— A.M. F.-G. H. H.-R J. G. O.— R. A.- J. P.— W. N. R— J. W.-W. C- H. B.— H. M.-W. S. G.-F. K.— A J. (Thank W. J. H.— R. W.--F. V,'. M.— J. C. H.— J. R.— - E. C— D. S. H.— H. B.— E. H. J.-C. B.— R. H. _R YY. v.— W. F.-T. H.— J. O. H.— A. Y— J. J. G., inn— H. W.— G. E.-H. G.-C. F.— L. C. G B— J. S.— W. H.— A. E. J.— R. G. McL— B J.— E. M. J. -J. P. F.— H. E. W.-J. J. M.— C. S. M.— B. C— W. W — M. A. G— R. Vs.— S. J. S, E. L. — C . II .J. — T.- -A. P. — -W W S. B. . H. N I! — -H. L. M. — s .— ■A. 11 — B— C. =". G. M.- -C. C. C. M.- -T. s — W. -.1 c — . R. A. E — W.- -R s — .— L . N s — Oct. 1, 1869.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOS SI P. 217 WITH THE MICBOSCOPE AT SOUTHEND. r, 0 doubt many readers »- cf Sciekce-Gossip have often been delighted to read descriptions of particularly suc- cessful expedi- tions to gather objects for the microscope, which have ap- peared from time to time in this paper. To many, and my- self among the number, who practise microscopy as a re- creation, the hints which have been thrown out, the advice given how to proceed and where to look for the invisi- ble world, have been of great value. These considerations induce me to give some ac- count of what I found and saw lately at Southend, a place very easy to reach from London, and where many objects of great beauty and interest can be gathered with ease and certainty. Special preparations are not requisite ; a number of wide-mouthed bottles, a muslin net and a spoon, in lieu of which one of the mussel-shells may be used with advantage, are all that are required. One thing, however, is indispensable, and that is the microscope itself, as some of the most lovely objects cannot be kept longer than a few hours. The chief characteristic of Southend is that the tide runs out more than a mile, and leaves the muddy bottom of the sea exposed to view for several hours, and the pier has in consequence a length of a mile and a quarter. This feature certainly does not add to the beauty of the place as a bathing-place, but offers great advantages to the collector of ob- jects. When the sun shines on the numerous little pools and cavities, he draws the diatoms to the sur- No. 58. face of the water left in them, and when on a quiet day the tide comes slowly creeping up, it forms a yellowish-looking froth, which is carried to near high- water mark. If this froth is put into a bottle by means of a spoon, and examined, it will be found to contain about twenty different kinds of diatoms, among which three or four Pleuros'ujma, a number of Navicula, and sometimes Triceratium. The last named I did not find myself, but know from good authority that it is met with. If the tide is near its maximum height, the yel- lowish froth disappears through the breaking of the waves against the stones, and is replaced by whitish foam, which does not contain any diatoms. Nearly all these diatoms are alive, and their peculiar jerking movements can be examined at leisure. Next, if we take a rowing boat when the tide is up, and pick up by means of a net or a stick the stray bits of the finer seaweeds swimming about, we find again diatoms and many beautifully branched vorticellidse ; but by far the finest objects are obtained in the following manner : two flights of stairs lead down from the pier to the bottom, one about at one-third of its length from shore, the second at about two-thirds. At low tide we can walk under the pier without inconvenience, and two large flagstones will be found at the bottom of each of the stairs, which in former times served as a rest for them. In these stones are cavities of the size of a washing-basin, and they contain a miniature forest of the most lovely little zoophytes and polypes. Some of them must be carefully cut out and transferred to the bottle with some sea- water. In other holes we may find similar growth attached to little stones, which can be dropped into the bottle without disturbing them. These must be carried home without shaking, and they furnish, on examination, for some hours a sight which defies description. When a small tree is placed in a cell as carefully as possible, we see at each end of a branch a transparent cup-shaped vessel, from whicb presently a number of hydra-like animals protrude, 218 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Oct. 1, 1869. with from six to twenty arms, which arrange them- selves like a star-flower : through the stem we see the circulation of the sap or blood, or -whatever it may be, which curiously enough sometimes runs from the flower to the stem, and sometimes vice versa. Often the branches are covered with diatoms of various sorts, attached end to end, which give it a lovely appearance. Vorticellidse with ciliary motion cause small circular currents, and little shrimp-like animals dash across, and give additional life to the picture. With a good one-inch object-glass, and with the spotted lens, we may obtain a sight the beauty of which I have rarely seen surpassed. The stems of the polypes with the diatoms in situ are easily prepared as permanent objects, and are a desirable addition to the cabinet. C. B. A CHAPTER ON CUTTLE-PISHES * By Lucie L. Hartt. Fig. 167. Octopus vulgaris. IT was during my first visit to Brazil that one day, while busily engaged in examining a reef at a little town on the coast, called Guarapary, my eye fell on an object in a shallow tide-pool, packed away in the crevice of the reef, which excited my curiosity. I could see nothing but a pair of very bright eyes ; but concluding that the eyes had an owner, I determined very rashly to secure him. I had been handling corals, and seemed to have for- gotten that all the inhabitants of the sea are not harmless. I put my hand down very quietly, so as not to ruffle the water, when suddenly, to my sur- prise, it was seized with a pressure far too ardent to be agreeable, and I was held fast. I tugged hard to get away ; but this uncivil individual, who- ever he was, evidently had as strong a hold on the rocks as he had on my hand, and was not easily to * The woodcuts illustrating this paper are from Figuier's " Ocean World," kindly lent by the publishers, Messrs. Chap- man & Hall. be persuaded to let go of either. At last, however, he became convinced that he must choose between us, and so let go his hold upon the rocks, and I found clinging to my right hand, by his long arms, a large octopod cuttle-fish, resembling the one figured at the head of this article, and I began to suspect that I had caught a Tartar. His long arms were wound around my hand, and these arms, by the way, were covered with rows of suckers, somewhat like those with which boys lift stones, and escape from them was almost impossible. I knew that this fellow's sucking propensities were not his worst ones, for these cuttle-fishes are furnished with sharp jaws, and they know how to use them too, so I attempted to get rid of him. But the rascal, disengaging one slimy arm, wound it about my left hand also, and I was a helpless prisoner. In vain I struggled to free myself, — he only clasped me the tighter. In vain I shouted to my companion, — he had wandered out of hearing. I was momentarily expecting to be bitten, when the "bicho" suddenly changed his mind. I was never able to discover whether he was smitten with remorse and retired with amiable intentions, or whether he only yielded to the force of circum- stances. At any rate, he suddenly relinquished his hold upon my hands and dropped to the sand. Then, raising himself on his long slimy arms, he stalked away towards the water, making such a comical figure that in spite of my fright I indulged in a hearty laugh. He looked like a huge and a very tipsy spider, staggering away on his exceed- ingly long legs. The cuttle-fish belongs to the Mollusks, a branch of the animal kingdom distinguished for its mem- bers being built on the plan of a sac, and to which Mr. Hyatt has applied the more appropriate name of Saccata. The cuttle-fishes are distinguished from all the other Mollusks, such as snails, clams, &c, by having a large head, a pair of large eyes, and a mouth furnished with a pair of jaws, around which are arranged in a circle eight or ten arms furnished with suckers. In the common cuttle-fish or squid of our coast, the body, which is long and narrow, is wrapped in a muscular cloak or mantle, like a bag fitting tightly to the back, but loose in front. It is closed up to the neck, where it is open like a loosely- fitting overcoat, buttoned up to the throat. Attached to its throat, by the middle, is a short tube, open at both ends. This tube, or siphon as it is called, is fastened to its throat, and can be moved about in any direction. The animal breathes by means of gills, which are attached to the front of the body inside the cloak, and look like the ruffles of a shirt-bosom. By means of these gills the air contained in the water is breathed, and they answer the same purpose for the cuttle-fish that our lungs do for us. Oct. 1, 1869.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 219 In order to swim, the animal swells out the cloak in front, so that the water flows in between it and the body. Then it closes the cloak tightly about the neck, so that the only way the water can get out is through the siphon. Then it contracts very forcibly its coat, which, it must be remembered, is a part of the animal, and the water is driven out in a jet from the siphon under the throat, and the body is propelled in the opposite direction ; that is, backward, like a rocket through the water. This Fig. 1 68. Sepia officinalis. Fig. 169. Internal bone of Sepia. top of the waves, seated in her boat-like shell, and spreading her broad arms to the winds for sails. But unfortunately the story has no foundation in fact. She either crawls about on the bottom of the sea, or swims quite like any other cuttle-fish, shell foremost, only occasionally coming to the surface. Strangely enough, she holds the two broad hand-like siphon is flexible like a water-hose, and can be bent so as to direct the stream not only forward, but sideways and backward, so that the animal can move in almost any direction, or turn somersaults with perfect ease ; and so rapidly do some cuttle-fishes swim, that they are able to make long leaps out of the water. Usually, how- ever, the animal swims backward, with its long arms trailing behind. Our common cuttle-fish of this coast has, in addition to its eight arms, two long slender tentacles, which may be withdrawn into the body.^ The tail is pointed, and furnished with a fin on each side. The Octopods, to which the Brazilian cuttle-fish belongs, have round purse-like bodies, and eight arms united at the base with a web, and they swim by opening and shutting their arms like an umbrella ; in this mode of swimming they resemble the "elly- fishes. The paper nautilus is nothing in the world but a female cuttle-fish that builds a shell. There was a very pretty story told of her habits, by Aristotle, the old Greek naturalist, which every one believed until quite lately. He said that she rode on the Fig. 170. Animal of Argonauta Argo. extremities of the arms against her body, and it is the inside of these arms that secrete the paper-like shell, which is only a sort of cradle for her eggs. Not so with the pearly nautilus, which is furnished with a beautiful coiled-up pearly shell, formed on the outside of the animal. This shell is divided Fig. 171. Shell of Argonauta Argo. into numerous chambers, and the animal living in the outer one builds a partition across the back part of it as the shell grows. Cuttle-fishes are sometimes used for food by the Brazilians, and different species may be seen in the markets, where one frequently finds them still alive. Sometimes, as we stoop to examine one, its l 2 220 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Oct. 1, 1869. body is suddenly suffused with a deep pinkish glow. Before we have time to recover from our surprise this colour fades, and a beautiful blue takes its place as rapidly as a blush sometimes suffuses a delicate cheek. The blue, perhaps, is succeeded by a green, and then the whole body becomes pink again. One can hardly conceive anything more beautiful than this rapid play of colours, which is produced by the successive distension of sets of little sacs con- taining fluids of different colours, which are situated under the skin. The cuttle-fish is also furnished with a bag con- taining an inky fluid, which, when the animal is Fig. 1/2. Loligo vulgaris, with its feather. attacked or pursued, it ejects into the water ; thus completely blinding its adversary and effectually covering its retreat. It is from this fluid that the colour sepia is made. Besides carrying an ink- bottle, some species of cuttle-fish are provided with a long, delicate, horny pen, which forms a sort of stiffener to the back. In some species the pen is hard, thick, and broad, and the cuttle-fish bone of commerce is a pen of this kind. The species found in our waters is very small, and not at all dangerous, being barely large enough to draw blood from the hand ; but in the tropical seas they are very large, powerful, and dangerous. The cuttle-fish is the original of Victor Hugo's devil-fish, so vividly described in the " Toilers of the Sea." If the devil-fish were a beneficent crea- tion, I should be sorry to destroy your faith in it ; but as it is, I believe it will be rather a relief than otherwise 1o inow that in some important respects Victor Hugo's story of it is a fable. The kraken was a mythical cuttle-fish of fabulous size. — The Amer' ... Ju':,aUst. ' ■ 11^ \d. — There is every prospect of the " Death'.} Head Moth" being very plentiful next year. Severa1 o" the "caterpillars" have been caught in this locality. I have two in my posses- sion.— Joseph Robinson, Chester •■le-Street. SEASIDE DIATOMS. AMONGST the " common objects " of the sea- shore, Diatomace?e are perhaps the most frequent, and the tyro in microscopic studies generally desires to add a few of these beautifu forms to his cabinet of slides. I am often asked, How am I to procure them ? and when obtained, How shall I prepare them ? I propose, with the editor's permission, to answer both these queries ; first premising that the inquirer has neither the opportunity nor inclination to go on a dredging ex- pedition, but to confine his search to the shore and the brackish water-ponds in its neighbourhood. If he is residing near a sandy and shelving shore, where the receding tide leaves a large expanse of sand exposed, he will be able to obtain most of the beautiful sand species described by Dr. Donkin in papers on those forms. His plan for procuring them is very simple and very successful : the collector must provide himself with a few 4-ounce bottles and a teaspoon, and on the first sunshiny day, when the tide is at the ebb, between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., he will betake himself to the beach, and as he ap- proaches the receding waters he will observe the sand-ripples and small depressions covered with a yellowish-green film : this film consists almost wholly of diatoms. Having previously partly filled one of his bottles with sea-water at the nearest tide-pool, he must carefully remove the film with the spoon, and place it in the bottle ; shake it violently three or four times, and he will observe the sand fall rapidly to the bottom, leaving the diatoms floating on the water : these he must quickly decant into another bottle. By repeating this process he will obtain copious, and frequently very clean gatherings. On returning home, an examination of the living frustules will repay the observer. He will probably find Bacillaria cursoria crossing the field in various directions, or have a Navicula sailing slowly about their cell-contents rendering them conspicuous objects. The first thought of the young observer will be, Can these active little bodies be only plants ? The second will be, By what means do they sail about, apparently in search of food ? To the first question I answer that a further study of plant-life will satisfy him that the balance of probabilities is in favour of their vegetable nature. To the second I can only reply that our most acute observers are unable to discover any organs of locomotion. We will now suppose our tyro has finished his observations of the living frustule, and is desirous of seeing the beautiful markings on the flinty shells of these mysterious organisms. In order to do so successfully, it is necessary to get rid of the internal colouring matter (endochrome), and to separate the two valves. All diatoms consist of two similar (with few exceptions) silicious plates connected by a less firmly silicious band : a pill-box, in which the Oct. 1, 1869.J HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GO SSIP. 221 bottom has been replaced by a second lid, roughly illustrates the perfect diatom aceous frustule: the lids represent the valves, and the body of the box the connecting baud or cingulum. To get rid of the eudochrome, aud to effect the separation of the valves, it is necessary to boil the gathering in nitric acid : this will also destroy any vegetable or animal matter mixed with the gathering. After boiling in acid, the diatoms must be allowed to subside, and the acid poured off, and replaced with distilled water. It is highly important that all trace of acid be washed away, particularly when the forms are too delicate for balsam-mounting. It sometimes happens that in spite of careful washing the diatoms have a tendency to form little clusters, and cannot be evenly distributed on the slide. This may be prevented by pouring off the water, and replacing it with liquor ammonia. If the diatoms are allowed to remain in this a short time (shaking the bottle or test-tube occasionally), a quantity of nocculent matter will be held in sus- pension, and may be poured off with the liquor ammonia, allowing a longer or shorter time, accord- ing to size, for the subsidence of the diatoms. Our tyro, having cleaned and mounted his gather- ing, will probably be desirous of knowing the names of the forms occurring in it. I hope to enable him to do so by the aid of the following figures and descriptions of those species most commonly found in the before-mentioned localities : — Fig. 173. Navicula granulata, x 400. Fig. 174. Naricula humerosa, x 400. Navicula granulata (fig.173). — This form is readily distinguished by its lines of conspicuous and brilliant dots, reaching the median line and central nodule,* straight or slightly rounded sides and pointed ends : it always occurs in sand-gatherings. Navicula humerosa (fig. 174). — A species resem- bling the preceding in outline, but the dots are appa- rently replaced by slightly radiating lines : these lines will, however, be found to consist of small dots placed * The valves in the genera Navicula, Pinnularia, Pleuro- sigma, Cocconeis, and a few others, have a straight line or bar crossing the larger diameter: this is called the median line. In the centre of the line is a large dot called the central nodule ; the ends of the median line terminate in two smaller nodules. close together : common with the preceding ; it sometimes occurs with the sides slightly concave. Navicula rectangulata (fig. 175).— A small, narrow form, with straight sides and rounded ends : the markings are radiant, distinct, and not resolvable into dots ; gradually shortening as they approach the central nodule, leaving a small oval blank space in the centre of the valve. Fig. 175. Navicula rectangulata, x 400. Fig. 176. Navicula angulosa, X 400. Navicula angulosa (fig. 176). — This species is of an oval form, the sides gradually tapering towards the pointed ends ; the markings reach about halfway towards the median line ; thus leaving a central blank space, similiar in outline to the valve itself. Navicula Lyra (fig. 177). — This species is very variable in outline ; sometimes it is a true oval, at others the sides are straight, with the ends drawn out, and blunt. Another variety has the sides straight and tapering suddenly to the pointed ex- tremities. This species has been named from the lyre-shaped blank spaces on each half of the valve : these are also subject to variation ; the ends are sometimes curved inward instead of outward ; the markings consist of closely-set dots, appearing like lines under a low power. Fig. 177. Navicula Lyra, X 400. Fig. 178. Navicula a>stiva, x 400. Navicula rnstiva (fig. 178). — A very pretty little species, of an oval form and pale straw-colour : the markings are fine slightly radiant lines reaching the median line. Navicula retusa (fig. 179, a, b).—K. [species in 222 IHARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Oct. 1, 1869. which the valves frequently occur in situ after boiling iu acid : they adhere to the connecting zone more strongly than many other species. The outline of the frustule is oblong, sometimes nearly square ; the ends straight or slightly rounded ; the sides more or less constricted at the centre; the valve very narrow and straight, and the extremes rounded ; the mark- ings short and far apart. Fig. 179- Navicula retusa, x 400. a, valve ; b, frustule. Fig. 180. Navicula cruciformis, x 400. Navicula cruciformis (fig. 180). — A curious little form with straight sides, slightly tapering as they approach the rounded ends ; the median line is sometimes wavy ; the markings are slightly radiant lines, reaching the central one, but are entirely absent opposite the central nodule, producing a blank space across the valve. Navicula Trevelyana (fig. 181) has the sides straight, the ends rounded; markings coarse and radiant, suddenly shortening as they approach the centre, leaving a large circular blank space round the central nodule ; median line conspicuously undulated. Fig. 181. Fig. 182. Ifameula Trevelyana, x 400. Navicula Clepsydra, x 400. Navicula Clepsydra (fig. 182). — A very handsome species ; the valve long, and gradually tapering to the rounded ends : markings consist of irregular- shaped dots, arranged in transverse lines : au oval smooth space surrounds the nodule. Amphora.— The species of this genus somewhat resemble Navicula ; the valves when separated have one margin convex and the other straight. Several species of this genus occur in sand-gathering. The following I have found most frequent. Amphora arenaria (fig. 183). — This species is easily recognized by its transparency and apparent absence of markings ; but with a high power it is found to possess them : neither the median line nor nodule is central, the former being curved in an opposite direction to the convex margin of the valve. a b Fig. 183. Amphora arenaria, x 400. a, a, valves ; b, frustule. The observer will scarcely fail to detect in his gathering some representatives of the genus Pleuro- sigma : they are distinguished by the valves being more or less curved in opposite directions; the median line also following the contour of the valves. Pleuros'ujma asttiarii (fig. 184). — A small form, somewhat broad at the centre ; the outline of the valve is less sigmoid (S-like) than the median line ; the Fig. 184. Pleurosigma cestuarii. Fig. 185. Pleurosigma lanceolatum, x 400. Fig. 186. Pleurosigma Faaciola. markings consist of minute dots, arranged in oblique lines, requiring a good quarter-inch object-glass and oblique light to resolve them. Oct. 1, 1869.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 223 Pleurosigma lanceolatum (fig. 1S5). — Valves small, lancet-shaped, scarcely sigmoid ; median line more so ; markings very fine, oblique. Pleurodynia Fasciola (fig. 180). — This species is remarkable for its long narrow ends, which are strongly curved in opposite directions ; body of the valves lancet-shaped; markings dots, arranged in squares, but requiring a high power to resolve them. Pleurosigma angulation (fig. 187). — Outline of valve slightly angular at the centre; sigmoid curvature moderate ; markings similar to the preceding. Toxonidea is a genus closely allied to Pleurosigma, but the opposite sides of the valves are dissimilar, one being convex and the other straight. ! I'll ! Fig. J 87. Pleurosigma angulutum. Fig. 188. Toxonidea Gregoriana, x 400. Toxonidea Gregoriana (fig.188). — One side of valve convex until it approaches the ends, where it curves slightly outwards ; the other side straight ; but as it approaches the ends it follows the curvature of the opposite side ; median line same as convex margin ; markings oblique, distinctly visible with a good quarter-inch objective. Toxonidea insignis. — Smaller than the preceding one; margin very convex; ends very slightly curved; the other margin nearly straight the entire length of the valve; median line convex, much nearer the straight than the convex margin ; markings much finer than in Toxonidea Gregoriana. The following species of the genus Nitzschia will be found in the sand-gatherings. Nitzschia vivax (fig. 189). — Valve long, gradually tapering towards the pointed ends ; one margin with a conspicuous row of dots, very slightly incurved at the centre ; markings distinct transverse lines. Nitzschia virgata (fig. 190) resembles the pre- ceding, but is shorter and more curved, and the marginal dots are elongated into short bars ; mark- ings transverse, very distinct. Fig. 189. « Fig. 190. Nitzschia' Fig. 191. Epithemia marina, x 4C0. Nitzschia vivax. virgata, x 400. a, valve; b, frustule Epithemia marina (fig. 191) resembles Nitzschia vivax in outline, but wants the marginal dots : the valve is crossed by distant lines, and is also dotted. Attheya decora (fig. 192).— This curious little form is common in some gatherings : it must be searched for before using the nitric acid, the separation of the valves rendering it difficult to detect: the figure shows the two valves connected by the zone. Fig. 192. Attheya decora, a, a, frustules ; A, valve. Asterionella Bleakleyii (fig. 193) cannot be found after treatment with acid. Each ray of the star consists of the two valves joined by the connecting zone ; the frustules during life adhering to each other by the enlarged ends. The circular species of Diatomaceae are not gene- 224 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Oct. 1, 1S69. rally so common as those of a linear form ; the following may, however, often be detected. Fig. ig:5. Asterionclla Bleukleyii. Coschwdiscus ovalis (fig. 194).— Valve broadly oval : the markings are very fine, and require a good glass to resolve them ; they consist of tine dots, radiating from the centre of the valve : valves will frequently be found with conspicuous dots (? spines) round the margin. Figr. 194. Coscino discus ovalis, Fig. 195. Coscinodiscus nitidus, X 400. X 400. Coscinodiscus nitidus (fig. 195). — A. small form, but easily distinguished by its distant and brilliant dots, slightly decreasing in size as they approach the centre. Coscinodiscus excentricus (fig. 196). — Small valves of the species occur in the sand-gatherings: the observer will readily recognize them by the excen- tric arrangements of the markings and the spinous margin. Fig. 196. Actinoptychus undulatus. Fig. 197. Auliscus eculptus. Actinoptychus undulatus (fig. 196). — A species very variable in size, but easily detected by its conspicu- ous radiating line: the spaces between each division are alternately elevated and depressed ; the mark- ings consist of hexagonal cells, the surface is also faintly punctate. Auliscus sculpttis (fig. 197).— Valves of this species are by no means common; but the diligent observer will probably be rewarded with a specimen or two : the valves are frequently slightly oval, with, two circular elevations near the margins, and a smooth centre: the markings consist of lines, some of which radiate from the centre, and then suddenly converge towards the marginal elevation. Eupodiscus Argus (fig. 19S).— This fine form occurs but sparingly : the surface of the valve is marked with brilliant dots, beneath which appears an irregu- lar arrangement of hexagonal cells of considerable thickness : near the margin will be seen three or more distinct elevations. Fig. 198. Eupodiscus Argus, x sno. Actmoc!/clusRaJfsii(Rg.l99).— Aspeciessometimes very common : the beautiful blue colour of the valves under a low power renders it a conspicuous object : the markings consist of small pearl-like dots, ar- ranged in radiating series : a minute blank space may be detected near the margin (pseudo-nodule). Fig. 199- Actinocyclus Ralfsii. Fig. 200. Cocconeis excentricu, x 400. Cocconeis excentnea (fig. 200). — A curious little species, apparently peculiar to sand-gatherings : the valve is nearly circular, with a conspicuous margi- nal band, consisting of small dots, much closer than those on the centre; median line and nodule not central. Fig. 201. Tricerutium alternans. Fig. 202. Podosira compressa. Triceratium alternans (fig. 201). — This is the only species of the genus 1 have detected among the shore forms : valve small, triangular, with rounded Oct. 1, 1869.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. ends: a conspicuous line crosses each angle; surface of valve finely dotted. Poclosira? compressa (fig. 202). — A small form, common in some gatherings, the frustules generally occurring in pairs ; the valves are elliptic and in- distinctly marked with scattered dots. The preceding species of Diatomacese only repre- sent a very small number of the forms to be obtained in or near the sea: various species of seaweed, particularly the red weeds, will be often found covered with Diatomacea:, the most frequent being Grammatophora marina (fig. 203) and Grammatophora serpentina (fig. 204), or more rarely with Rhabdonema (TY) 0 9 ? Vjtl kJ Fig. 203. Grammatophora marina, x 500. Fig. 204. Grammatophora serpentina, x 500. arcuatum : on the southern coast the observer will probably meet with Isthmia nervosa and enervis (fig. 205), Ampldtetras antediluviana, and the graceful Licmophora flabellata. The bodies of the Noctilucae Fig, 205. Isthmia enervis, x 400 are often rich storehouses of Diatomacea?, sometimes consisting almost entirely of Rhizosolenia or Clueto- ceras. The salt marshes and salt-water ditches will also be found rich in Diatomaceae, such as Cam- pylodiscus, Surirella, Pleurosigma, Triceratium, &c. ; but space forbids even a list of species, much less a description of them, a task I should shrink from, and be tempted to exclaim with Spencer, — " O what an endless taske on hand have I, To count the sea's abundant progenie. Whose fruitful seed far passeth those in land, And also those which wonne in the azure sky." " For though their numbers do much more surmount, Yet all those same were there which erst I did recount." Fairie Queene, canto XII. Norwich. E. KlTTON. THE WOOLHOPE CLUB. IT is only a few instances that can be recorded, of the published transactions of a local Natural History Society being worth more than the paper they are printed upon, except to the few notabilities who figure in them, and. of course highly appre- ciate the glorification. The annual volume of the Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists' Eield. Club for 1867 and again for 1868 partake of the ex- ceptional character. They are highly creditable to the club, and of considerable interest to naturalists outside the club ; in fact, they promise to form a series of volumes, without which, like those of the Tyneside and Berwickshire clubs, no naturalist's library would be complete. These Transactions do not profess to attain the high technical character of some ; but although more popular, they are sound, and not mere wash- ings of slip-slop science. We note with pleasure the general tone of the communications, and their scientific accuracy. The photographs of remarkable trees of Herefordshire, the fossils of Herefordshire, the coloured lithographs of the fungi of Hereford- shire, are not only excellent in themselves, but they are more excellent as indications that the Woolhope club appreciates the true mission of local clubs, to search out and illustrate the natural history of the county, or part of the county, in which they may be located. We imagine that we read this volume with far greater interest, as affording reliable information concerning one county than if it contained learned monographs, communications on the races of Northern China, or notes of a voyage to the Hebrides. This volume is profusely illustrated, but we can- not discover that it is on sale, or if so, at what price, since it would afford cause for regret if those not privileged to become members should also miss the privilege of possessing the Transactions. 226 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Oct. 1, 1869. We cannot particularize chapters, or papers, where so many are worthy; nor within our pre- scribed limits indulge in quotations, but we can and do hope to welcome this annual volume for many a year to come. THE OAK EGGAR MOTH. A LL entomologists are acquainted with the fact -*-*- that certain females of moths emit some powerful odour not perceptible to human nostrils, but so attractive to the males of the same species, as to draw them from great distances to the spots where the females are placed ; and that when under the influence of this attraction, the males lose all idea of self-preservation. Having reared from the larvae several females this year, I have spent some days trying experiments with them, the results of which may be interesting to the readers of Science- Gossip. Saturday, July Mth — Took a female, deformed in the wings, to Bramber. Only two males came up in seven hours. Very few whitethorn hedges or oak-trees are in this neighbourhood. Thursday, July 29th— Took another female to Hassock's Gate station, between which and the entrance to the Clayton Tunnel over fifty males were attracted, twenty -five of which were taken. The female was in a box with a muslin top, and was being carried in a closed basket. When the first male appeared, he not only flew to, but tried to enter the basket. Placed the box on a heap of stones by the roadside, when eight males came up. Moved to a clover field, and put tbe box on the gate post ; males came up freely, and allowed themselves to be taken off the post. Entered a field with a wood at the bottom ; placed the box at the'opposite corner, so as to have an uninterrupted view of over two hundred yards, and for more than two hours watched the proceedings of the males. The wind was very high from S.W., and blowing from us. Males came up singly, by twos and threes, at inter- vals ; many we saw flying over the wood, and traced them coming with swallow-like flight to the box. Some, when within a yard or two of the box, dropped in the grass, and wildly approached, half crawling, half flying. Others, with peculiar fluttering movement, flew round and round, and then settled on the box, from which they were easily taken. Others, which flew past the box a dozen yards, and ten or twelve feet above, having apparently lost the scent, flew away against the wind, and were lost to view. One very battered male, with a peculiar tear in the right under wing, was taken four times. It was set free first to the right, then in front, next to the left, and lastly to the rear of the box, each time about one hundred yards off. After the last setting off, it was not seen again : in the first three cases it came back at once. This seemed conclusively to show the scent was borne by the wind. We also noticed that when above the box they had no diffi- culty in finding it, but when below, they appeared lost and wild. We next shifted our quarters to a small wood, where not one male appeared ; but on our way back to the station several flew to the box, one, in fact, settled on my back. Between 12.20 p.m., when the first was taken, and 8 o'clock, when the last was caught, we counted over fifty. Friday, July 30^.— Out at Hollingbury Combe for four hours ; no males seen, and but few hedge- rows. Next day, Saturday, the same female was taken to a copse on the Dyke Road, with a like result. Wednesday, August 4th— Took two females to Hassock's Gate, but in a different direction from the preceding week. Wind high, from S.W., with rain, and obliged to take shelter under the oak-trees, yet between 2 and 5 o'clock nineteen males were seen. Tried the effect of placing the boxes at varying heights. When hung on the branch of an oak, males seemed to have great difficulty in finding it, and flew round frantically. When placed on a hedge, they readily reached it by crawling and flut- tering up the hedge. Next placed the boxes on the ground, when a male was seen approaching ; it immediately flew to and settled on the box. Two curious incidents happened ; a flock of sheep were passing just as a male was approaching; so we lowered the box, the male flew over the backs of the sheep, touching them in its flight. Just as the train was starting, a male tried to enter the car- riage, and failing, flew round and over the train for more than a quarter of a mile, and only stopped when beaten by the superior speed of the engine. Friday, August &h. — Same females taken to Harst. Wind and the tail of a waterspout. Nine males came up. August 7th. — Same females taken to Tilgate Eorest, where a friend had never succeeded in at- tracting the males ; yet eight were attracted ; the first before we had left the station, or taken the box from the basket. In no one instance did we notice a moth coming with, but all against the wind, and most from long distances ; ergo, how acute the sense of smell, the organ of which natu- ralists have not yet been able to find. I ought to mention that the last two females had laid eggs before they were taken out, and although the males were so wild and frantic in their behaviour, the females appeared not only utterly unconscious of their proximity, but even, when a male settled or crawled over the muslin top of the box, they, in every case, 'remained perfectly still. I have been much amused by the comments of the rustics, who have wondered at our proceedings, and evidently believed we were acting magic. Brighton, August. T. W. Wonfor. Oct. 1, 1869.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 227 SUTHERLAND GOLD. [Preliminary Report by Dr. Lauder Lindsay. Presented to the Geological Society of Edinburgh, March 11th, 186g.] TTAVING had submitted to me by the -*-*■ Geological Society of Edinburgh, a sample of gold from the Kildonau Gold-field, Sutherland- shire, with a request that I would give an opinion as to its quality — I have compared its characters, 1. with those of many hundred specimens of native gold, which I have had opportunities of examining from all the principal auriferous countries of the world, of whose characters I made memoranda at the time I examined them; and 2. with those of gold-specimens in my private cabinet of minerals from (a) New Zealand, (b) Nova Scotia, and (c) Scotland (Lead Hills) : and, as the result of the comparative •examination, I beg to report my opinion: — That the Kildonau gold now submitted is of high average quality ; and that, in particular, it so closely resem- bles gold brought from the famous Gabriel's gully in Otago, New Zealand, in 1862, that it is indistinguishable therefrom by the eye, even aided by the lens. It may be safely accepted as proved, that the Sutherland gold now being obtained is of excellent quality. What has yet, to be shown is the amount in which it occurs : and this can be proved only by experienced gold-miners; by shaft-sinking and quartz-crushing ; by co-operation of labour and in- vestiture of capital. The Kildonau gold I have seen is mostly in the form of grains or nuggets of small size : smaller than those in my cabinet from Lead Hills. The size of individual nuggets is, however, of little consequence compared with the total amount of gold distributed in drifts or quartzites ; for in the latter gold may be present in amount that will " pay " extraction when it is nevertheless invisible to the naked eye even aided by the lens. But inasmuch as public interest mainly centres at present in the size of the nuggets that may yet be obtained in Sutherland, I append some quota- tions from Calvert's work on the " Gold Rocks of Great Britain and Ireland," published in 1853, which show that nuggets of very respectable size (though not to be compared with the "monster nuggets" of Australia) have been found in Scot- land and in Sutherland. And I may add that there is no geological reason why equally large nuggets should not again be discovered when proper pains are bestowed on the search therefor. Calvert says (p. 161) : "The largest nugget found in Scotland weighed three pounds ! another thirty ounces, or two pounds and a half ! others of six and five ounces ! the next largest one ounce and a half. Two of these are mentioned from Sutherlandshire and Clydesdale." Again (p. 163), " In 1840 a nugget was found (in Sutherlandshire) weighing one ounce and a half, in the bed of the Kildonan, a mountain stream " ; and at p. 167 he tells us that the thirty- ounce nugget was from Crawford Moor, that is, Lead Hills of modern topographical nomenclature. Now, at the present market price of Sutherland gold, the nuggets just mentioned would possess the following value in hard cash :— 1. That of 3 lb £144 2. „ 2' „ £120 3- „ 6 oz £24. 4- » 5 „ £20 5- » H „ £6 I may further add that the market price here quoted— as that which Sutherland Gold, fetches in the markets of Inverness, Edinburgh, and Glasgow, —is greatly above that of much of the gold that is at present being produced (according to the mail just arrived) by the rich Thames gold field of Auckland, New Zealand, which is realizing only £2. 10s. to £3 per ounce. THE SHORT-EARED OWL. (Strix brachyotus.) A LL sportsmen should be naturalists; their -£** rambles across country in search of fur and feather give them opportunities for observation which fall to the lot of few besides themselves; while, by virtue of their "license to kill," they are led to explore sundry out-of-the-way holes and corners, which under other circumstances would be passed by. In this way they unavoidably become acquainted with many birds and animals which are not included in the list of " game," but which, nevertheless, by the beauty of their plumage, or by their graceful movements, contribute greatly to the pleasure of a day's shooting. What sportsman does not remember the occasion of his first acquaintance with the Short-eared Owl ? It was early in October, the weather still fine, but just beginning to get a little cold. In the cover through which we passed, the leaves had already changed colour, and the squirrels in their passage aloft sent down a thick shower to strew the ground, over which in turn the rabbits rustled as they scampered away at our approach. Anon, we heard the Green Woodpecker with his loud laughing cry, and stayed so long to watch his vigorous blows upon the old beech, that we had almost forgotten that our object in leaving home was " shooting." It was just about the time for the Woodcocks to arrive, and we were anxious to meet " the first cock of the season " and give him a warm reception. Passing out of the cover and crossing a stream, we found ourselves upon an open waste covered with two species of heath and the spongy sphagnum. A more promising spot could not be found. The Woodcocks, if arrived, would be sure to leave the cover in the evening to feed. along the stream, and 228 HARDWICKE'S science-gossip. [Oct. 1, 1869. would doubtless remain out all night. Partridges would surely be lower down among the dry heather, and very possibly we might find a Jack Snipe or two, for we have known the last-named to arrive as early as the 2nd of October. Inserting a couple of cartridges, we walked quietly on, when suddenly the dog stood, and before we could reach him, a brown long-winged, bird rose out of the heather, and was sailing away. " It's one of these ere owls," exclaimed the keeper, with his usual disregard for species, and immediately brought it down. What a pity ! It was a Short-eared Owl sure enough, and the Woodcock, is often spoken of as the Woodcock- Owl. In the North of England and in Scotland this bird frequently remains throughout the year, and makes its nest upon the ground amongst heather, or in a marsh amongst sedge and rushes. Mr. A. G. More, who has been at great pains to ascertain the distribution of this species in Great Britain during the nesting season,* says that it breeds in Suffolk, Norfolk, f and Cambridge; for- merly also in Huntingdon (Mr. P. Bond). The nest has been once or twice taken near Scar- borough (Mr. A. S. Bell) ; in Durham and North- Pig. 206. The Short-eared Owl (Stria; bmchyotits). as we stretched out its beautiful barred wings, smoothed its soft plumage, and gazed into its large golden eyes, we felt pained to think that in another moment its life would be gone. The keeper said it was a destructive bird, but he was not prepared with any evidence to support his statement. To judge from the habits of other owls with which we are better acquainted, we should say that small birds, field mice, and beetles constitute its principal food. In the South of England, and in Ireland, the Short-eared Owl is known only as a winter visitant, and from usually arriving about the same time as umberland (Mr. Hancock and Rev. H. B. Tristram) : Sir William Jardine also mentions the moorland ranges of Westmoreland and Cumberland as pro- bable breeding-places. In Scotland the Short-eared Owl nests regularly in Dumfries (Sir W. Jardine) ; on Ailsa (Mr. P. Gray) ; in the counties of Selkirk * See the Ibis for 1865, p. 15. t With regard to Norfolk, Mr. Stevenson says : " In the spring these birds again proceed northwards towards the end of March, having, 1 believe, entirely ceased to breed in Nor- folk, where, especially in the once fenny districts of the south- western parts of the county, they were commonly met with during the breeding season."— " Birds of Norfolk," 1866, vol. i. p. 60. Oct. ], 1869.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 229 and Roxburgh occasionally' (Mr. J. F. Whitecross); in Stirling (Mr. J. Murray) ; Clackmannan (Dr. P. Brotherson) ; in Perth (Mr. A. Pullar) ; in Ross, Sutherland, Caithness, the Hebrides and Orkneys. The eggs are usually five or six in number, white, smaller in size than those of the Barn Owl, and smoother in texture. Unlike its congeners, the Short-eared Owl evinces no partiality for woods, but affects the open country, roosting upon the ground by day, under shelter of dry grass, sedge, or heath, and hunting for its food as soon as the sun has disappeared. We have often thought, however, when watching the flight of one BRITISH MOTHS.* rpHIS excellent work, which has appeared in -*- monthly numbers, has now reached its con- clusion, and, under the form of a volume in crimson and gold, becomes a candidate for the drawing-room table. The features which recommend it to stu- dents and lovers of nature are of more interest and value — to us no less, we imagine, than to the author himself — than mere external beauty or fitness for ornamental purposes. We have often been soli- cited to name a book containing figures of all the British moths, with plain descriptions, at a reason- Fig-. 207. The Privet Hawk-moth (Sphinx ligustrh). of these birds when disturbed in the daytime, that its bolder and more hawk-like flight, and the fact of its living out in the open country, indicated habits less nocturnal than those of other owls. Its sight is wonderfully keen, and if once disturbed and not shot, it is almost impossible to approach within range of it a second time. It has been stated on the authority of Capt. Portlock, in the Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy (vol. i. p. 52), that in a rabbit warren at Magilligan, county of London- derry, where the Short-eared Owl is a regular visitant in autumn, birds of this species have been seen at the entrance to the burrows, within which they retired when disturbed : more than one was shot on emerging from a hole, and one was taken in a trap placed at the entrance of a burrow when making its exit thence." Whether they entered the holes for concealment, or for the purpose of carry- ing off young rabbits, the observer was not able to determine. There can be no doubt that the Short- eared Owl would take young rabbits where the opportunity occurred ; but as it is seldom found in England except between the months of September and April, it cannot commit that havoc amongst young game birds of which, in common with other owls, it has been so frequently accused. J. E. Harting. * Thompson's " Natural History of Ireland " (Birds), vol. i. p. 91. able price. Such a book is the present, and we hope, for the sake both of author and publisher, that it will meet with the success it merits. The insects which are not included in this volume are the Deltoids, Pyrales, Veneers, and Plumes, together with the Tortrices and Tineae. "It was found impossible," writes Mr. Newman, "to make effective representations in wood of insects so minute as the majority of those contained in the four families I have mentioned, and extremely diffi- cult to fix any scale by which to represent them of a uniformly increased size : the difficulty, indeed, seemed so great that the project has been abandoned for the present." The "British Moths" aspires to be a popular guide, and hence its author employs plain language, divested as much as possible of technicalities. As an example, we quote his description of the Silver- striped Hawk-moth {Chcerocampa Celerio), the figure of which, together with that of the Privet Hawk-moth, were kindly placed at our disposal by the publisher for this purpose. " The Silver-striped Hawk-moth. — Pore wings brown, with a narrow silvery oblique stripe along the middle, commencing in a point at the extreme apex of the wing ; this stripe is composed of four * " An Illustrated Natural History of British Moths ; with life-sized figures from nature of each species, and of the more striking varieties," by Edward Newman, F.I..S., &c. Royal 8vo. Tweedie, 33", Strand. 230 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GO S SIP. [Oct. 1, 1869. very delicate lines, the upper one of which is silvery ; the hind margin of the wing has several delicate lines, and the veins of the wing are also silvery. Hind wings pink at the base ; the rest pink-brown, with two black bands, which are united by six black lines. Thorax and body brown; thorax with an ash-coloured line on each side at the base of the wings, and two silvery lines ; body with a row of white spots down the middle, and two silvery marks on each side of each segment. ' Caterpillar green or purplish-brown ; on the fifth and sixth segments are two round black spots, dotted with yellow, and encircled with a yellow ring ; those on the fifth segment larger. Horn brown, very slender, and quite straight. Feeds on the vine.' We have never seen the caterpillar of this moth ; our de- scription is extracted from Mr. Stainton's ' Manual of British Butterflies and Moths.' The author has copied it from Eryer. The perfect insect has occurred now and then in England, but can scarcely be regarded as a British insect. The scientific name is Chcerocampa Celerio." Fig. 208. The Silver-striped Hawk-moth {Chcerocampa Celerio) During the past month we had one of these caterpillars sent us by post alive and well. It is a true Briton, and we have confided it to the care of a practical entomologist, in the hope that it may one day make its appearance in its perfect form. The above description is substantially correct. In commending this work to our readers, we may add, as an additional security for its accuracy, that the author acknowledges in his preface the " impor- tant services " of Mr. Doubleday, " through whose hands every sheet and every column has passed. Many omissions have thus been supplied and many errors expunged. . . . Mr. Doubleday has abun- dantly made up for my shortcomings, and has sup- plied me with information which, in many instances, has never before appeared in print." Eor this useful and valuable contribution to popular natural history — in the highest acceptation of the word "popular" — Mr. Newman has our hearty thanks. MICROSCOPICAL RESEARCH. TN the last number of Science-Gossip, I noticed ■*■ a paper taken from Scientific Opinion, under the above title, which very properly censures the waste of valuable time by thousands of incipient micro- scopists. All amateur microscopists seem to become what the author very aptly terms complete diato- maniacs; they have a rage similar to the Dutch shell and tulip mania. The mere fact of possessing a rare object that very few others possess, is a miserly, selfish passion, unworthy of the lowest intellect. Nature works for the benefit of the whole human race col- leetively, and showers her gifts with a bountiful hand upon all, so that under her beneficence the poor in pocket may be rich in mind, and the richest in the land may find that there is a mine of wealth within their grasp, if they will only stretch out their hand towards it — riches more plentiful, and wonders more wonderful, than were ever dreamt of by the author of the " Arabian Nights." With re- gard to the admiration for beauty, that is another question ; diatoms are cer- tainly very beautiful, but they are not the only microscopic beauties in creation, by a very long way. It is a strange thing that many people, who term themselves naturalists, will run hundreds of miles over a country, and waste weeks and^eeks for the possession of rare species. The chief object of the microscopists, I presume, is to resolve our most difficult problems in histology, and to lessen the number of our already too abundant species. What credit does it reflect upon any man because he has got a species that nobody else has, or that he has dis- covered a species that nobody else has — Smithii, Brownii, Jonesii, Robinsonii ? None, in my opinion. If there is any honour to be gained, it is in the reduction of species, and for the working out of such problems, brains, patience, and untiring per- severance are required to any extent. Infatuated species-hunters are not naturalists in the true sense of the term, and the time taken up in running over the country after new and rare species or varieties, might be more profitably spent. Allow me to suggest a subject for microscopic investigation— which is in a high state of confusion — a subject which will require the eyes of thousands of microscopists to search out its mysteries for genera- tions possibly, a subject which is of vital consequence to the human race, as it has to do with the problems of life, health, disease, and death. I allude to the microscopic fungi. The micro fungi in beauty of form and interest far outstrip the diatoms. Their extraordinary Oct. 1, 1S69.J RARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 231 beauty and immense profusion, there scarcely being the smallest corner of the earth that will not pro- duce them, make them objects of extreme interest to the microscopist. If any one will get my paper on " Vaccination versus Nature " of the publishers, 475, Oxford-street, they will, on reading that, see how important it is that our knowledge of the micro fungi should be increased as soon as possible. Every observer has it in his power to do a little, and in a case like this he will have the satisfaction of knowing that he is not only revelling amongst a very profusion of forms of the most extraordinary beauty, but that, however little original observation he may produce, he is paving the way to free the human race of some of the most dreadful diseases to which it is subjected. If any of our micro- scopists will obtain Mr. M. C. Cooke's work on the micro fungi — read that, get a foundation for their knowledge, and then buy a number of tumblers or glass vessels or pots of any sort filled with water, and commence a series of original observations by dropping all sorts of animal and vegetable products in the said vessels — take the common house-fly to begin with — they will be surprised what a wide field for discovery lies within their grasp, wonders infinitely more astonishing than were ever dreamt of in the brain of the most infatuated of opium- eaters. Let them pencil down in sketches and notes everything they see, and in a short time they will be thunderstruck at the amount of original facts so easily obtained; they will be surprised that the mightiest problems that sway the world are close under their very nose, patiently waiting to be brought to light. They will then find how mistaken they have been to run 300 miles after Smithii, Brownii, Jonesii, and Robinsonii, when by their own fireside the greatest, the most sublime wonders in creation have been constantly bobbing in their eyes, and buzzing in their ears. If only for the sake of suffering humanity, I ap- peal to my fellow- workers to tender their mite to- wards this great object. Macleod of Skye. INSECT VISITATION. "VTOREOLK has shared in the advantages derived -*-* from the timely visit of immense flights of ladybirds, and the plague of aphides, from which vegetation was suffering severely, has rapidly disap- peared before them. There has been great discus- sion as to how far we are indebted to immigration for these friendly visitors, and from whence they came ; of course opinions differed greatly, but I am inclined to believe we need not revert to that shadowy land, " the Continent," to account for their presence. In my own garden there have been immense num- bers ; but the number of larvae I observed was also very great. Their onward movement in search of fresh supplies of food would, I think, account for their congregation on the shore, which has led to the impression that they had just arrived in this country; but their flight, although strong and rapid, is not sufficiently sustained to carry them far over the sea, into which they would drop exhausted and perish. In support of this view I will mention a circum- stance which occurred off the Norfolk coast on the 21th July. A yacht belonging to Mr. Cresswell, of Lynn, sailing off Hunstanton, passed through a mass of dead ladybirds, accumulated on the surface of the wafer, about ten feet broad, and extending for two or three miles, bearing the appearance of a black stripe on the water. This occurred in the Wash, about nine miles from the Norfolk and thirteen from the Lincolnshire shore ; the wind was very light in occasional puffs from off the Norfolk shore, and the exact locality the entrance to a channel called the " Bulldogs." Mr. Cresswell accounts for the presence of this vast mass of dead ladybirds as follows : — At low water there are uncovered sands, with pools and channels between' them, extending from the shore to the navigable channel called the Bulldogs ; he presumes that the mass of dead ladybirds in the Bulldogs were drowned by the rising water covering the sands on which they were, and brought by the current into the vast mass the Wild Buck passed through, which bad accumulated on the crown of the sands. There is very little doubt these ladybirds left the Norfolk shore, and alighting on the first uncovered spot they came to, were saved from dropping ex- hausted into the sea, only to be drowned by the rising flood which covered their island resting-place. But had they possessed the strength to renew their flight, and chance directed them either to the Nor- folk or Lincolnshire coast, any person witnessing their return would probably have been impressed with the belief that they were a fresh arrival from "the Continent." At the same time and place the Wild Buck was surrounded by an immense swarm of what at the time were believed to be wasps, but which from the description I have no doubt were Syrphidse, of at least two species, one much larger than the other. These were so numerous that they were swept from the sails in thousands, and whilst one man steered, another had to be employed in brushing them off him ; as it was, they did not escape being bitten, the bite being attended with considerable pain and swelling. These Syrphidae have probably accompanied the ladybirds in their flight ; but their superior powers on the wing had saved them for the time from the fate which had overtaken the latter ; only for a time 232 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Oct. 1, 1S69. however, as they would soon add their numbers to the slain. The thought suggests itself tion to leave the shore (if at provision of Nature to rid us performed its allotted purpose, nuisance if remaining. Norwich. whether this inclina- all common) is not a of what, after having would prove a serious T. Southwell. N.B.— When I wrote the above, I had not ob- served Mr. Cordeaux's note in the Zoologist, S. S., p. 1839. On 21th July, the same day as above re- ferred to, about thirteen miles from the Lincolnshire coast, his cutter ran through numerous belts of water, "from a few yards to some hundreds in breadth, and extending both to port and star- board as far as the eye could reach," so full of myriads of green-winged aphides as to present a "thick pea-soup appearance." The air in and around this city literally swarmed with these insects during the whole of that day. Mr. Cordeaux also mentions the astonishing numbers of the larvae of the Ladybird in the pea-fields,— ten or twelve on each plant. "There were many of tbe perfect insects, but the larvae outnumbered the parents as fifty to one." T. S. THE LAY OE THE OLD LADYBIRD. Confound 'em ! ladybirds and beadles, And daddy-long-legses, as well ! That keep one thus on pins and needles, Lor ! what to do I cannot tell. Ah, flics and spiders, legs and wings, I can't abide them creeping things! There's flies ! One wants a little sleep, And just a-dropping in a doze, When, drat the things, they buzz and creep Upon a poor old lady's nose. Lor, how they tickles and they stings ! I can't abide them creeping things ! There's earwigs dropping in your cup When in the arbour you takes tea. There's what o' night-time wakes you up, That will not budge, and seldom flee. Distress such recollection brings— I can't abide them creeping things ! Confound 'em ! beadles, gnats, and wopses, Elies, spiders, ladybirds— what-nots ! I'd like to stomp 'em all to copses As ants is, so says Dr. Watts. I find to life too much they clings— I can't abide them creeping things \—Fun. THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OE LONDON. |"N the latter part of last, and earlier years of the -*- present century, several attempts were made to establish an Entomological Society in London. These proved all more or less abortive, the associa- tions thus formed being chiefly characterized by the brevity of their existence ; though one actually so far succeeded as to publish two parts of "Transactions." The now existing Society was instituted in 1834, "for the improvement and diffusion of Entomological Science " {vide chap. i. of its Bye-laws), and nearly half a dozen of the gentlemen composing the first council are still living. During the thirty-five years that have elapsed since that period, it has published sixteen bulky volumes of " Transactions " on all branches of Entomology, and now issues, in parts, a thick volume annually, embellished with many beautiful plates. Though the number of its members is con- siderable, we do not think it receives the amount of support from our countrymen who pursue the study that is justly due to it ; and we feel assured that many do not join its ranks from ignorance of the modus operandi, and thereby lose much pleasure they would otherwise derive from attending its meetings, and from borrowing books from its exten- sive library. The meetings are now held, by permission, in the rooms of the Linnean Society in Burlington House, and are conducted in a more conversational style than is usual in many of our Scientific Societies. Admissions are granted in two forms — in one, pay- ment of a small admission fee and an annual sub- scription are necessary — in the other the subscrip- tion only is demanded. The advantages are equal, save that those gentlemen joining under the latter condition can take no part in the executive. The Transactions are sent, as soon as published, gratis to gentlemen who reside outside a radius of fifteen miles from London, whereas those who live within that radius can obtain them at half price; it being considered that country members, through inability to regularly attend the meetings, are placed in a less favourable position than their metropolitan colleagues. The next meeting will take place on the 1st of November, and we are at liberty to state that all information will be gladly afforded to any Entomo- logist who may think of joining, by either of the two secretaries ; viz., Mr. J. W. Dunning, M.A., E.L.S., of U, Old Buildings, Lincoln's-Inn, or Mr. R. M:Lachlau, E.L.S., of 20, Limes Grove, North Lewisham. The library is kept at 12, Bedford-row, Holborn, and the Librarian attends there every Monday from 2 to 7 p.m. Oct. 1, 1SG9.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 233 ZOOLOGY. Mice on the Sill. — An old Quaker friend told me the other day she was once nursing her father in a quiet parlour in their house in the " close," when she observed, on the window-sill, a couple of mice sunning themselves. She put some crumbs for them next morning, and, finding they were taken away, continued to do so daily. The animals came, and in due time brought young ones, which partook of the meal. During the season three young broods were thus brought to the window-sill and taught to feed themselves. If one dropped a crumb carelessly it was sure to be chastised with a smart rap, when it took up the crumb and carried it away. The nest was close by in a hole in the wall, made by the chance removal of a brick. The sight, she said, was very pretty. The mice ran up by the stems of a asmine, which grew by the wall up to the window. — L. B. Sympathetic Puss.— The same person who narrated the mouse anecdote to me said she had an old lady friend who was grievously afflicted with rheumatic gout in the hand ; her fingers and joints were quite distorted and drawn up like claws. But she managed, somehow, to write, and sat at her desk painfully making the letters. Close beside her, hour after hour, sat her favourite cat watching the process. In course of time puss had kittens, which, strange to tell, had their paws all drawn up and distorted precisely like the old lady's hands. They were malformed in every case, and the whole batch had to be drowned. My Quaker friend, who narrated this to me, is one who weighs her words, and carefully adheres to the truth, so that I can speak after her with confidence. — L. B. An Affectionate Tortoise. — I dined a few days ago at a gentleman's house in this vicinity, and was asked if I would like to go out into the grounds and see the tortoise. We found the creature, a very large one of its kind, basking in the sun on the upper terrace grass walk, and it evidently knew the master's voice right well, for directly Mr. took it in his hands and lifted it up, the tortoise put out its fore-feet up against his breast and stretched forth its long neck, laying its face on his cheek in the most confiding way, just as a tame cat, or any other domestic animal, might do in order to be caressed. I truthfully could not (had I not seen it) have believed it possible for the eye of a tortoise to have expressed such affection ; but he evidently did not approve of strangers taking liberties with him. Immediately any of the ladies present, or myself, touched him, he withdrew into his shell house with great dignity. Mr. told me the tortoise came into his possession some thirty years ago, but during a part of this time he had lost sight of it for a period of six years, when one day a workman on the estate came to ask him to look at " a wonderful big toad — a toad with a stone back." The toad was the long missing tortoise, whom old Baird had turned up in a neighbouring field. The tortoise has ever since lived comfortably in the grounds, always making his appearance in summer on the same terrace to be treated with fruit, which he much enjoys. The lack of knowledge respecting natural history shown by some of the lower classes is really most remarkable. " A toad with a stone back " reminds me of a tale told me yesterday of an old man who lived not very far from here. His master, a Pembrokeshire squire, took him up to town the year of the Exhibition. Jack was never trusted out alone lest he should lose his way ; but one evening his master sent him to a tobacconist's shop close by for some of the weed. Jack had the order written down ; while the shopman turned to weigh out the article, Jack laid half a crown on the counter, and a large monkey quietly swept it into the till. Jack having received the parcel waited for change ; the shopman, who had not noticed the laying down of the money, waited for payment. Jack talked Welsh, the man English, and at last a boy was sent home with Jack, his master being known to the shopkeeper. Then came Jack's explanation to his master, which translated was as follows : " I did put down the silver, and the gentleman's father, the old man as sits on the counter, did put it in the till and the gentleman did give me no change."— Helen E. Watney, Gws Cwm. Voracity of the Jack.— On Tuesday last Mr. Thomas Taylor, of the George Hotel, Halstead, whilst spinning for jack, in the Colne, near Box-mills, captured one weighing 3 lb. Noticing that its body was an unusual size he opened it and found in its pouch a young moor-hen and nine roach ! One of the roach weighed a quarter of a pound.— Halstead Times, August 14. Insects in 1869.— Is not the clouded yellow (Colias edusa) unusually plentiful this summer ? and are not the small tortoise-shell (Vanessa urtica), and the painted lady (Cynthia cardui) rather scarce ? 1 saw a specimen of the clouded yellow on the road from Flushing to Mylor Bridge in Cornwall, the other day ; another at St. Keyne, and, I think, another between this place, Lyme Regis, and Axminster. The painted lady (Cynthia cardui) I saw on the road from Lyme Regis to Charmouth on the 1st of March, and the small tortoise-shell here on the 10th of April, the weather being then fine and warm. I do not remember seeing either since. I noticed several common white and blue butterflies at Elushing this summer, but I fancy the former has not been so common in this neighbourhood as it was last year. The 231 HAJIDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Oct. 1, 1S69. meadow brown {Hipparchia jcinira) is, as usual, abundant. I have seen at least three humming- bird hawk-moths— two in the garden and one at Uplyme.— F. J. D. Hinton, Lyme Regis. The Scarce Spotted Hawk-Moth {Sphinx Galii). — A caterpillar of this exceedingly rare insect was taken in this vicinity in the latter end of August. The following description is to be found in J. O. Westwood's "British Moths and their Transformations" :—" The caterpillar is of an olive green colour, with a yellow dorsal line, and a row of yellow pear-shaped spots, bordered with black on each side of each segment. The spiracles are yellow, and there is a line of the same colour above the legs ; of which latter the fore ones are black, and the pro-legs flesh-coloured. It feeds on several species of Galium, such as the wild madder (G. mollvgo), and the yellow lady's bcdstraw {G. verum)." It is at present living on the latter plant. — J. H. Fox, Harleston, Norfolk. Insects of the Season.— I have noticed during this year a very great scarcity of the large garden white {Pieris brassicce), and although the small white {P. rupee) has appeared in very few numbers to what it usually does, the visits of the large white were far more rare. There has been, however, an extreme abundance of the small tortoise-shell [V. nrticce), and the peacock butterfly {V. 16) ; whilst among our moths the bright-line brown-eye [M. oleracea) proved a perfect nuisance, collecting in large numbers in our bedrooms, and the willow beauty {Aids rhomboidarid) has also been extremely abundant. When at Cardigan, S. Wales, last month, scarcely [a bush could be touched without starting half a dozen or more magpie moths {Abraxas grossulariata) off on the wing ; whilst in the after- noon they were fluttering about amongst the hedge- rows almost as numerously as the meadow-browns and large heaths. The caterpillar of the privet hawk-moth has been far more abundant than last year. I collected in a few hours last week upwards of six-and-thirty fine specimens on a low privet- bush. At Gwbert, the famous watering-place of Cardigan, and opposite the island, there is a large tract of ground covered with gorse and heather; the vegetation about here was literally strewn with the empty chrysalis of the six-spot Burnet moth (Anthrocera filipendulte) during the past month. — W. Bevan Lewis, L.B.C.P. Loud. Centre Barred Sallow {Cirrcedia Xeram- pelina).— Having had the pleasure of taking two specimens of this beautiful species I thought it would interest some of the readers of Science- Gossip, both specimens being taken at the begin- ning of this month (September). This species has been taken more than once before by myself and my friend, Mr. W. J. Smith, at light. -C. B. Doicard, Worcester. Cats and Starfish. — In answer to W. Field in September number allow me to record the case of a favourite and very tame cat who is always glad to devour a starfish when one dies in the aquarium and never seems at all the worse for it. I have known her do it several times this spring and sum- mer whilst staying at her home in the neighbourhood of Ramsgate. In whatever part of the kingdom the piece of " folk-lore " mentioned by W. Field may be prevalent, I think it must be entirely un- founded.—/. G. H. A 'cute Squirrel.— A very curious instance of squirrel sagacity has lately come to my knowledge. It was related to me by an eye-witness to the fact, now some years ago. A tame squirrel having swarmed up the bell-pull threw down from the end of the mantel-shelf an imitation egg and egg- cup, in one. He immediately descended and endeavoured, having secured it in his paws, to re-ascend with it. Failing in this he again climbed up the rope, but evidently not satisfied, came down again, and this time having managed to secure the ornament in some way that allowed him to use his paws, ascended the rope with it and replaced it on the mantel-shelf. This was witnessed at a friend's house by a relative of mine, the friend also being present. — W. Hambrough, Worthing. Animal from Salt Lake.— In the April num- ber of Science-Gossip is figured an animal from Salt Lake, which the correspondent and editor seem- unable to identify. It is undoubtedly the larva of Ephydra, of which the fly and puparium have been figured in the Naturalist, vol. ii., p. 278, and a short account given of the occurrence of other species in the salt-works in Germany; the Equality Salt-works, Gallatin County, Illinois ; the Salt Lake Mono, Cali- fornia ; and the coasts of Labrador and Massachu- setts, where it lives in salt or brackish water. — A. S. P. in "American Naturalist "for Sept. 1869. Spiders as an Article of Food.— Reaumur tells us of a young lady, who when she walked in her grounds never saw a spider that she did not take and crack upon the spot. Another female, the celebrated Anna Maria Schurman, used to eat them like nuts, which she affirmed they much resembled in taste, excusing her propensity by saying that she was born under the sign Scorpio. If you wish for the authority of the learned, Lalande, the cele- brated French astronomer, was, as Latreille wit- nessed, equally fond of these delicacies. And lastly, if not content with taking them seriatim, you should feel desirous of eating them by handfuls, you may shelter yourself under the authority of the German immortalized by Ivoesel, who used to spread them upon his bread like butter, observing that he found them very useful "urn sich auszuiaxiren."— Kirby's Introd. to Entom. Oct. 1, 1869.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 2 235 BOTANY. Marjoram.— I was much interested in Mrs. Watney's article on " Common Herbs " last month (page 17S), in which she so well described the sweet marjoram and its uses. But Mrs. Watney states that it is slightly puzzling with regard to the pro- perties of this plant, as it apparently shows that they are identical with narcotic principles when the plant is put into beer while fermenting. This is not, however, the case ; and such facts as these are puzzling to many, because the reactions are seldom expressed in any "manual." The reactions and results are only obtained by close observation and study; but sometimes a little thought, and knowledge of chemistry as well, will explain such reactions. Marjoram contains an alkaloid (e. g., like alkalies) which unites with the free acid in the beer, neutra- lizing it, therefore rendering its presence non-per- ceptible. Yeast consists of several kinds of fungus, i.e., Monas crepuscidum, Bacterium termo, Torula, Penicillium glaucum, &c, and these fungi excite alcoholic fermentation, then acetic acid fermentation. Some acetic acid is also formed during the first stage, or alcoholic fermentation, and the presence of an alkaloid prevents this giving a greater per- centage of alcohol. Marjoram containing the alka- loid acts as above. In reality, then, the alcohol intoxicates, not the marjoram. — George Neiclyn. The Bee Orchis. — We have received several communications in reply to " B.'s" inquiry respect- ing the Bee Orchis, and are informed that it maybe found in Castle Hedingham, Little Maplestead, Colne-Engaine, &c. One botanical correspondent suggests that to give its habitat more definitely to the public would ultimately exterminate the plant from the district, but genuine, collectors may have further information on inquiry at our office. — Hal- stead Times, Aug. 14. British Eungi. — "A Handbook ot British Eungi," by M. C. Cooke, is announced as in course of preparation. It will form a thick crown octavo volume, and will be published at half a guinea to subscribers as soon as sufficient names have been received to guarantee the venture. This work is intended to contain full descriptions of every known species of fungus hitherto found in the British Isles, with figures illustrating the genera. Sub- scribers' names will be gladly received by the author through the publisher of Science-Gossip, 192, Piccadilly, W. Geranium Seeds. — At page 191 of your present volume reference is made by a correspondent, Mrs. Watney, to the fruit of the Cranesbills, which is described as bearing a sort of screw. There is a little confusion here which perhaps you will think it desirable to correct. It is the allied genus Ero- dium in which the tail of the carpel coils up spirally after splitting from the beak. In geranium proper the tail does not assume the spiral form ; this cha- racter affords, therefore, a ready mode of distin- guishing the seeds of the two genera. The spiral coil appears to act like the feathered shaft of an arrow. The seed being the heaviest naturally falls downwards, and the spiral will usually be found projecting above ground, when the carpel, with its inclosed seed, becomes buried.— W. T., Ipswich. Holly.— I fancy the term Holly, our English name for the Ilex aquifoliim, is derived from Hellig, the Welsh name for the tree. The Holly surely is a true native of Great Britain, and Welsh the original language; therefore, what more probable than that the Saxons called the tree Holly, a cor- ruption of Hellig? The "Saxon alphabet" was used by the Britons many centuries before the Saxon invasion; this old writings fully prove; therefore we have reason to believe that the Saxons had no letters of their own, but that the one now called Saxon was taught them by the Britons. Alfred's tutors were both Welshmen. Had the Saxons brought any letters from Saxony there would surely be in some part of Germany Saxon characters still to be found, and I am told there are not; so I come to the sage conclusion that my native language is very ancient, and Holly derived from Hellig.— H. E. Watney. Olive in Bloom.— I don't know whether the fact of an olive-tree grown in this country having this year put forth its bloom is a novel one. The tree is an interesting one, as it has all the charac- teristics on a small scale of the olive of the South, both as regards form and the big root protruding from the soil. Up to last year it had been growing in a pot, it was then transferred to a cask and planted in some rich soil. The tree is about five feet six inches high from the base of the trunk. This is the first year in which it has flowered. In the South of Erance they flower in, I believe, the seventh year. The olive in question is at least ten years old. In winter it is placed in a conservatory, and in summer in a sheltered spot in the garden. Since we have had it no blight of any kind has ever been detected on its leaves. — P., Margate. Lobelia urens. — I have had Lobelia urens in full bloom in ray garden three years in succession. I collected the plants when in Devonshire for my holidays. They blossom well, but do not ripen seed in cultivation. Are any of your readers acquainted with a deep blue variety of Scilla awhcmnalis ? I have found it early in August covering the sandy downs near the sea with its brilliant blue flowers. In colour and habit it resembles Scilla verm. In June I found the grass-like tufts of leaves, which were turned brown and withered before the flowers appeared. I shall be glad of any information on the subject. — M. C, Kent. 236 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Oct. 1, 1869. MICROSCOPY. A New Cell. — No one can better understand the difficulties which a young microscopist meets with, than he who has been compelled to fall back upon the resources of his own inventive capacities to meet those emergencies which present themselves on the very threshold of a new study. Perhaps one of the first of these difficulties is the formation of a cell. Our standard works on the microscope seem to give us an exhaustive stock of information on this point, but yet this question remains unanswered, viz., — How to prepare at the lowest cost a large stock of neat and efficient cells ? The merest tyro is aware that a revolving disc, a diamond pencil, &c., will supply means for the construction of neat cells ; but all this involves a certain outlay which many would hesitate to expend. A steady hand can draw a fair circle of Brunswick black on a slide, but in order that the cell should be deep, each successive layer should be firmly dried before the application of a second, and the various annoyances which this plan often gives rise to are known only too well to those who are practically familiar with this method. But purchase a box of endless elastic bands,* and the addition of a jar of Brunswick black will now supply all the requisite material for the formation of a large stock of good and neat cells. Slip one of these bands on to the blades of a pair of scissors, slightly opening the latter to keep the band near the points, and prevent it from slipping off; now paint it over with a thin layer of Brunswick black, allow the band to fall fiat on the centre of a glass slide, fix your object, and gently place your thin cover over it, which will firmly adhere to the band; this is cell No. 1. Eor cell No. 2 another band is slid on to the scissors after the first band has been painted ; the pressure of a forceps will cause them to adhere, and now you have your cell double the depth of the first. The bands which I use are \ an inch in diameter, and with these the deepest cell advisable to be made is that of three bands ; should a deeper cell be required bands of a larger diameter are necessary. I have a large number of objects mounted in this way, the majority being dry preparations, but I find this cell is equally serviceable for mounting in glycerine or Goadby's solution. The diamond pencil, revolving disc, moulded cell, &c, are all desirable acquisitions, but for my own part I prefer the elastic cell on ac- count of its neatness and simplicity. Should any of your readers feel inclined to try this method I can confidently assure them they will find it the cheapest and most satisfactory. — W. Bevan Leicis, L.R.C.P. Lond. Markings of Diatoms. — Having just been reading Mr. Reade's curious investigations upon * Sold by W. Warne & Co., also by Perry & Co diatoms with the equilateral prism (see Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society for July and August), I took up a slide of Triceratium favus, and viewing it with an eighth object glass, by parallel rays, I noticed that the areola; possessed the same property as the corueules of the compound eyes of insects, so that the image of any object, interposed between the mirror and the stage, was seen in each of them. Looking afterwards at a beetle's eye under the same power and illumination, I was surprised to notice how exactly the same effects might be pro- duced upon it as upon the triceratium, by slightly altering the focus of the object-glass or the position of the mirror. Spherules, hexagons, or pyramids, were equally produceable at will in either slide. May not our knowledge of the one give some clue to the real formation of the otber ? By careful focussing, a double layer of structure may be seen in the Triceratium valve, very similar to that of Heliopelta ; each apparent hexagon being made up of a series of circular areolations, three forming each side of the hexagon, and seven in the centre ; while on altering the focus the upper surface of tbe valve gives the appearance of large nodules, as de- scribed by Mr. Reade. — R. Hints for Workers. — Your interesting article on the sertularians set me thinking of what a pity it is that our rapidly increasing class of amateur microscopists should not be urged to take every opportunity of adding to their knowledge of natural history in all branches, so as to insure the greatest possible accuracy in the nomenclature of their slides. Eor my own part I take the greatest pains to secure this accuracy. I like to have my labels as detailed as possible in their information, showing where necessary, class, order, section, family, genus, and species ; and I never regret having to change these labels on any increase of knowledge. This is one of the manners in which amateur microscopy can be made really educating, and not a mere mania for the collecting of pretty slides. Yet I know cabi- nets where the organisms which your article has described are simply labelled as "corallines," a name which though at one time received has now become entirely inappropriate, because unfortunately it is now applied only to a division of plants (Algee) while the sertularians are certainly animal. Being on this subject I cannot avoid appealing to you and to your readers (though it is somewhat presump- tuous in me to differ thus from Mr. Hincks) as to whether it is not a pity to revive the term " zoo- phyte," as applied to this or to any division of polypes. As implying more than we know, or I may say what we know to be false ; they are not animal plants (to translate the word), but simply and en- tirely animal. And is it not unnecessary where polyzoa, or bryozoa, would answer as well ?— /. G. H. Oct. 1, 1869.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 237 NOTES AND QUERIES. Deceiving the Nerves.— Take a pin between the tip of the forefinger and thumb, roll it about quickly but lightly, and in a few seconds it will ap- pear to increase in size and to become covered with a soft leathery substance. The nerves in recording the sensation evidently do not allow for the thick- ness of the insensitive epidermis between them- selves and the pin, hence the error. — F. W. M. Cleaning Shells. — Would any of your corres- pondents inform me of the best method for removing the epidermis or outer coating of shells, and after- wards polishing them if required ? By doing so you would much oblige your subscriber. — Owen T. Wil- liams. Bulfinches' Pood. — Seeing in your number of Science-Gossip for the present month, a request from L. C. Whelan for information as to the best food for Bullfinches, I beg to say I have a pair of those birds in perfect health and beauty. I gave them all last winter plenty of privet and other winter berries. In the spring they were supplied daily with a quantity of primroses, which they eagerly picked to pieces and eat some part of them. When these could no longer be obtained 1 gave them bunches of daisies, which were treated in like man- ner; for them the hen-bird especially was quite clamorous when any were brought into the room, not ceasing to call out and flutter her wings till some were put between the bars of the cage. Wild strawberries are also a very favourite repast, and any kind of grass seeds from the hay fields were de- voured in quantities. I am now giving them any kind of plant in seed that can be found in the hedges, such as plaintain shepherd's ruse, dart, ground ivy, &c. I keep the seed boxes in the cage filled with rape and canary, but they eat but little of these when they have other things. I only use hemp as a dainty to induce them to feed from' my hand, or as a reward for the performance of some little kind, such as ringing their bell, &c. They have plenty of fresh water every morning for bathing. The birds are also very fond of milk thistle and groundsel in house. — Charlotte Hedger. Dr. Thudichum's Rabbit— After reading the article on the death of Dr. Thudichum's rabbit that appeared in the August number of Science-Gossip, it occurredto me that some account of its life might prove acceptable. Through the courtesy of Dr. T. I am enabled to supply the following particulars : The rabbit was trichinised ; in 1864 it survived a severe trichinosis, only by means of artificial feeding, and being kept in a Turkish bath ; it re- covered, and in the following and second year had three nests of young, one of these only survived. The rabbit exhibited its trichinae on various occa- sions before the College of Physicians, London ; British Medical Association, Cambridge; Epidemio- logical Society, and Society of Arts, London ; also to numerous private persons. They were always taken living out of the loins of the animal. At the time of its death all the trichinae were living and strong, another proof of the longevity of this remarkable parasite. The rabbit suffered much from a kind of mange which was only kept in check by painting with benzoyle and oil. It ate oats, clover, and bread, also drank milk with avidity to which it had become partial during its illness. No small particle of flesh was ever removed from its body which did not con- tain at least ten trichinae : a moderate estimate would bring the number of worms and capsules contained in it to the amount of two and a half millions. It sickened for three weeks ; ate less and less, lost flesh, became almost paralysed on its hind legs, and died. Dr. Thudichum writes: "It quite moved me when I came to the laboratory and found my friend and companion of five years, the sharer of many successes, dead ; but you have embalmed it finely. It will, I am sure, give instruction and pleasure to many who look over your marvellous slides." The cause of the rabbit's death was inflam- mation of the intestines, the lungs being congested nearly the whole length.—/. T. Norman. Tom-toddies.— I always, when a child, heard the rhyme mentioned by your correspondent, page 164, applied to Tadpoles, not ™ snails," and we always called them "tom-toddies." The former certainly is " All head and no body," the " snail " is toute au contraire ! — E. H. W. The Triodon.— Can any of the readers of Science-Gossip inform me if there is any truth in the following description of a "Monster of the Deep," the Triodon, which I have taken from a book for children, entitled "Seas, Ships, and Adventures," and bearing date 1850:— "The strange-looking creature that is called by this name (i.e., Triodon) is a fish that is found in the Indian Ocean, and has an enormous dewlap, almost ' as long as the body and twice as high, which is supported in front by a very large bone. It belongs to an order of fishes that have the power of inflating themselves like balloons, and floating themselves on the surface of the water. The surface of their dewlap bristles with a great number of small rough crests, placed obliquely. Only one species of it is known, and that was discovered by Mr. Reinwardt in the Indian seas. The upper jaw is divided, as in some other species of this genus. It is altogether one of the] most singular-looking creatures that can be imagined, and learned men are puzzled to ascertain the use of some of its members." There are no measurements given of the creature as a whole, or of any of its parts. Perhaps this could not be ex- pected in a book for children, but the description seems vague enough. However, perhaps some one may be able to tell me if the Triodon has really any existence in fact. The sketch enclosed is copied from the engraving in the book. — J. M. C. Reply —The account of Triodon is substantially correct. The fish attains to a length of about two feet ; but it is not by any means certain whether it has the power of inflating itself, like other members of the order to which it belongs. The figure said to be the Triodon is quite a different fish, viz., a kind of shark (Callorhynchus). The case is analo- gous to one, if a man would describe correctly a camel, and illustrate his description with the figure of an elephant. — A. G. Bees.— To the questions proposed in the August and September numbers of Science-Gossip in reference to bees, which I have just noticed, permit me to say that the case of the servant girl as adduced by J. L. Phelps is a very common one, for bees in swarming are under such excitement that their whole attention is centred in that one great undertaking ; they are heedless of anything short of actual personal violence, and seem utterly to forget to sting. Moreover, as observed by"D. D.B.," prior to swarming they fill themselves with honey 238 HABDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Oct. 1, 1869. for the first office in their new abode — comb-build- ing ; and a bee when gorged with sweets of any kind is never disposed to attack. It is by thus absorbing their attention, or directing it exclusively to one object, that a bee master is enabled to exer- cise unlimited control at any time over his little subjects, especially in a bar-hive. I can make my bees in a few minutes as harmless as peas, and handle them with bare hands as if they were so many black currants, and this without any anaes- thetic means whatever. Again, sticks are useful in a hive only as a support to the combs in excessively hot weather, or in transferring a hive to keep the combs steady, but they are rather a hindrance to the bees, and grievously annoying to the honey taker in cutting out the comb, as the dragging them through tears the cells, and causes the honey to run vexatiously about. In reply to "F. S.," the queen bee has merely taken possession of the cup or super for breeding purposes (also a common case, but may be prevented as suggested by " D. D. B."), but "F. S." must be careful in removing it lest he lose her ladyship. The better plan would be to remove such super temporarily. If the bees in the stock hive after a short time exhibit symptoms of restlessness or confusion, and those in the cap are at ease, the queen is in the cap and it must be replaced forthwith, and the experiment renewed at another time. If, on the contrary, the bees readily leave the cup, it need not be returned at all. The same remarks apply to the glass. In answer to " D. D. B.," permit me to add that there are no hybrid drones — they are either all ligurian or all black, those produced by a bastardised ligurian queen being invariably ligurian. An unimpregnated queen of either species lays only drone and eggs, like a semi-developed worker, and fecundates alone ; at the time of its deposit appears to convert the drone egg to a worker egg, and the treatment alone of the worker worm seems to affect its capacity for future impregnation : the first depending (possibly) on the-will of the queen, the second on that of the little nurse bee. This, therefore, is hardly perhaps a case analogous to that of the crossing of what are termed distinct species, though even these in domes- ticity do sometimes produce offspring prolific inter se. Query, are these bees distinct species at all ? — /. W. Stroud, Plymouth. The Holly-tree.— The disciples of Zoroaster believe that the sun never shadows the holly-tree. There are still some followers of this king of the Magi to be found in the wilds of Persia, and some parts of India, who, when a child is born, throw in its face water which has been put in the bark of a holly-tree. — Sylva Florifera. The Ivy. — At the marriage ceremonies of the Greeks, when the young couple arrived at the tem- ple, the priest presented them with a bunch of ivy, symbolical of the tie which should unite them, and the omission of which at the wedding of Proserpine was said to cause the Cocytus to flow only with waves of tears.— Sylva Florifera. Popular Description. — The other day I was visiting the Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park, and I heard, when in the Aquarium House, an old gentleman give an amusing character to some sea- anemones there. "You see," he said, "what curious animals they are, between a vegetable and a fish, half and half, and they are always in the same place, fixed for life, aud they can't move, and yet they are alive. Wonderful ! "— W. K. Food eor Bullfinches.— Having kept a Bull- finch in perfect health and plumage for six years, perhaps my experience with regard to his treatment may be of some service. _ His daily food is rape and canary seed, the proportion being about one-fourth only of the former ; occasionally a little millet, and very rarely a hemp-seed or two, given as a treat. It is absolutely necessary to be very particular about the cleanliness of the cage, especially the perches, as Bullfinches are subject to diseased feet, and a bath two or three times a week is greatly conducive ;to their health ; also a constant supply of groundsel, chickweed, or apple paring, and a thistle-head gone to seed, or a few ripe haws, will be much appre- ciated.— C. E. F., Bedla?id, Bristol. Food for Bullfinches (p. 215). — Bechstein, in his admirable work on " Chamber Birds," treating of bullfinches, says, " That they remain most healthy and live longest when they have neither sugar nor pastry, nor other delicacies given to them, but are fed constantly upon rape-seed, intermixed occa- sionally, by way of treat, with hemp, and occasionally a little green food, such as water-cresses, a bit of apple, berries of the service-tree, or salad, which cleanses their stomachs. That they are more healthy _ also if they have some water and sand placed in the cage, that they may pick up grains, to assist in the process of digestion;" and he recom- mends, as a remedy for " moulting," a rusty nail placed in the drinking-vessel, good food, and ants' eggs, if accustomed to the latter when young. — J. R. Eldridge. Bullfinches. — I think that management has more to do with L. C. Whelan's bullfinches than food. I brought up from the nest this year a pair which (from the time they eat seed) had rape- seed for the first few weeks soaked. One had a deformity in its neck and died, but the other is very healthy and beautifully feathered, and now has the usual mixture of canary, rape, and a few hemp seeds with the other birds. — W. D. B. Cockroach Eggs. — Have any of your correspon- dents ever been favoured with a view of the Cock- roach in the act of laying its egg ? The size of the egg is, as nearly as 1 can describe it, f to i of an inch long, and £ in diameter, with parallel sides, circular at each end,lin section circular, with a well- defined ridge in one part from end to end ; and this ridge, when the egg is laid, is quite perpendicu- lar to the body of the Cockroach, instead of being, as I should have supposed, at one side or the other. Some one knowing the anatomy of the Cockroach better than I may be able to favour me with a reason. I may say that I was able to catch the insect at the time with the greatest ease with my fingers ; it did not avoid me, as they usually do. — Robert T. Andrews, Hertford. Carpels of Geranium (p. 211). — Will Mr. Williams give the name of the Geranium, the " per- sistent stigmas" (!) of which behave in the remark- able manner recorded in your last ? Before writing my paper on " Cranesbills " I carefully examined nearly all our British species, and I have since in- spected those in the herbaceous ground at Kew, but have failed to detect a single instance of the "spiral twisting" to which he refers. Such a cir- cumstance must, I imagine, be somewhat rare in Geranium; inasmuch as one of the distinguishing marks by which Erodium is determined is this " spiral twisting," which is stated to be wanting in Oct. 1, 1869.J HARDWICKE'S SCI ENCE-GO SSIP. 239 the former genus. As in many cases the seeds are tilted out by the curling up of the awn, the carpel still remaining attached to the axis some time after the seed has fallen ; and as, even when carpel and seed fall off at the same time, they usually separate before or on reaching the ground, I can but ima- gine that Mr. Williams has confused Erodium with Geranium, or] that he has met with an exceptional and very remarkable phenomenon in some member of the latter genus. The'rarity of such an occurrence as that he describes — if it ever takes place— may account for its omission by " botanical writers," as well as by myself. I may add, however, that Withering and other authors describe very mi- nutely the phenomena connected with the carpels of Erodium. — J". Britten, Royal Herbarium, Keio, W. Anacharis Alsinastrum. — One of the most common, yet at the same time one of the most wonderful sights, seen with the aid of the micro- scope, is undoubtedly the cyclosis, or rotation in the leaf -cells of this pretty aquatic plant. The fol- lowing therefore may prove interesting informa- tion : I spent some time during the spring of the year over this plant with the object of discovering the number of cells in each leaf, the number of chloro- phyll granules in each cell, and therefore the num- ber of chlorophyll granules in each leaf. I examined twelve leaves from one plant with these results : — 1. Leaves examined averaged in size -f^ of an inch in length, and -jfa of an inch in breadth. 2. Averaged 9,100 cells to each leaf. 3. 20 average cells examined in each leaf, averaged 23 chlorophyll granules to each cell. 4. Average of leaves examined show therefore 209,300 chlorophyll granules to each leaf. At another time I examined six leaves from another plant, with slightly varying results : — . 1, 2 3 4 The 2 2 Too of an inch by -^ °f au incn- 9,750 cells to each leaf. 22 granules to each cell. 214,500 chlorophyll granules to each leaf. above are simply approximate calculations, yet the two results bear a fair comparison. All who know this plant are well aware what a varied ap- pearance the cells and cell contents assume under different conditions, at different stages of growth, and at different seasons of the year. These obser- vations were made upon very healthy plants, which have been growing in my aquarium for two years or more. — Thomas Simson, Upper Lewisham Road, S.E. Economic Lamp-shade. — A cheap porcelain shade for microscopic lamps, designed by Mr. H. F. Hailes, and exhibited by him some time since at the Quekett Club, can now be had at Mr. Baker's, in High Holborn, for about a shilling. We have used it, and consider it a decided acquisition. The price too brings it within the reach of every- body, and everybody should have it. Cats and Starfish.— Mr. Field may be interested in reading what has come under my notice about " Cats and Starfish." A neighbour of ours whose young chickens were cnntinually eaten, and his gar- den scratched by cat's,, fried pieces — about two inches square — of starfish in fat, aud threw them over his garden. The cats ate it and died, some at once, others on their instant return home. In every case that he examined, the throat was swollen, as if the deadly morsel still stuck in it ; the eyes also were open. Sometimes the cats were stretched out as cats like to do in front of a fire, other times curled round as if asleep. Our neighbour many times during the shrimp seasons has given Starfish thus prepared to cats. — A. Y. Fruit and Flower Gatherer. — We have re- ceived from Messrs Dick. Radcliffe & Co. a flower- scissors called the "Selby flower and fruit gatherer," which in cutting seizes the stem and holds it firmly until purposely released : also a "new charcoal flower-pot" made of charcoal, moulded of the desired form. Insect Trap. —Can any one give information re- specting the following method of catching insects, mentioned by Kirby ? He speaks of the late inge- nious Mr. Paul, of Starston in Norfolk, well known as the inventor of a machine to entrap the turnip beetle, which (adds Kirby) may be applied by col- lectors with great advantage to general purposes (Lit rod. to Entom., ed. 1857). Perhaps some Nor- folk correspondent may be able to rescue the above form of trap from obbvion. — W. W. S. Ladybird, Ladybird, ely away Home. " The hops are in danger of perishing, and the ladybirds come to the rescue. Millions of these red-cased, black- spotted insects have suddenly made their appearance in Kent and Sussex, and have even extended their flight to the me- tropolis In some places it has been impossible to walk without crushing numbers of these diminutive creatures to death." — Standard. I would I were a bird, A ladybird so wee ! No ; I should look absurd Among all fowls that be ! Besides, how vain in print A transient fame to steal, If doomed to die by dint Of some plebeian heel ! No ; in some other shape I'll gain the public eye, And while men, wondering, gape, Through twenty columns fly : Oh, yes ! I'll be a four- legged chicken, two-legged flea, Huge hailstone, mushroom, or Enormous gooseberry. — Fun. An Electrical Insect. — You are well ac- quainted with the history and properties of the Rata torpedo and Gymnotus electricus ; but I dare aver have no idea, that any iusect possesses their extraordinary powers ; yet I can assure you upon good authority, that Reduvius serratus, commonly known in the West Indies by the name of "the wheel bug," can, like them, communicate an electric shock to the person whose flesh it touches. The late Major-General Davis, of the Boyal Artillery, well known as a most accurate observer of nature, and an indefatigable collector of her treasures, as well as a most admirable painter of them, once in- formed me that when abroad having taken up this animal and placed it upon his hand, it gave him a considerable shock, as if from an electric jar, with its legs, which he felt as high as his shoulders ; and dropping the creature, he observed six marks upou his hand, where the six feet had stood. — Kirby's Introduction. 240 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Oct. 1, 1869. NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. G. E. C, J. W„ S. J., and B. T.— Books are ineligible for notice in our exchange column. L. R. R. — The plant is Corydalis claviculata. G. C. — The caterpillar is that of Chterocampa cclerio. W. B. L.— Newman's " British Moths." J. p.— The mycelium of a fungus. It is often more or less phosphorescent ; boys call it " touchwood," and know of its luminous property. M. F. D. — Eggs of the lace- wing fly (Chrysnpa). C. W. — See notice of Elm-galls in Science-Gossip for 1867, P- 1/. They are produced by aphides. H. C. S.— Write to Mr. W. R. Tate, Grove House, Hackney, and he will render any assistance. J. R. — It is the bog pimpernel. C. S. G. — The puss-moth (Centra vinula). F. H. — The swarms of ladybirds have been so fully noticed in all the newspapers, that it is unnecessary for us to enter upon the subject. A. T. B.— " Sowerby's English Botany," 3rd edition, vol. ii., p. 137- H. E. W. — Undoubtedly we should consider " pepsine " free from the conditions necessary for trichini. D. G. W. — There is not likely to be a new edition of the lectures you name. The book " Life on the Globe," by Pro- fessor Phillips, we do not know. There is one with that title by David Page. H. W. H. C— No. 1 is Gemellaria loricata. 2. Crista ehur- nea. 3. Ctinda rep tans. W. K. — We should recommend you to purchase a storm- glass, rather than "dabble" in making them; especially as makers will take care not to tell everything that is essential to success. W. H. L.— For particulars of fly-mould (Sporendonema musca>), see the first number of Sciknce-Gossip, 1865, p. 11. J. D. — Dr. Ormerod's " Natural History of British Social Wasps," was published in 1868 by Longmans & Co., we think at half-a-guinea. R. A.— Don't use so much balsam. Try a single drop on a slide, then place the " Aregma " on the balsam, in the centre ; in a short time put on the cover. We have mounted hun- dreds of slides of rusts without the least difficulty. J. H. — We have no such intention ; nor do we intend pledging ourselves to any special course for the future, ex- cept to do the best we can for all our readers. J. R. E. had better address his query to a special Horticul- tural journal. A. C. — The larva of either Agrotis exclamationis or Agrotis segetum. — H. G. K. E. T. S. — The spider and egg cocoon are of the species Theridion pallens, Bl.— 0. P. C. D. H. S. (Worthing). — The specimen sent was composed of the confervoid filaments of a moss in their resting state in dry weather ; on the approach of winter and spring they alter their character, and become green as they grow ; a full ac- count may be found in a paper by Dr. J. Braxton Hicks in Linn. Trans, for 1862. R. H. — No 1. Triglochin palustre,L. 2. Listera ovata, R.Br. — B. H. W. G. — No. 1. Erigeron Canadensis, L. The flower heads are never yellow strictly speaking. 2 and 3. Not un- common. 4. Oplismenus (Echinochloa) cms galli, oxfrumen- taceus, K. — B. F. G. S.— The " Richmond and North Riding Naturalists' Field Club " is in active operation under its excellent presi. dent, Edward Wood, Esq., of Richmond. T. Buck (Chelmsford). — It is impossible, without actual ex- perience, to answer your question. It would certainly be best to keep the eggs moderately damp — say in moss. The larva is stated to be full grown in April, so it probably hatches late in the summer or autumn. Young larvse may be seen quite early in the spring ; these have, doubtless, hybernated. You are, of course, aware that the glowworm, both as a larva and perfect insect, is carnivorous, feeding on snails and other mollnsca. In Science Gossip for 1868, p. 73, you will find an article on mounting, &c, Culeoptera, which will pro- bably enable you to preserve "water insects " for examina- tion. But you do not state what water insects. — E. C. R. I. G. H. — The small beetle "abundant on the leaves of Zizyphus rugosa on the western ghauts of India," is Platy- pria echidna, Guerin, one of the HispidiB.—E. C. R. M. D. B. (Leamington). — Having had experience of the kind of rubbish you send as good slides in exchange, and — charitably believing that you know no better — we decline your offer to " Portland " with thanks. St. E. — Mr. Wheldon, Great Queen Street, London, W.C., has a good supply of second-hand books on natural history. J. C. D. — No. l. Thuidittni tamariscinum. 2. Bartramia pomiformis. 3. Tortilla muralia. — R. B. F. M. C- -The moss is Bryum pseudotriquctrum. — R. B. J. D. — The bees sent are Odynerus parietum (male), and Andrena fucata (male). — F. S. H. W. H. C. - -No. 4 is Lophocolea bidtntata.— R. B. EXCHANGES. Foraminiferous Sand.— Send stamped and addressed en- velope (and any object of interest) to H. P., 12, Bedford Circus, Exeter. Palmeli.oids Wanted.— Species of Protococcus or Pal- moglpea (living if possible) for which postage will be repaid. D. H. Scott, 31, Spring Gardens, S.W. Pvroi.a rotundifoma (var. arenarin), and a few other good British Plants (dried), for Cyperaceae or other good plants.— Lists to J. H. Lewis, 180, Mill Street, Liverpool. Rare British Birds' Eggs, in exchange for Foreign or other rare British Eggs.— W. F. Foottit, Newark, Nottingham- shire. Alpine Plants for rare British Plants.— Send lists to T. A., Post-Office, Midleton, Co. Cork. Porcupine Quill (section); Diatoms from Poona, India; Scales from Elteagnus (all mounted), offered for good mounted objects.— I. G. H., 152, Holland Road, Kensington, W. British Lepidoptera in exchange for Foreign Shells, Fossils, or Minerals.— B. A., Post-office, Faversham. Beautiful Crystals of Selenite, single and compound, for British Shells.— G. S. T., 58, Villa Road, Handsworth, Staffordshire. Hair of Kangaroo, and pod of Cowage (Mucunapruriens) for other unmounted material. — W. F. Haydon, 2, London Street, Norwich. Eggs of Goldcrest, Grebe, Teal, Snipe, &c, Reclu.ia pupa, Elpenor imagos, &c, for exchange. — Mrs. C. Battersby, Cromlyn, Rathowen, Co. West Meath, Ireland. American Birds' Eggs. — Fourteen species (forty-six eggs) for British Eggs.— "Maine," care of Editor of Science- Gossip. Sponge Spicules. — Twelve, or six, mounted slides, named species, for an equal number of good slides, except mixed Diatoms. — " C," care of Editor of Science-Gossip. Unmounted Wood Sections of thirty to forty English Plants will be given in exchange for mounted slides of fair character. Lists if required.— William Paling, Worksop. Lepidoptkra. — C. Davus, C. solidagi7iis, N. plantaginis in exchange for C. Iiyale, L. Sibylla, and V. po/ychloros, &c. — J. Noden, Spring Bank News-room, Stockport. BOOKS RECEIVED. " An Illustrated Natural History of British Moths ; with life-size figures from nature of each species, and of the more striking varieties, &c," by Edward Newman, F.L.S., F.Z.S., &c. 1 vol., Imp. 8vo.f pp. 486. 1869. London: W. Tweedie, 337, Strand. "The American Naturalist" for August, I869. Salem: Peabody Academy of Science. "Scientific Opinion." Part X. September, I869. London: Wyman & Sons. "Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smith- sonian Institution for I867.'' Washington, U.S.A. "The Canadian Entomologist." Vol.11. No. 1. August, I8G9. Edited by the Rev. C. J. S. Bethune, M.A. Toronto : Copp, Clark, & Co. " Land and Water." Nos. 187, 188, 189, 190, 191. " Gardener's Magazine." Part XL V. September, 1 869. "The Monthly Microscopical Journal." No. 9, September, I869. London: Robert Hardwicke. " Prodromus of a Study of North American Freshwater Algre," by Dr. Horatio C. Wood, Jun., Professor of Botany University of Philadelphia. " Catalogue of the Microscopical Section of the United States Army Medical Museum." Washington. 1867. "Autumn Supplement to Hooper & Co.'s General Cata- logue for I869, containing Dutch, Cape, and other Flowering Bulbs." " The 5, Bow Churchyard, Magazine." No. 5. September, 1869. " Catalogue of Dutch Bulbs, Ferns, Seeds for Autumn Sowing, &c." Dick Radclyffe & Co., 129, High Holbern, W.C. "Le Naturaliste Canadien." No. 9. August, I869. Quebec. Communications Received. — H. E. W. — A. G. — J. C. H. — R. McL.— E. T. S.— E. H. W.— J. R. (Yes).— R. N. B.— F. J. D. H.— C. S. G.-D. G. W— H. C. S.— M. T. W.— F. H. —A. T. B— T. B.— C. W— J. O. H.— S.— N. N.— M. F. D.— W. B. L.— R. G. McL— J. P. F— W. T.— P.— G. N— R. G.— R.A.— L. B.— G. C— F. M. C— F. H.— H. P.— R. M. H.— II. M. G.— J. H. F— W. B. L— B. T.— J. O. H.-C. H.— A. L. — H. S.— D. H. S— J. W. G.— J. T. N.— F. W. M— T. 8.— J. H. L.— L. R. R.— C. S.-F. S.— J. B.— W. G.— J. G. H.— L. L. — J. M. J. — J. H. — T. W. J. W. — O. T. W. H. E. W.— G. E. C— W. F. F.— T. A. -J. M.— W. F. H.— G. B.— M. C. (Kent).— H. W. H. C.-W. H.— R. T. A.— C. E. F— R. W— T. S.— J. R.— W. P.— R. H.— C F. G.— J. R. E.— J. W.— J. G. H.-G. S. T.-H. W. G.-F. W. W.— W. H. L.— S. J.— W. K.-C. R. D.-J. H.— B. A.— D. H. S.— M. C. Ch.- J. D.— J. B.— A. G.— T. S.— C. B— W. D. R.— C. D.— A. Y.— J. B. L.— J. W. W.— T. P. F.— St. E.— M. D. B. - R . B.— C. O. W.- J. N.- W. P. Nov. 1, 1S69.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 2-41 ENGLISH NAMES OF BUTTEKFLIES. T is to be feared that the majority of English bota- nists and entomo- logists, especially the latter, regard with great indif- ference the ver- nacular names of the plants and insects they make their study. Compelled them- selves to use the Latin no- menclature (and this would be a matter of choice, no doubt, with a proportion, did not necessity lead them to it), they care little about a second set of names, burden- some to memory, and bearing little or no relation to the re- cognized scientific designa- tions of the species before them. The entomologist, who finds few of the objects of his pursuit individual- ized by those with whom he has to converse in society, has less need even than the botanist to exchange the Latin name most familiar to him for one which would be intelligible to a person knowing nothing of Latin, and not much of science. " Good English names for insects are desirable, and helpful to juvenile learners of science," so argue some. If desirable, they are not easy to be got ; and, owing to the multitude of species included in the class Insecta, we suppose the time can never be looked for when an English name shall be attached to a tenth part of them. Such a nomenclature has been attempted in the order Lepidoptera, and Stephens' Museum Catalogue gives a muster-roll, which will variously excite the readers of it to laughter, to disgust, or to regret, according to the mood of their minds. These names are — at least the bulk of them — highly unsatisfactory to the entomologist, and much of what is amiss iu them has been occasioned No. 59. by the lack of any clear or well-understood rule as to the course to be pursued in applying such names. Hence we find, on examination, that a goodly number of these have been constructed, and applied to species, on principles scarcely sound. This was to be expected, considering that many were given by persons not learned in insect lore, and attached too hastily to the insect before its habits were sufficiently known. "We take it, however, as a postulate, that this English name should, in nearly all cases, have a direct reference to some well- marked characteristic of the species, either in ap- pearance or in habits. We say in nearly all cases, because there are instances where it may be a graceful act to name a species after some individual, or where a restricted locality is so manifestly associated with a species (as in the case of the Lulworth Skipper), that there is an appropriateness in connecting the two thereafter. Otherwise we should wish to sweep away, were it possible, a host of names derived, it may be, from some trivial incident connected with the first capture of the insect ; from a place which was only one resort of a species, or merely a con- jectured one ; or from a food-plant which was doubt- ful, or, at any rate, occasional. A revision of these partially accepted English \ names given to our Lepidoptera. would present great difficulties ; but with regard to the small section comprising our butterflies, we might surely select the best where more than one have been applied to a species, or even alter an inappropriate one. The time may not be very far distant when these sixty-five species and their habits will be as well known to the schoolboy as the commoner quadrupeds are now, and iu that case a simple and expressive English name would facilitate greatly the acquisition of this knowledge. May we venture, therefore, to suggest a possible improvement or two, without at all intending to imply that we have authority to speak ex cathedra. The Black-veined White (P. Cratcegi) has also been called the Hawthorn Butterfly from the food of the larva. The former of these names is expressive, 242 HAIIDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Nov. 1, 1SG9. and more generally in use, and should be retained. A very rare British butterfly is designated in older authors the Bath White (P. Daplidice), but New- man's name, the Green-chequered "White, is prefer- able. That charming little species, the Orange Tip (A. Cardamines), may well continue to carry that English name ; it has been called the Wood Lady, but there is no particular applicability in the term, which has also been given by some writers to S. JEgeria, and might also apply to the Wood White (S. Siiiapis), another lover of the woodland glades. Eor the two closely-allied species, known scientific- ally as C. Edusa and C. Hyale, we cannot keep to better names than the Clouded Yellow and the Pale Clouded Yellow; the first has been called the Clouded Saffron, and the second the Clouded Sulphur ; but as sulphur varies in colour, and we have already a " Brimstone " butterfly, we dismiss the latter name, nor has the former any particular recommendation. Coming to the Eritillaries, we must let pass the time-honoured Queen of Spain, though its history is doubtful, and the butterfly, rare as it is, has nothing royal about it. We have two of the smaller Eritillaries very nearly similar, — the Pearl-bordered Eritillary (A. Euphrosyne) and the Small Pearl- bordered (A. Selene), being only distinguished by some additional silvery spots in the latter species, and a slight difference in tint. In size they are almost identical. In this case it is not easy to amend the name; but Euphrosyne, being by far the most abundant in woodlands generally, might be called the " Common Pearl-bordered," and Selene simply the Pearl-bordered. Or the latter species might, instead of " Small," bear the adjective "Lesser," as there is a very trifling difference in size. To another Eritillary (M. Athalici) certain authors give the singular name of the Pearl-bordered Likeness ; Newman calls it the Heath Eritillary, an appropriate appellation, as the species loves heaths, and woods lying contiguous thereto. Of the Greasy Eritillary (M. Artemis) it may be said that the name is not an agreeable one to the entomologist ; grease in any form, being decidedly disliked by him, as marring the beauties of his cabinet ; and, indeed, to be correct, this species should be called the " Seem- ingly Greasy," for the appearance it presents on the under side is not due to grease at all. As it has also been called the Marsli Eritillary, from its oc- currence in marshy meadows, the adoption of this name would be advantageous. To a small butterfly, not allied to the true Eritillaries, yet resembling them in its markings, belongs the sonorous appella- tion of the " Duke of Burgundy " ; and, with all respect to the illustrious dukes of that name, we think it scarcely desirable to continue to link it with a butterfly. This species might be called the Little Eritillary, or the Cowslip Eritillary, as the larva, in this country, feeds exclusively on that plant. Amongst the Vanessas we have the brilliant Atalanta, called vernacularly the Bed Admiral, or the Alderman, because it was supposed to be garbed similarly to those dignitaries when dressed on special occasions. Discarding this name, we fall back upon the first, which is obviously a corrup- tion of the word " Admirable," because the species was indeed valde admirari. No points of resemblance can be traced between butterflies and admirals, to our thinking. (The same reasoning applies to a species belonging to a different genus— the White Admiral, or Admirable Butterfly.) Eor a relative of this butterfly (F. Cardui) we can hardly venture to propose the displacement of the name of "Painted Lady," long familiarized to us, if inappropriate; but it might have been called the "Thistle Butterfly," as the only British species whose larva is found upon that plant. V. Antiopa is known as the "Camberwell Beauty," the "White Border," and the " Grand Surprise." We demur to the connec- tion being perpetuated between this fine insect and a London suburb, where, for a short time, 'it ap- peared pretty numerously. There is little objection to the name " Grand Surprise "; for from its rarity the collector in this laud will always be surprised if he sees it, and still more so if he catches it. Amongst the Satyridce we have some singular names. Cassiope, a species occurring in the North of England and Scotland, has been called the "Little Ringlet" and the "Mountain Binglet": the latter should perhaps be adhered to, as another species has been sometimes called by authors the " Small Binglet." An elegant allied species (S. /Egerici) is known variously as the "Speckled Wood," the "Wood Argus," and the "Wood Lady." We feel inclined to give the pre- ference to the middle name ; though it must be admitted that the first is most generally in use. Another kindred species is known as the Wall or the Speckled Wall (S. Ilegara), from its habits of pitching on walls and palings, — a reason which would not at once strike the ordinary observer. That common butterfly (S. Tithonus) has three English names,— the " Small Meadow Brown," the " Large Heath," and the " Gatekeeper." The last, being a little absurd, may at once be rejected; and, between the two remaining, we should decide upon the " Large Heath " as very applicable, and more generally used. The "Small Heath" (JS. pampMkts) has been called the " Least Meadow Brown " by one or two authors ; but it is, more even than Tithonns, a butterfly partial to heaths and com- mons; and we may as well leave Janira, the homely flutterer of our fields, the undisputed ownership of the name "Meadow Brown." The elegant butterfly, known in science as S. Semele, is very commonly called also the " Grayling," a rather inappropriate appellation, while a less frequent name is the '•'Rock-eyed Underwing." Nov. 1, 1S69.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 243 The under surface of the hind wings is beautifully marked with streaks and bars, reminding one of those to be found engraven on some kinds of stone ; but they are not "eyes " to our eyes. Could we call it the "Rock -marked Underwing"? a rather long name certainly, but expressive Lastly, in this family we mention C. Dacus, the " Marsh Ringlet," or the " Little Ringlet." The first name is appropriate and definite. Amongst our blues we find that Z. Argiolus is known most generally as the "Azure Blue," though less azure in colour than some of the other species. It has been proposed to call it the " Holly Blue " ; but the larva is found also upon the !ivy, as well as upon the holly bloom, and possibly feeds also on the flowers of the buckthorn. As this is almost the only blue butterfly which frequents woods, it might be called the " Wood Blue " ; yet, on the whole, it may be as well to adhere to the first name. "We cannot see why the town of Bedford, worthy as its in- habitants may be, should still be associated with Z. Alsus, a little butterfly occurring in numerous places throughout the United Kingdom. Of its two English names we take "Little Blue" instead of Bedford Blue. Another small but brilliant blue butterfly (Z. Adonis) bears three vernacular names, viz., the " Adonis Blue," the " Cliefden Blue," and the "Dartford Blue." Were either of the localities to distinguish it henceforth exclusively, some reasons might be adduced in favour of Dartford, but, on the whole, we think the first, as generally in use, though a mere echo of the Latin, the beauty of the species giving it some claim to a classical appellation ex- pressive of a charming appearance. A butterfly classed with the blues, though not itself exhibiting that colour, is the Brown Argus (Z. Agestis) ; and it is to be regretted that the name " Argus," which has been [applied to butterflies in a very' different family, should have been used here, though in a measure correct, as this species bears a border of spots. The "Small Orange-spotted Brown" has been suggested; but is too long, and the other name is in too general use to be discarded. Among the Skippers, which close our butterfly list, we need only refer to two. H. Paniscus, known generally as the " Chequered Skipper," has also been called the " Spotted Skipper." The first may be adhered to, as of long standing, though other species besides this are chequered. H. Comma some authors call the "Pearl Skipper," others the " Silver-spotted." As the spots are scarcely silvery in appearance, we incline to the former of the two names, though the matter is nicely balanced. J. R. S. C. Microscopical Manipulation.— Mr. Suffolk's Lectures to members of the Quekett Club are being published in consecutive numbers of the Chemical Neics. I PSEUDOSCORPIONS* TN my searches into dark and damp crannies in -"- heaps of rubbish after those remarkable insects the Podurse, concerning which much interest has of late been excited, I have often disturbed Pseudoscorpions, and I have felt no small curiosity to learn something about them. From books within my reach, I have gleaned but little information, and so have been obliged to watch them myself: consequently, the observations recorded below, extending over a period of about three years, need confirmation. Pseudoscorpions breathe by means of tracheal tubes, which, starting from four spiracles on the under side of the anterior segments of the abdomen, go straight to the principal internal organs, with very few ramifications. I am not able to state authoritatively what is the exterior distinction of sex, but have very strong reasons for thinking that the males may generally be distinguished at a glance from the females by their being more slender. More than this, however, I am almost certain that a papillous structure on the first segment of the abdomen, close to its junction with the cephalo- thorax, and more or less elevated above the surface, indicates the female. From this structure in summer the eggs are budded off, a process of which I shall have to speak presently. In a similar position, the males possess a vulva, whence curious tubes, having at one end masses of spermatozoa, are discharged during the breeding season, viz., May to August. I suspect the female fecundates herself — it may be ac- cidentally, by contact of the papil- lous structure I have alluded to, with the discharged spermatic tubes, or spermatozoa, these being scattered about in considerable „. „„„ Fig. 209. abundance and favourably situated Curious object dis- for the purpose.! ^TEt.'SSE* I make this suggestion with male (Spermato- tk^ ,. . . coo at A in a mass). some diindence, since the opinion has only lately been formed, after a long period of doubt : indeed, I should hardly have dared to mention it at all if Sir John Lubbock, whom I questioned by letter on the subject, had * Supplementary to a paper read, at the Quekett Micro . scopical Club. t This observation was made on Obisium orlhodantylum. Chelifers have not been so numerous with me as to enable me to speak so confidently on the subject. M 2 244 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Nov. 1, 1SG9. not admitted its plausibility. It appears that M. Fabre records a somewhat analogous case. Sir John Lubbock, in his courteous letter to me, says : "Fabre, in a memoir on myriapods in the ' Annales des Sciences Naturelles,' about ten or fifteen years ago, stated that in a species observed by him, the male spins a nest of silk and deposits a drop of semen in it. He also suspected that the female comes and impregnates herself." Q®G %%^ 0 0 0 F'g. 210. Obisiuju spermatozoa. End of spermatic tube after desiccation, x 500. I have many times seen the supposed male dis- charging these tubes from the vulva, and have satisfied myself that the globular object at one end (fig. 209) consists mainly of spermatozoa. Also, I have noticed the supposed females scratching the papillous structure alluded to above, and its vicinity, where there appears to be at this time a fluid secre- tion (especially in the groove between the legs), with their hind feet. As the spermatic tubes do not retain their shape for many hours after extrusion, and the sperma- tozoa are scattered in the neighbourhood when the tube collapses, the hypothesis seems to me very probable (fig. 210). I have patiently watched for some amiable traits in the character of these creatures, but the results I have obtaiued are so small that I must conclude I have watched in vain. Connubial felicity, so far as my experience goes, is unknown among them : no two individuals ever meet without threatening to eat each other up— not a vain threat either, for it often comes to pass that the weaker is sucked dry, and its remains are then cast aside by the stronger. Maternal affection does seem to exist, at least for a time, for after the young have disengaged themselves from the egg (containing twelve to seventeen) they mount on their mother's back, after the manner of true scorpions, forming a very pretty study, since they cover her up entirely, while she sits apparently ready to defend them. The egg in which they are contained is attached to the papillous structure above mentioned, by a tube con- veying nutriment from the abdomen of the parent to the embryo young, till they are fit to commence an independent existence, and is divided into as many compartments as there are young chelifers.* Fig. 211. Female Cheli/er Latveillei in pregnant state, x 15. Tiiis observation may be confirmed by those who have the opportunity during the summer months. In Sir John Lubbock's paper "on the Generative Organs and Formation of the Egg in the Aunulosa" (Phil. Transac. lS61,page 617), are some sugges- tions which, coming from one so skilled in micro- scopic dissections, and so eminent in knowledge, are of great importance and weight. He thinks that there are with Chelifers two sorts of females, namely, those producing in the summer broods of eighteen or thereabouts by a budding process, as described above, and those which he suspects lay thirty-five to forty eggs in a secure place during the winter time, to hatch in the spring. As Pseudoscorpions carefully conceal themselves in the winter time, this observation is not easily verified. The behaviour of all the healthy speci- mens that I have succeeded in keeping through the winter iu confinement has been the same. They spin themselves a kind of silken cocoon f and hybernate in it. The shape of this cocoon or nest varies according to the situation chosen for it. Generally it is oval, and gives room enough for the occupant to turn round. It is fixed, and one or two * This refers to two specimens of Chelifer Latveillei ; the one with a brood of twelve, the other of seventeen young ones. t Obisia are rarely observed to spin webs. One lately, however, spun a very complete web in one of my cells. Nov. 1, 1869.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 245 apertures are left to enable the owner to take a little walk out on fine days when the weather is particularly mild. I have known them to make mistakes in returning home, so that one cell was occupied by two Chelifers, more than once. In this case both seemed equally angry, but there was no space for a fair fight, and so they contented them- selves by making each other uncomfortable, till they got used to it. Each seemed to wonder what busi- ness the other had there, but neither was disposed to seek shelter anywhere else. Fig. 212. Chelifer Latreillei, x 15. I said above that Pseudoscorpions are most un- amiable, though intensely interesting creatures. In the presence of their enemies they are arrant cowards, and will run away backwards with sur- prising celerity, or feign death, as it may seem to them most expedient. In the presence of one another, if there is plenty of room, they are pugna- tious to the last degree. Each displays his boldest front and all his weapons, no gesture which may add to the effect, such as clashing the 'nippers together violently, advancing and then retreating, being omitted. Their blind rage on these occasions is funny to witness ; I have seen them (Chelifers) pinching their own claws because they could not get hold of their antagonists. In the presence of their prey, however, their cruel ferocity comes out most forcibly. If in good health and of consider- able size, they will kill far more than they can eat. Their proper food consists of Podura, especially Lepidocyrti, I believe. Of these I have known a single Chelifer Latreillei ',* when first put into a cell, * Chelifer Latreillei seems to be fond of Lepidiicyrtus curvi- collis (see Science-Gossip, 186/, page 55, fig. 39), while Obisium urthodactylum seems to be equally partial to the White Podura {Templetonia nitida. S. G., 1367, page 57, fig. 46). to kill all the inhabitants, numbering a dozen or so in a few days, their mangled remains testifying to the manner of their deaths, — vivisection in fact. Some four or five were eaten, or rather sucked, and each was carried about iu the mandibles of the tyrant till it was nothing but a shell, just as a cat carries about an unlucky mouse. Obisium being smaller, has a less exacting appetite; but taking this into consideration, its disposition is just as bad as its cousin's. Fig. 213 Parasite of Obisium. Ventral aspect after death, x 100; A, end of rostrum. After such a bad character, the reader will be glad to learn that a certain member of the order {Obisium orthodacfylum) is tormented by curious parasitic mites, which are, I believe, new to science.* I give a representation of them (fig. 213) : they crawl over the back and legs, clinging with great tenacity to any part, and probably can pierce the host's skin for nutriment. One is about the same size as a grain of mallow pollen. The dorsal aspect is something like that of a tortoise, there being a sort of chitonous shield over the mite's back, establishing a curious resemblance. It has eight legs, the two anterior pairs being much longer than the rest, and the mouth I suppose to be suctorial. I cannot see any mandibles, but the rostrum, which terminates in two setse (lancets ?), is prominent and apparently formed for piercing. The other is considerably larger. Its general appearance is much the same; but its legs are of equal length, and there are other points of differ- ence which the figures will explain sufficiently for present purposes. But " Where are these Pseudoscorpions, &c, to be found, and how shall we distinguish them?" does some one ask. The order Pseudoscorpions is divided into two genera, Chelifer and Obisium, of both of which several species are known to be inhabitants of Britain. Chelifers and Obisia are all furnished with long lobster-like nippers and powerful mandibles or fal- * I have noticed two distinct species. 246 HAPDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Nov. 1, 1S69. ces, very much like those of the tropical spider Oaleodes* The mouth is beneath these, and a for- Fig. 214. Hairs from a Chelifer, x 250 (from Theale). ©= Fig. 215. Hair of Chelifer, x 100 (from London). .216. Hairs from falces of Obisium, x 100. are midable sucking apparatus it is. The nippers furnished with several long hairs, which seem to answer the same purpose as the whiskers in the Eelidos, for they are sensitive to touch in a high degree. As it is necessary to keep these clean in order to ensure their utility, the Pseudoscorpion is continually passing them through the mandibles, where there is a comb- like structure, and sometimes two, eminently calculated to fulfil that purpose. The feet are furnished with tenent hairs (figs. 217, 218)- In colour there is much variety, but chestnut- brown tints prevail in all the species. Chelifers have two eyes, and the cephalo- thorax is divided by a cross-groove. The ab- domen is generally flattened out somewhat like that of the bed bug, consists of rings, and is not nearly so well defended by chitonous armour as the cephalothorax. Obisia have four eyes and the cephalo- thorax is entire. The abdomen'; is more cylindrical than that of Chelifer, and the rings are not so conspicuous. The nippers are long, and in most cases, but not in all, slender, and the Eive species of Chelifers have been brought under my notice. The first of these was found in con- siderable abundance in a brewery at Theale, Berks, by P. Blatch, Esq., inhabiting the dark corners of the ale-store. It is, I think, C. Latreillei, but I am not sure. The colour, as with most of these crea- tures, is reddish-brown, and the margins of the ab- dominal segments on the dorsal surface are orna- mented with very curious compound bristles. It fed on Podurse (fig. 212). Another species was found by the same friend in an old willow-stump, also feeding on Poduroe. This may have been C. cancroides. A third was sent me from Devizes, by J. J. Fox, Esq. It was captured attached to a fly. A similar circumstance is recorded in Science-Gossip already (1865, page 227). Whether it had fastened itself on in order to change its lodgings or to make a meal of the fly, I cannot say. I have noticed that when C. Latreillei is angry, if a camel's hair pencil be presented to it, the brush Fig. 21". Foot of Obisium, x 100, with tenent hairs. Fig. 218. Foot of Chelifer, x 100. chitonous envelope, in no place remarkably strong, is noticeably thicker all down the back than elsewhere. * The Rev. J. G. Wood compares them to scorpions, minus the tail: a very good comparison. Fig. 219. Obisium orthodactylum, x 25. will be readily seized, and the little fellow may'.be carried some distance ere he will let go.* A fourth species I found under an earthern pan in London. It presented certain characteristics showing its relationship with Obisium, especially the marine species alluded to below. W. W. Peeves, E.B.M.S., on one occasion showed me several specimens of this kind that he obtained from a brewery at Deptford. A fifth, a pretty little creature of bright sienna- colour, was sent me by P. T. Lewis, F.R.M.S. He found several individuals in a parcel of goods from the Continent. * Mr. Fox also tells me he found nearly a hundred in an old cucumber frame on one occasion. Sir John Lubbock states that the specimens he examined were obtained from the icinity of hotbeds in his kitchen garden. Nov. 1, 1S69.J HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 247 Of Obisia I have seen three species : First there is 0. orthodactylum, which is very abundant under stoucs, brickbats, &c, where there is considerable warmth and moisture, and also is of frequent occur- rence in cellars under old woodwork (fig. 219). Another species often accompanies this one, but I cannot name it. It has thicker and stronger mandi- bles, is broader across the cephalothorax, aud is much darker in colour. Sometimes its back is of very dark brown hue. A third, very large species is marine. It was sent me from Plymouth by C. Stewart, F.L.S., who found it rather abundantly fifty yards below high- water mark, feeding, to the best of his belief, on Podurse and other soft-bodied creatures. In this situation it must be nearly always submerged ; but doubtless the crannies of the rocks which it inhabits always contain a certain amount of air. I hoped to have given a figure of this species, but so much space has been already occupied that I forbear. Its body is cylindrical, but its nippers are very like those of the Chelifer (see fig. 212, Chelifer Latreillei), and its colour bright chestnut, except the softer parts of the abdomen, which are white. It would have been impossible to make the above observations on the habits of these creatures if I had not made abundant use of the cork cells, which the reader will find described in the paper on Podurse (S.-G., 1867), sheet cork of the best descrip- tion, such as is used for lining entomological boxes, being substituted for wood, an improvement for which Dr. Gray, P.P. M.S., deserves the credit, and I strongly recommend them to all micioscopists who desire to know the habits of minute creatures. Should any reader of these imperfect notes find any pseudoseorpions and be unable to devote much attention to them, I need hardly say I will receive them most thankfully. S. J. M'Intire. TROPICAL CLIMBERS. ONE of the most striking characteristics of a tropical forest is the almost incredible number of great woody climbers, which everywhere inter- rupt the view and obstruct the path. We of more temperate climes, who are apt at times to use some strong language when we are held back for a moment by a too familiar bramble, or are tripped up by a tenacious clematis, are little aware of the difficulties which beset the traveller in the dense forests of Central and South America. In Europe, it is the trees which give a character to the woods, and we look on the Ivy and the Honeysuckle, the Travellers' Joy, and the Bryony, as delicate fringes on the stout stems and branches of the trees ; but not as an integral portion of the forest itself. The first only of the above-named occasionally attains such dimensions as to give a decided character to the surrounding vegetation. It is very different in the forests of Brazil, for example : there the atten- tion is caught not more by the trees, huge and luxuriant though they are, than by the gigantic climbers, which twist and twine and struggle among their branches. The tallest trees are overtopped by them, and they hang down in graceful festoons, or thick cable-like masses, which wave to and fro in the wind. Some, as their points touch mother earth, take fresh root, and thickening by degrees, stand stiff and erect as though they had been tightened artificially ; while others, entangled by the over- hanging boughs spread from side to side, inter- lacing one with another, and at last forming an impenetrable screen, behind which the jaguar lurks, or troops of monkeys sport, safe from the shot of the hunter. So strangely luxuriant is the growth of many, that their embrace is fatal to the tree to which they cling. One in particular, a kind of fig (known by the appropriate name of Matador, or Butcher), not merely strangles the host who has given it support, but as the latter decays, takes its place, aud losing its character as a climber, stands a hollow self-supporting column, where once a tall Mahogany or Courbaril raised its head. As may be supposed, these Liane (or Cipos as the Brazilians name them) form a very serious obstacle to the traveller. Many of them, though scarcely thicker than a stout string, require a knife, and a sharp one too ; while others, stouter than a man's arm, must be attacked with the axe, before a pas- sage can be forced. Some are furnished with per- fectly smooth stems, but not a few, armed with stiff prickles and hooks of unpleasant proportions, make cruel work of the clothes and flesh of the un- lucky wanderer. Many of these huge webs of nature's own making are only so far ornamental as strange forms and gigantic festoons must always be striking and pic- turesque ; such are species oiPothos, Paullinia, and Aristolochia ; but the great bulk of them lend a wonderful magnificence to the scenery, by the extra- ordinary splendour and quantity of their flowers. Witness the great Bignonias, of which Prof. Lindley says, in his " Vegetable Kingdom " -. " The tropics of either hemisphere arc the chief station of this uoble- looking order, whose trumpet-shaped flowers, from their large size, gay colours, and great abundanca, are the glory of the forests which they inhabit." Scarcely less conspicuous are the Banisterias aud Banhinias, with their gaudy yellow and red corollas. Nor are they without their uses : from Calamus Draco we get the well-known dragon's blood, a dark- coloured insipid resin ; to say nothing of the canes so much valued for their flinty hardness and flexible nature. Paullinia too {teste Loudon) "affords a we.il- 248 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE- GOSSIP. [Nov. 1, 1S69. known walking-stick." A more important fact is, that its various species abound in an acrid principle which can be employed as a deadly poison. The fruit of many of the Passifloras is highly esteemed. From Urceola elastica, which sometimes reaches to a length of four or five hundred feet in the islands of the Indian Ocean, is obtained a large proportion of the caoutchouc in use. Various species of Smilax supply the world with Sarsaparilla, while Vanille, so much employed in confectionery, is the produce of an orchid which may fairly rank among tropical climbers. Havre. W. W. Spicer. PODURA WITHOUT doubt many Science - Gossipers count among their treasures one or more cages of Poduraj or Cheyleti ; but many may be puzzled, as I was, to know how to secure the former, and prevent them from springing away when found. The general advice is, " spread oat- meal on paper near their haunts, and when the Podurse are attracted by it, secure them." Excel- lent in theory, but by no means easy to practise. If we bear in mind the well-known fact that no flea was ever so agile; also, that even, when they do quiet down for a rest, to pounce upon them with finger and thumb would cause instant death, it will at once be seen that it is no easy matter to catch these " wee beasties," and land them safely iu the house prepared for their reception. My modus operandi is simple and sure. A trap, consisting of bread-crumbs sprinkled on a sheet of white paper, is laid in a damp corner of the wine- cellar overnight. I should say that where they have not been disturbed for some time, Podurse may generally be found in numbers on any bit of stick which has been lying on the cellar floor ; but they have a decided objection to being disturbed, and if the reader possesses a voracious Cheyletus or two that evince a partiality for Podurse for dinner, he will soon find that constant hunting to meet con- stant demands will cause them to be very chary of any wood or trap which is often looked at. In the morning, if I have been successful, I cany paper, bread-crumbs, and " springtails " into the parlour, knock the Podura off with a sharp jerk, on to a white cloth, and, before they have time to recover their astonishment at such an unwonted procedure, I place a tumbler over them. As soon as they get quiet, I dip a small brush in chloroform or methylated spirit, and raising the edge of the glass, insert the brush, and damp the cloth with it, instantly withdrawing, and pressing the tumbler closely down. Eor a second or two the commotion is intense, leap after leap being executed with won- drous agility. In about ten seconds, but much longer if methylated spirit has been used, they fall motion- less, their tails nearly always being stretched rigidly behind them. In this condition they can be easily placed in the cage. Sometimes they remain under the influence for hours, but generally recover in from five to fifteen minutes. After a dose of chloroform, they, in three cases out of five, exhibit a peculiarity I do not re- member to have seen noticed elsewhere. For some days they seem to lose all power of muscular con- traction in the tail, and it is really amusing to see them walking about and feeding with their two- pronged appendage trailing after them. I have one before me now which was captured four days since. It remained for nearly three hours in a state of torpor ; since then it has been running about unable to double its tail under its body. As far as I have observed, only the younger members of my family are thus affected ; [the older and stronger ones recovering the use of all their mem- bers with their senses. These tiny creatures are easily get-at-able, living as they do in almost every damp cellar, or garden- house, among the sawdust or decaying bits of wood. The delicate markings of many of the scales serve as test-objects. Under a low power, either by day or artificial light, the live Podura is a beautiful ob- ject. Its scales reflect the light in exquisite hues. As it moves along the cork sides of its house, the changing play of light and shade is very fine, es- pecially when the tail is expanded from the effects of chloric ether ; for its silvery appearance con- trasts well with the more gorgeous scales of the body. The tail, or spring, is usually doubled under the abdomen, and is of the same length. At the tip it is divided into two prongs. When the Podura wishes to .spring, it slaps the tail forcibly on the ground, and thus jumps to an incredible distance. They are not particular in their diet. Bread- crumbs, oatmeal, a grain of wheat or biscuit serving them equally well. Where one is under the painful necessity of keep- ing show objects for exhibition, nothing is more sure of exciting interest. They are always at hand ready to be placed on the stage. For the living Podura only a low power can be used ; therefore when self-confident, non-scientific friends who never can be persuaded that you can focus better than they, drop in for a microscopical (?) evening, you may place your cage on the stage, pretty well assured that neither objective nor object can sus- tain much damage. M. Pope. Weymouth. Bees.— P. 238, column 1, line 35, read : " An un- iinpregnated queen of either species lays only drone eggs, like a semi-developed worker. Fecundation alone, at the time of its deposit, appears to convert the drone egg to a worker egg," &c. — /. W. S. Nov. 1, 1S69.] HAIIDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 249 LINA POPULI. WHILE botanizing in this neighbourhood Last June, I came across a numberof larvae feeding on poplar, not unlike the larva; of the common Lady- bird, which I found to be gifted with a very curious method of defence. On each side of the body runs a series of papillae, or wartlike excrescences, from each of which, when the animal is touched, issues a drop of a yellowish milky fluid ; if the irritation is not continued, the drops as quickly disappear. So completely does the liquid retain its round form, and so entirely is it absorbed again, that it has all the appearance of a bladder, into which air is forced and again withdrawn, until a touch dissipates the illu- sion. But woe to the unlucky " searcher after truth," who gets his hand besmeared with this most abominable liquid; as Shaw long ago observed, " the odour imparted by it is of so penetrating a nature, that on handling the animal the smell will often remain on the fingers throughout the whole day." The specimens which I took home doubled or trebled their size in a few days, and their colour changed to a nearly pure white, the papillae alone remaining black. By the middle of July each larva had fixed itself by the tail end of the abdomen to the surface of a leaf, and there remained head down- wards, with the body slightly curved inwards, gradually assuming a deep orange tint, as the elytra of the enclosed beetle took their proper form. On the evening of the 25th, there issued forth the handsome beetle (Lina populi), one of the Chrysomelids.* At first the wings were of a dull brick-colour, and only assumed their rich red hue after an hour or two of exposure to the atmosphere. The perfect auimal appears to be quite as destruc- tive as its larva, being equally voracious, and devouring the same food ; the only difference ap- pears to be that the larva attacks the surface of the leaf, whereas the beetle confines itself to the edge. Havre. W. W. Spicer. THE AMERICAN SILKWORM. By L. Trouvelot. THE insect fauna of North America contains several gigantic species of moths belonging to the Lepidopterous family Bombycidae. This family has long been known to spin when in the larval, or caterpillar state, a cocoon which produces a large amount of silk, with a fibre of the most delicate texture, of great strength and of the most beautiful lustre. Every one is familiar with the beautiful * The terminology of the Chrysomelids seems difficult to settle. The older authors placed many of them under Coccinella, to which they hear a strong family likeness. The poplar - feeding species oscillate between four genera ■ Linnaeus placed them in Chrysomela, Megerle in Lina, Dillwyn in Melasoma, and Stephens in Timarcha. and delicate fabric made from the fibres spun by that crawling repulsive creature, the Silkworm. Our country alone has eight or ten species of Silk- worms. Two of these, Callosamia Promethea and C. angulifera, feed on the lilac and wild cherry. They spin a small elongate cocoon of so very dense texture and so strongly gummed, that I have failed in all my attempts to reel the silk from the cocoon. These cocoons resemble very much those of Samia Cynthia, or the Ailanthus Silkworm, recently introduced into Europe from China, but the cocoon is of a looser texture. Ptatysamia Euryale, P. Columbia, and P. Cecropia feed upon many different species of plauts ; they make a large cocoon, within which is another cocoon, or inner layer, of an oval form ; but as the larva in spinning the cocoon leaves one end open for the exit of the moth, this prevents the reeling of a continuous thread. The silk, though quite strong, has not much brilliancy, and the worm is too delicate to be raised in large numbers. The caterpillar of Tropeea Luna, the magnificent green moth with the long tail-like expansion of the hind wings, feeds upon the oak, sycamore, and other trees, and spins an oval cocoon, •which, however, is so frail and thin, and the fibre so weak, that it is impossible to reel it. Practically, however, the larva of Telea Polyphe- mus is the only species that deserves attention. The cocoons of Platysamia Cecropia may be rendered of some commercial value, as the silk can be carded, but the chief objection, as stated above, is the diffi- culty of raising the larva. The Polyphemus worm spins a strung, dense, oval cocoon, which is closed at each end, while the silk has a very strong and glossy fibre. Por over six years I have been engaged in raising the Polyphemus worm, and here present the fol- lowing imperfect sketch of the progress made from year to year in propagating and domesticating these insects from the wild stock. In 1S60, after having tested the qualities of the cocoons of the different species of American Silk- worms, I endeavoured to accumulate a large num- ber of the cocoons of the Polyphemus moth, for the future propagation of this species. At first the undertaking seemed very simple, but who will ever know the difficulties, the hardships, and discourage- ments which I encountered ! This worm having never been cultivated, of course its habits were entirely unknown, though ; all success in my undertaking depended very much upon that know- ledge. However, I was not discouraged by the difficulties of the task. The first year I found only two caterpillars. The chance of their being each a male and female was very small, and it was another question whether the two sexes would come out of the cocoon at about the same time for the fecunda- tion of the eggs. So success was very doubtful. Spring came, and with it one of the perfect insects ; 250 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Nov. 1, 1SG9. it was a male. One, two, three days elapsed ; my poor male was half dead, the wings half broken, the other cocoon was not giving any signs of an early appearance ; imagine my anxiety ; it was a year lost. The male died on the sixth day. The other moth came out more than a fortnight after ; it was a male also. During the summer of 1861, I found a dozen worms, knowing then a little about their habits. In the spring of 1862, I was fortunate enough to have a pair of these insects that came out of the cocoon at the proper time, and I obtained from their union three hundred fecundated eggs. The pair which gave me these eggs were the originators of the large number which I have cultivated since. Of these three hundred worms, I lost a great many, not knowing their wants ; but I succeeded in obtaining twenty cocoons in the autumn. It was only in 1865 that I became expert in cultivating them, and in that year not less than a million could be seen feeding in the open air upon bushes covered with a net ; five acres of woodland were swarming with caterpillar life. Fig. 220. Caterpillar of Telea Polyphemus. Early in summer, the chrysalis of Polyphemus | which has been for eight or nine months imprisoned in its cocoon, begins to awaken from its long torpor, and signs of life are manifested by the rapid motion of its abdomen. In the latitude of Boston, the earliest date at which I have seen a perfect insect is the 20th of May. Erom this time until the middle of July, the moths continue to come out of the cocoons. The cocoon being perfectly closed, and a hard gummy, resinous substance uniting its silken fibres firmly together, it is quite hard for the insect to open it, as it has no teeth, nor instrument of any kind to cut through it, and the hooked feet are far too feeble to tear such a dense structure. But the moth must have some means of exit from the cocoon. In fact they are provided with two glands opening into the mouth, which secrete during the last few days of the pupa state, a fluid which is a dissolvent for the gum so firmly uniting the fibres of the cocoon. This liquid is composed in great part of bombycic acid. When the insect has ac- complished the work of transformation which is going on under the pupa skin, it manifests a great activity, and soon the chrysalis-covering bursts open longitudinally upon the thorax ; the head and legs are soon disengaged, and the acid fluid flows from its mouth, wetting the inside of the cocoon. The process of exclusion from the cocoon lasts for as much as half an hour. The insect seems to be in- stinctively aware that some time is required to dissolve the gum, as it does not make any attempt to open the fibres, and seems to wait with patience this event. When the liquid has fully penetrated the cocoon, the pupa contracts its body, and press- ing the hinder end, which is furnished with little hooks, agaiust the inside of the cocoon, forcibly extends its body; at the same time the head pushes hard upon the ^fibres, and a little swelling is observed on the outside. The contractions and extensions of the body are repeated many times, and more fluid is added to soften the gum, until under these efforts the cocoon swells, and finally the fibres separate, and out comes the head of the moth. In an instant the legs are thrust out, and then the whole body ap- pears ; not a fibre has been broken, they have only been separated. To observe these phenomena, I had cut open with a razor, a small portion of a cocoon in which was a living chrysalis nearly ready to transform. The opening made was covered with a piece of mica, of the same shape as the aperture and fixed to the cocoon with mas- tic so as to make it solid and air- tight ; through the transparent mica, I could see the movements of the chrysalis perfectly well. When the insect is out of the cocoon, it imme- diately seeks for a suitable place to attach its claws, so that the wings may hang down, and by their own weight aid the action of the fluids in developing and unfolding the very short and small pad-like wings. Every part of the insect on leaving the cocoon is perfect, and with the form and size of maturity, ex- cept the pad-like wings and swollen and elongated abdomen, which still gives the insect a worm-like appearance. The abdomen contains the fluids which flow to the wings. When the still immature moth has found a suit- able place, it remains quiet for a few minutes, and then the wings are seen to grow very rapidly by the afflux of the fluids from the abdomen. In about twenty minutes the wings attain their full size, but they are still like a piece of wet cloth, without con- sistency and firmness, and as yet entirely unfit for flight; but after one or two hours they become suffi- ciently stiff, assuming the beautiful form character- Nov. 1, 1869.] HAEDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 251 istic of the species. If, while the wings are growing, they are prevented from spreading by some agency, they will be deformed for ever. Sometimes when the wings are developing, the afflux of liquid is so great that some parts of the wing swell up con- siderably ; and if one of these swellings be opened with a pin and the sac emptied, a singular phenome- non will result ; the wing which has lost so much of its fluids will be smaller than the others, and some- times it will retain the normal form of the wing, only being smaller, while the wound can be detected only on very close observation. I have in my cabi- net a perfect specimen of such an insect : naturalists would regard it as a monstrosity. Fig. 221. Cocoon of Telea Polyphemus. The moth remains quiet all day, and sometimes all night and the following day, if the night be cold ; but if it be warm and pleasant, at dusk or about eight o'clock, a trembling of the wings is ob- served for a few minutes, and then it tnkes its flight, making three or four circles in the air. The male flies only a few minutes, and then rests for two or three hours in the same place, not making any mo- tion. Fig. 222. Pupa of Telea Polyphemus. It is worthy of notice that the place of rest is al- ways the extremity of an oak-leaf. Why he remains there so long I could not ascertain. The female continues to fly about the bushes, and though a vir- gin, she lays eggs, which are, however, of no use for the propagation of the species ; she continues so doing for two or three hours, and then rests all night attached to some plant, probably waiting for her mate, who during this time has either remained motionless, or has been feeding on the sweet exu- dation of the oak leaf. Soon after the female moth has laid these useless eggs, the males become very active, and fly in search of their partners, whom they soon discover, especially if there be a slight breeze and the air loaded with vapours. The moth lays her eggs on the under side cf the leaves, sometimes on a twig ; generally but a single egg is deposited at one place, rarely are two or three found together. 1 have observed that eggs are sometimes laid upon plants which the young larvae refuse to eat, and in several instances where there was no other plant within a long distance ; and con- sequently the young worms died : thus it seems that instinct, like reason, sometimes commits blunders, and is not so infallible a guide as has been supposed. The incubation of the eggs lasts ten or twelve days, according to the temperature. The young worm eats its way through the shell of the egg ; sometimes the young larva comes out of the egg tail foremost, as the hole in the shell is large enough to allow of the exit of the tail, but is not large enough for the head to pass through ; so the worm is condemned to die in the egg. As soon as it is fairly hatched out, the larva continues for some time eating the egg-shell, and then crawls upon a leaf, going to the end of it, where it rests for two or three hours, after which it begins to eat. The hatching out takes place early iu the morning, from five till ten o'clock ; rarely after this time. The Polyphemus worm, like all other silkworms, changes its skin five times during its larval life. The moulting takes place at regular periods, which come round about every ten days for the first four moultings, while about twenty days elapse between the fourth and fifth moulting. The worm ceases to eat for a day before moulting, and spins some silk on the vein of the under surface of a leaf; it then secures the hooks of its hind legs in the tex- ture it has thus spun, and there remains motionless ; soon after, through the transparency of the skin of the neck, can be seen a second head larger than the first, belonging to the larva within. The moulting generally takes place after four o'clock in the afternoon ; a little before this time the worm holds its body erect, grasping the leaf with the two pairs of hind legs only ; the skin is wrinkled and detached from the body by a fluid which circulates between it and the worm ; two longitudinal white bands are seen on each side, produced by a portion of the lining of the spiracles, which at this moment have been partly detached ; meanwhile the con- tractions of the worm are very energetic, and by it the skin is pulled off and pushed towards the poste- rior part ; the skin thus becomes so extended that it soon tears, first under the neck, and then from the head. When this is accomplished the most difficult operation is over, and now the processTof moulting goes on very rapidly. By repeated con- tractions the skin is folded towards the tail, like a glove when taken off, and the lining of the spiracles comes out in long white filaments. When about one half of the body appears, the shell still remains, like a cap, inclosing the jaws ; then the worm, as if reminded of this loose skull-cap, removes it by rub- bing it on a leaf. This done, the worm finally crawls out of its skin, which is attached to the fastening 252 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Nov. ], 1S09. made for the purpose. Once out of its old skin, the worm makes a careful review of the operation, with its head feeling the aperture of every spiracle, as well as the tail, probably for the purpose of re- moving any broken fragment of skin which might have remained in these delicate organs. Not only is the outer skin cast off, but also the lining of the in size. This is a certain indication that the worm is about to moult. Every ten days the same operation is repeated ; from the fourth moulting to the time of beginning the cocoon, the period is about sixteen days. The worms seem entirely unable to discern ob- jects with their simple eyes, but they can Fig. 223. American Silk-moth {Telea Polyphemus)— Female. Fig. 224. American Silk-moth [Telea Polyphemus)— Male. air-tubes and intestines, together with all the chewing organs and other appendages of the head. After the moulting, the size of the larva is con- siderably increased ; the head is large compared with the body ; but eight or ten days later it will look small, as the body will have increased very much distinguish light from darkness, as a very simple experiment will show. If a worm be put in a box with two holes in it, one of them turned to the light, the other to the dark, the caterpillar will very soon come out through the hole turned to the light. — The American Naturalist. Nov. 1, 1869.] HARDIVICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 2 oo THE JAY. (Garrulus glandarius.) "\T7HEN strolling through the woods in Novem- * * ber, with the remembrance of what they were in May, we cannot fail to be struck at the change which has taken place. The warm tiuts of autumn have disappeared ; the leaves are gone ; the forest trunks are moist and moss-grown ; slimy fungi overspread their roots, and various species of Helix and Clausilia are found upon the bark. On every twig a drop of moisture glistens, and as it falls upon the brown leaves below, all Nature seems to weep that summer is gone. And this change is not only apparent in the trees, but in the very birds which bough. We can now watch every movement of the nimble Nuthatch, and observe the stealthy actions of the Creeper, and as we pick the last over-ripe blackberry, or taste the fallen beech-mast, in our search for shells or fungi, we fancy that November is not such a dull month after all as some would represent it. On the contrary, a prying naturalist can find much to interest him at this season of the year. A noisy chattering disturbs our reflections, and we look up just in time to catch sight of one of the shiest of our wood-birds, the Jay. So long as the green leaves screened our approach, we knew him only "as the blind man knows the Cuckoo — by the bad voice " ; * but now that this screen is gone, we Fig. 225. The Jay (Garrulus glandarius). cross our path. We now see quite a different class to that which thronged the woods in spring. The Willow-wren, Wood-wren, Chiff-chaff, Black-cap, Nightingale, and noisy Whitethroat, which flitted so conspicuously before us then, have all since disap- peared ; and while Tits of various species seem more numerous than ever, we notice new arrivals, and listen to the whistle and chatter of the Redwing and Fieldfare, which have come to pass the winter with us. But since the leaves have fallen, a curtain has dropped which long concealed from view our shier woodbirds. The Pigeon, of whose presence we were usually aware from hearing his loud "coo," or flapping wing, is now seen perched upon the leafless can see the author of the noise in all the glory of his bright plumage. Who has not stopped at the end of a green " ride " to admire the dead Jay, strung up, like a thief, amidst Hawks, Cats, and Stoats ? His rosy brown back, white tail-coverts, and black and white wings, with their bright blue coverts, render him one of the handsomest of our woodland birds. Under the name of Corvus glandarius, the Jay has been ranked amongst the Crows ; but although to a certain extent there is a family resemblance, those who have had the opportunity of observing the pre- sent species in a wild state will agree that in haunts, * Merchant of Venice, Act v., Scene 1. 254 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Nov. 1, 1SG9. habits, and the nature of his food, he differs remarkably from all his sable friends, and that the generic name Garrulus, which Brisson, in 1700, proposed for the Jays, was not only deservedly but very appropriately applied. Our British Jay has been called glandar'ms from his partiality for acorns, beech-mast, and other forest fruits ; but he is in fact omnivorous ; for in addition to the food already named, he takes grubs, worms, mice, eggs, and young birds, and be- comes remarkably bold in the autumn in robbing orchards of cherries and damsons. He has a curious habit of hoarding up food for future occa- sion, and has frequently been detected on a visit to a large store of acorns. The Jay evinces a great partiality for oak-woods : we have always noticed the species more frequently where oaks abound — no doubt on account of the sustenance and shelter which these trees afford. The nest is generally placed in the fork of a tree, and usually at no great height from the ground. As schoolboys we always considered a Jay's nest a great prize ; and when fortunate enough to find one with five or six eggs, we only parted with one of them for a good "exchange." Caliban evidently con- sidered a Jay's nest an irresistible temptation when trying to induce Trinculo to explore his island. " I'll show thee every fertile inch o' the island, * * * * * * I'll show thee the best springs ; I'll pluck thee berries ; I'll fish for thee, and get thee wood enough ; ****** Show thee a Jai/'s nest, and instruct thee how To snare the nimble marmozet." 1'he Tempest, Act ii., Scene 2. The egg is a very plain one for the bird which lays it; the ground-colour white, so closely freckled over with grey or yellowish-brown as to give it the appearance at a little distance of being uniformly grey or brown. Not unfrequeutly there are three or four hair-lines of a blackish colour at the larger end. When the young are able to fly, instead of leaving the place of their birth and shifting for themselves, as the young of many birds do, they remain a long- time with their parents, going about the woods in little family parties with much chattering and screaming. The Jay is wonderfully inquisitive, and, although shy enough if he catches sight of you, he may nevertheless be decoyed within thirty or forty yards, if you remain concealed. We have seen a Trench gamekeeper bring a Jay within shot by imitating the squeal of a young rabbit; but we could never get very near to one of these birds by trying to "stalk" him. The sense of hearing in the Jay is so acute that, even when he cannot see you, the cracking of a twig under foot is often sufficient to alarm him, and away he goes with a chatter, as it seems, of derision. Keepers generally find the trap more effective than the gun if they want to destroy a Jay. If taken young and well trained, this bird makes a most amusing pet, not only from his curious ac- tious, but from his great powers of mimicry. He will learn to whistle, and imitate a cat, dog, or hen to great perfection. In some parts of Sussex we have often noticed tame Jays at the cottage-doors, and we have wondered why a bird of such attractive plumage and such engaging manners is not more generally sought after. If, instead of being killed by shot or trap, Jays were taken alive, the object of the game-preserver would be accomplished, the keeper would be re- warded, the bird-fancier delighted, and the life of a beautiful bird would be spared. J. E. Hauting. PTERODACTYLES. A MONG the many formidable monsters of the -*"*- old world, with which palaeontology has made us familiar, I think the palm for singularity of con- formation and hidcousness of aspect must be ceded to the Winged Lizard, known to us as the Ptero- dactyle. Many strange forms has the old world seen, and many there have been whose remains testify that they were of larger bulk and huger proportions than this Saurian: the Megatherium, the Dino- therium, the Mastodon, were great unwieldy beasts, and doubtless they would have been "awkward customers " if met with in a narrow lane, had narrow lanes and their makers been in existence ; perhaps the latter were. Qiden sabe ? But after all, independently of their being vegetable-feeders, these enormous creatures were but gigantic specimens of what we are used to see nowadays. The Mammoth was but an overgrown elephant, the Megalonyx an enlarged sloth, the Cheirotherium. a frog puffed up to ox size, anticipating the fable. But, for some occult reason, the moment Saurians come on the tapis we recognize nothing " lizardy " about them, such as lizards arc in these days. Those that " were made to take their pastime" in the waters were weird and unearthly to the last degree, with their supernaturally long necks and great goggle eyes. And as for those on the land, whose debris are ever and anon turned up, they were more like the mythical dragon than respectable Lacertce. Imagine, a crocodile's head with its formidable rows of strong pointed teeth (fig. 226) elevated on a long neck, and attached to a body which combined great strength with the faculty of walking or flying at the will of the owner. Verily, Pterodactyle must have been a scourge and a terror to its lesser compatriots ! The twenty-two species of which we are cognisant varied greatly in size : while some skeletons which have comedown to us are scarcely larger than those of a sparrow, there are others which' must have Nov. 1, 1S69.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 255 rivalled the Condor or the Lammergeier in magni- tude and powers of flight. In many respects this flying lizard resembled the little bat of our own era, especially in the form and structure of its wings, which were not as those of a bird, but consisted of Fig. 226. Head of Pterodactyle. a membrane stretched between the bones of the arm and the hand, and therefore in a position to be folded up when the animal was walking or at rest ; and it probably both walked and rested in an up- right position. But there is one main point of difference to be observed in the structure of the wing, in these two widely separated animals, which could not have been without a special purpose. In the bat the thumb is the shortest member of the Fig. 227. Skeleton of Bat's wing. hand (fig. 227), the fingers|being enormously length- ened in order to admit of the membrane being stretched between them (fig. 22S). In consequence, the thumb alone is free for prehensile purposes ; it terminates in a stiff hook, and by it the animal Fig. 228. Wing of Bat. suspends itself when at rest. Now, the construc- tion of Pterodactyle's hand was totally different ; there the thumb and the three next fingers were of normal size, while the little finger alone was lengthened so as to reach nearly the whole length of the body (fig. 229). The result of this arrangement was that the wing membrane was spread out only between the arm-bones and this finger, the remain- ing members of the hand being left free for pre- hensile purposes. It is probable, then, that the wing of the Pterodactyle, not being stretched on ribs, was more " baggy" than that of the bat, and that consequently its move- ments were not of so active a nature; and this would help to con- firm the words of Pro- fessor Phillips, that it "was accustomed to flap the air rather heavily, not far above shallow waters." ("Life on Earth," p. 41.) The bat, as is well known, takes its food with its mouth as it flits through the night-air ; in fact, it has no hand at liberty where- with to seize its prey. Pterodactyle too is be- lieved to have been in- sectivorous ; but he is also more than suspected of a penchant for a fish diet, and that the power of swimming was deve- loped in his singular body. It is almost absurd to suppose that those huge crocodilian jaws were confined to snap- ping up beetles and dragon flies; but the form and structure of the teeth preclude the idea of its having been a flesh-feeder. So I suppose it partook, in some respects, of the habits of its aquatic brethren, and fed largely on fish, in the seizure of which its strong talons must have been of considerable use. But whether it pursued them beneath the water, or, like the Sea-Eagle, struck them as they rose to the surface, must for ever remain a mystery. The remains of this monster are distributed through the Lias of Lyme Regis, the Stonesfield Oolite, and more especially the lithographic lime- stone of Solenhofen in Bavaria, which also abounds in the remains of fish and Crustacea. N.B.— Pterodactyle would repudiate with scorn any but the most distant relationship with the so- called "Flying Lizard" {Draco volans) of these degenerate days, whose only organ of flight is a membrane stretching out from the ribs, and enabling the animal, like the flying-squirrel and the flying fish, to make long leaps. Havre. W. W. Sficeb. Fig. 229. Skeleton of Wing of Pterodactyle. 256 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Nov. 1, 1869. LIGURIAN BEES. A CORRESPONDENT of Science-Gossip Laving put forward a query whether the Ligurian Bees are a distinct species, I think I cannot answer it better than by giving some account of them. The Ligurian or Italian Alp Bee (A. Ligustica) is a species indigenous to the South of Europe, being found between the two mountain-chains to the right and left of Lombardy and the Rhetian Alps, and comprises the whole territory of Tessin, Peltlin, and South Grawbunden. Although from time immemorial it has been cultivated with success in Italy in the same way as the common bee in the northern parts of Europe, and was well known by naturalists to exist there and to have all the honey- producing properties of the black bee, it is not a little singular that no one appears to have attempted to introduce and acclimatize it, until about ten years ago. The merit of its first introduc- tion is claimed by Messrs. Neighbour & Sons, and Mr. T. W. Woobury, of Exeter, but it will be unne- cessary for me to enter into their respective claims. The Ligurians, like the common bees, are divided into three clases : — first, queens ; second, workers, or undeveloped females; and third, drones, or males. They vary slightly from the black bees in their physical characteristics. The difference consists in the first rings of the abdomen, except the posterior edge, and the base of the third being of a deep orange-colour, instead of a dark brown. These orange rings are almost transparent when closely examined in the sun ; the drones have these bands scalloped, and attain a great size, being half as large again as the black drones. Both the queens and workers are somewhat larger ; the latter, too, differ in their longer and more slender form. Whether they differ anatomically, I am unable to state from personal observation ; one writer, however, says :—" Naturalists consider the Italian a very superior race, and that the various organs are stronger and of greater capacity ; it is, however, not easy to define the precise superiority." Their cell-construction, too, differs, the Ligurians building them broader and deeper, fifteen of their cells being equal to sixteen of the common kind. Baron von Berlespsch, an eminent German apiarian, thus sums up their advantages. He says that he has found—" 1. That the Italian bees are less sensitive to cold than the common kind. 2. That their queens are more prolific. 3. That the colonies swarm earlier and more frequently. 4. That they are less apt to sting. 5. They are more industrious. 6. That they are more disposed to rob than the common bees, and are more courageous and active in self-defence. They strive, whenever opportunity offers, to force their way into colonies of common bees ; but when strange bees attack their hives, they fight with great fierceness and with incredible adroitness." Most of the Baron's opinions I can endorse, but I cannot agree with him that they are less apt to sting ; perhaps they may be, until interfered with, in any way ; but once excite their anger, and they will sting much more fiercely than the black bees. The fecundity of the queen is amazing ; competent authorities state that in the height of the breeding season she will lay from 1,000 to 3,000 eggs per day. An anecdote, related by Alfred Neighbour, in his book on bees, will illus- trate their intrusive propensities. He says : "Another bee-keeper, living in the same neighbourhood of our apiary, when inspecting our hives, observed the yellow bees : he exclaimed, ' Now, I have found out where those strange-looking bees come from ; for,' said he, ' these yellow-jackets are incessant visitors to my hives. I thought they were a species of wasp that had come to rob, and until now I have been unable to account for their appearance at my hives, so that I have killed them by hundreds.' " My own Ligurians have increased in such a manner as to astonish bee-keepers here ; certainly, they are not generally very scientific, the old straw hive and brimstone- pit being the rule, not the exception. Erom my original stock this year there issued three swarms: the first, an enormous one, came off in May, and was dully followed by the second and third ; on the 9th of July, in spite of supers and ventilation, the prime swarm threw off a virgin swarm weighing 5 lb. ; this was followed by a second, which I pru- dently returned to the parent hive ; yet all my stocks are now strong, and will doubtless go through the winter well, all but the last swarm being well pro- visioned. There is one peculiarity I have observed about their swarming which deserves mentioning. It is this, that they never hang out in a cluster at the entrance of the hive before that great event ; it would appear as though they thought that " where there is a will there is a way," and accordingly cram themselves into the hive, even at the risk of being suffocated. I can hardly agree with J. W. Stroud, when he says there are no hybrid drones. Thus, suppose an Italian princess unites with a black drone, she will breed a mixed queen and worker progeny, but pure drones ; but suppose this mating with black drones continues through several generations, we should, according to J. W. Stroud, get a queen breeding almost pure black bees, but pure Ligurian drones. This seems to be a subject which will bear further investigation. I think there can be no doubt that the Ligurians are a distinct species ; but that they are very nearly allied is also evident. At some future time I hope to be able to give some account of another honey-bee which has been lately introduced into England; namely, the Egyptian Bee {A.fasciata) ; want of room prevents my doing so now, D. D. B., Cantab. Nov. 1, 1S69.J IIARDWICKE'S SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 257 ZOOLOGY. Recipe for Human Parasites. — If you have found ordinary methods unavailing for ridding your- self of these unbidden guests, I can furnish you with a probaf urn est recipe, which Dr. Clarke tells us the Hungarian shepherds find completely effec- tual to put to flight these insects. This is not, as you may be tempted to think, by a remarkable at- tention to cleanliness— quite the reverse. They grease their linen with hog's lard, and thus render themselves disgusting even to fleas ! If this does not satisfy, I have another recipe in store for you ; you may shoot at them with a cannon, as report says did Christina, Queen of Sweden, whose piece of artillery, of Liliputian calibre, which was em- ployed in this warfare, is still exhibited in the arsenal of Stockholm. But, seriously, if you wish for an effectual remedy, that prescribed by old Tusser, in the following lines, will answer your purpose :— " While wormwood hath seed, get a handfull or twain, To save against March, to make flea to refraine ; Where chamber is sweeped, and wormwood isstrown, No flea for his life dare abide to be known." — Kirby's Introd. Death's-head Hawk-moth.— The caterpillars of this beautiful moth have been more than usually abundant during the present season. I have had five specimens brought to me for identification, from four different localities : two were brought from the county of Durham, and three from Northumberland. Three of the caterpillars are now in the possession of as many young naturalists, who reside with me. A few hours after each of the caterpillars had been obtained, they sank into the earth which had been prepared for their reception, and are now undergo- ing the transformation which their juvenile owners hope may result in specimen moths for their col- lections.— T. P. Barkas. Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) Breeding in Cap- tivity.— In 1S55, a pinioned Kestrel, which was kept in a walled-in garden at Burnley Hall, East Somerton, in this county, made a nest of sticks, matting, moss, &c, in the corner of a tool-house, and hatched five young ones. She had no doubt been visited by a male from the adjacent rained parish church, in which kestrels frequently breed. The late Mr. Yarrell suggested setting a watch the next year, to ascertain full particulars, but she was unfortunately killed by accident the following win- ter, or no doubt the singular occurrence of 1S55 would have been repeated.—/. G. N, Aldborough, Norwich. Short-eared Owl (Strix brachyotus) Breeding in Norfolk. — I saw a nest with three or four young ones, nearly ready to fly, in the Winterton Decoy, in 1S59 ; there could be no error as to the species, as the feathers from which it gets its name were well developed. This year (1S69) a fine speci- men of the same bird was shot by a gamekeeper in this parish, in July ; it had one of its wings damaged, which appeared to be the only injury it had received. It was kept in captivity five or six weeks, when it was turned out, having quite recovered the injury ; its companion was not seen ; but there can, I think, be no reasonable doubt about the cause of this bird's presence here in the month of July.—/. G. N ., Aldborougk, Norwich. Emperor Moth. — The larva of the Emperor Moth (Saturnia pavonia minor) has been found here in great abundance this summer. I have procured 12 or 15 ; a friend has also found as many, and I am told that one day the children of the British School here destroyed between 300 and 400, all full-grown. I do not remember having noticed it in so great abundance before. The larva of the Privet Hawk- moth (Sphinx pinastri) is also very plentiful. — A. A., Felstead. Incident of a Thrush. — In the month of April last, the following circumstance took place upon the estate of Mr. Samuel Porter, Eskdale, near Whitehaven; — A number of ladies' collars and tuckers, 'a cap, &c, had been placed upon a bush to bleach. In the course of a few days they disap- peared, and as some young cattle were grazing in the neighbouring fields, they were suspected of having eaten them. Shortly after, however, the missing articles were discovered in an adjoining meadow, among the branches of a hawthorn, inter- woven with moss, grass, and wool, and forming the nest of a thrush ; having been carried a considerable distance, and appropriated as building materials by these little songsters. Much to the disgrace of some ruffianly hand, the nest was destroyed, that the missing articles might be taken away as relics of a remarkable circumstance. — John Johnson, New Jeru- salem Bay Schools, Salford. Bed Admiral. — Whilst going through a wood at, Bournemouth, the end of last month, I came across a larva of the Goat-moth (Cossus Ligniperda) walking across the path. I looked about to find the tree from which it came, and about a couple of yards from me I saw a birch-tree, round which were flying about a dozen or more of the Red Admiral butterfly (Vanessa Atalanta). There Ifound the burrows of the Goat-moth. Some one had evidently been cutting the bark away to find the larva, and the juice, I suppose, from the tree had attracted the butterflies. I picked off several of them from the tree with my fingers, and for several days after the tree was still visited by them in numbers. I should like to know if any of your readers have ever noticed this attraction for the Lepidoptera before.— & / B. Moseley, Birmingham. 25S HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Nov. 1, 1869. Cuttle-fish. — In the article in your October number, entitled "A Chapter on Cuttle-fishes," our common Cuttle-fish of this coast is mentioned two or three times. The article is from The American 'Naturalist, and it does not appear clear whether an American or an English Cuttle-fish is described ; but if the latter, the description does not at all apply to the Sepia officinalis (figured ou p. 219), which is in- variably spoken of as "the common Cuttle-fish." Any member of the genus Loligo or of Ommastrephes may be intended, but probably one of the latter (0. todarus) is meant. I have taken this handsome animal twice this year — once in April, near Hartle- pool, and again (several specimens) in July, near Lerwick, Shetland. The following dimensions of the Hartlepool specimen, which was a very fine one, may be interesting to 'some of your readers : — Extreme length from tip of tail to end of tentacle 2 ft. 1 in., length of trunk 1 ft., girth of ditto 7 in., length of tail 5^ in., width of ditto 6h in., length of head 2h in., ditto of each tentacle 11$ in., ditto of shortest arm 5f in.. At least three species of each of the genera Loligo and Ommastrephes have been taken in the British seas, and all of them are called " squids."— Robert Morton Middleton, Jun. Otters and Badgers in South Wiltshire. — No less than four Otters have been killed, to my knowledge, in the valley of the Nadder, within fifteen or sixteen months, one of them, a fine dog, having on one of his feet when captured a trap which had been set for members of his fraternity the evening before, in a meadow between three and four miles distant. My brother has now in his possession skins of five badgers, all killed, I believe, by himself in the same neighbourhood within the same time. A friend, also, on whom I can rely, has told me that five young ones were reared in a copse about a thousand yards from his house last spring. —A. G. Tisbury. Eossils at Walthamstow.— In July, 18GG, as I was searching for freshwater shells in the copper- mill stream in the valley of the river Lea, at Walthamstow, I observed a heap of fossil bones which had been cast on the bank from a dredging- barge : they belonged to three species of mammalia — the two first-named are extinct— the long-fronted ox {Bos longifrons), the gigantic Irish deer {Megaceros Hibernicus), and the wild horse {Equus Caballus). I have since found the remains of the Megaceros Iliber- nicus in nearly every excavation I have visited in this valley, extending from Lower Clapton to Wal- tham Abbey. The remains are found from fourteen inches to twelve feet beneath the surface ; but the largest quantity is yielded by a bed of grey silt ge- nerally found at a depth of about four feet. A few days ago I discovered, near Higham Hill, Waltham- stow, two lower jaws of this species, several frag- ments of pottery, and two cut bones, all in juxta- position, and lying at a depth of only seventeen inches. Has the Megaceros Hibernicus lived down to a more recent period than that allowed by most geo- logical writers ; or has the deposition of sediment been very slow in this valley ? A writer on this subject says : " Its extinction in Ireland has occur- red so many ages past, as there remains among us not the least record in writing, or any manner of tradi- tion, that makes so much as a mention of its name." If the same observations hold good with regard to England, I cannot possibly account for the associa- tion of the remains of the Megaceros Hibernicus with works of art at so slight a depth in an English river- valley, a fact which I have not read of in any geolo- gical work. — R. E. Olliver, S/ierboro' House, Stam- ford Hill, Elycatcher's Nest. — This year a Elycatcher built her nest in the hinge of an unused door of my coach-house, and in time my httle boy found four eggs in it, of which he took one for his collection. We watched for the hatching of the rest, but after a long delay, finding that the bird had given over sitting, we examined the nest, and found that a second nest had been made inside the first, and on the top of the old eggs. In the new nest four eggs were laid, and eventually hatched. — A. A. Leucania vitellina (Brighton Delicate). — A specimen of this rare moth was captured at Sugur on the 20th of September, near Brighton, by a working naturalist named Gates, and sold under the impression of its being only a variety of L. pal/ens, to a Mr. Vaughan, of London, for seven shillings and sixpence. According to Newman, but two have been taken in England before. He took the same evening two dozen Agrotis saucia. — T. W. Wonfor, Brighton. Morning Visitors. — Every morning, before 1 am out of bed, there may be seen feeding on one of the window-sills of my bedroom, a pair of nuthatches, a pair of great-tits, a pair of cole-tits, a pair of blue- tits, a pair of marsh-tits, and a pair of chaffinches, and sometimes a robin, a blackbird, and a sparrow or two. They have a small pan of water, and their food comprises hemp-seed, nuts, cheese, bread-and- milk, and meat; all which are placed at their dis- posal by my wife overnight, or by six o'clock in the morning. You know how near we are to the high road ; passers-by must be astonished at the sight outside our window. — W., Sundridge. Oriental Locust. — A fine specimen of the Oriental locust {Locusta migratoria), similar to those caught at St. Austell and Truro on Saturday last, has just been captured on Marazion green, by Mr. John Kinsman, Penzance, who has preserved it alive. — Western Morning News, Oct. 12. Nov. 1, 1869.] HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 259 BOTANY. Lastrea Montana. — Several of the standard works on British ferus, in describing the vernation of Lastrea montana, state that the pinna; " are not convoluted I have examined several plants of montana during the expansion of their fronds, and have always found that the pinnae are convolute. I should like to know if any of your correspondents have noticed the same character. — /. Morley, Jun. Veronica Buxeatjimii.— It may interest your correspondent "R. W." if I mention that Veronica Buxbuumii was three years ago (when I was living there) very abundant in my garden at Evenlode, near Moreton- in- Marsh, Gloucestershire. It was fond of rubbish-heaps, but was also so abundant all over my kitchen garden as to be a nuisance. — W. Hambrough. CONVALLARIA VERTIC1LLATA. — In books Oil botany it is commonly stated that the principal native habitat of this plant is the Den of Rechip, five miles from the beautiful village of Dunkeld and the famous hill of Birnam, in Perthshire. It is pos- sible it may still be found there, but I am sure it is very rare, if it be not quite extinct. The den or ravine is about a mile and a half in length, thickly wooded on its steep sides, and a sparkling stream running through its midst. A friend and I searched the glen thoroughly in July last, but there was no appearance of Convallaria. The luxuriance of ferns, however, is something remarkable. Dryopteris, Phegopteris, Eilix-fcemina, Dilatata, and others at- tain a prodigious size, and there was one plant covering a considerable space, which we did not expect to find there. This was Saxifraga umbrosa} London Pride, quite naturalized. No doubt it had been planted or its seeds scattered there at some time, but we could not see that it was cultivated in any of the cottage gardens at the foot of the glen. Authors seem to copy the statements of preceding writers without any effort to verify them. Hence habitats are given for plants in which they no longer exist. This is tbe case at least with Epimedium aJpinum, said to grow on Carrock and Skiddaw, in Cumberland. There is no such plant there now. — R. W. The Holly.— May I be permitted to ask Mrs- Watney in what part of Wales the Holly is called "Hellig," as there must be error somewhere. It would be a pity to demolish so much ingenuity as Mrs. Watney has displayed in tracing the etymology of the Holly ; but I am afraid it must be done, for the simple reason that tbe name "Helyg" (which no doubt, is the same as Hellig) is uot the name of the Holly at all, but of the Willow, — at least, it has this name in eight Welsh counties, and in every Welsh writer on plants that I am acquainted with (take "Davies's Welsh Botanology" for a standard). I know not whether Mrs. Watney is a proficient in her native language or not ; if so, the error may be only one of substitution. The Welsh name for holly is Celyn, as every Welshman knows : thus we have Bryn-Celyn, holly-bank, &c. However, as Mrs. Watney's propositions are only advanced as a fancy, without positiveness, it is not so great a matter, though I am afraid her "conclusions'' about Holly and Hellig will be found more fanciful than real. — Thomas Williams, Bath Lodge, Orms- hirk. Holly (p. 235).— When I read Mrs. Watney's note, in which she derives our English name "Holly" from the Welsh "Hellig," it struck me that, although the derivation seemed so probable, there must be some mistake, as / bad always heard th e Holly called Celyn (pronounced Kellvi) in Wales. I thought it possible, however, that the word "Hellig" might also mean "Holly" (as indeed it may, for anything I know to the contrary, iu South Wales) ; so I referred to a dictionary, and a Welsb Herbal, compiled by the Bev. John Williams in 1737. There I find " Hellig " is given as the Welsh for " a willow tree." I think, in all proba- bility, the word " Holly " is derived from the Celtic; not, however, from " Hellig," but from Celyn, which, by an easy change, becomes llollin, — a word still in use in many country places, and which is also the name of the plant in the ,Manx language, another branch of the Celtic ; and this has been shortened into " Holly."— Robert Holland. Elora of Middlesex. — This excellent Flora by Messrs. Trimen and Dyer, is just published. It forms an imposing volume of 42S crown octavo pages, and will, we imagine, fully gratify the most sanguine expectations of the subscribers. It is our intention to give a more extended notice of this work at an early date, and only mention it now in order that all London and Middlesex botanists may secure copies. Fagtjs sylvatica. — Many of our beech-trees here are infested by a minute insect, of a scarlet colour, which envelops itself in a kind of white downy matter, so that the bark is quite white in places. I have heard it called, though perhaps only vulgarly, the " American bug." Several fine trees have died in consequence of these insects preying upon the bark. As I bave not to my knowledge seen these in any other place, might I ask some one conversant with the subject, to name and give some account of these pests. If not beyond the scope of your jour- nal, I should be glad to know some successful means of saving the trees by exterminating the destroyers. —H. N., Oscott. 200 HAEDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. [Nov. 1, 1869. MICEOSCOPY. Spirulina. — I beg to record a new locality for Spirulina tenuissima, for which only two stations, both in Wales, are given by Harvey. I found it on Sept. 8th among filiform Algae, near the pier at Worthing. As I only saw an isolated filament, I am not quite certain of the species. If it is not