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HARDWICKE'S
SCIENCE-GOSSIP
Fok 1870.
HARDWICKE'S
AN ILLUSTRATED MEDIUM OF INTERCHANGE AND GOSSIP
FOR STUDENTS AND
LOVERS OF NATURE.
Edited by M. C. COOKE, M.A.
AUTHOR OF "HANDBOOK OP BRITISH FUNGI," "A PLAIN AND EASY ACCOUNT OP THE BRITISH
FUNGI," "MICROSCOPIC FUNGI," "A MANUAL OF BOTANICAL TERMS," AND OF
"STRUCTURAL BOTANY," THE "BRITISH REPTILES," ETC. ETC.
LONDON: ROBERT HARDWICKE, 192, PICCADILLY.
1871.
WYMAN AND SONS, ORIENTAL, CLASSICAL, AND GENERAL PRINTERS, GREAT QUEEN STREET, LONDON, W.C.
/ 0 S * k
AVANT-PKOPOS.
HE eventful year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Seventy is near its close. In the history of many nations of Europe it will long stand prominent as one of the most important years during the century. To some it has been a year of success ; to others a year of failure ; to most a year of privation, pain, and excitement, to all a year not soon to be forgotten. The close of this year is also the close of our Sixth Volume, a small event compared with the great ones to which allusion has been made, still to us and our readers not altogether unimportant. The sixth volume of a Journal devoted to Natural History is nowadays something worthy of remembrance, an event to be proud of; therefore we congratulate all our readers, especially those with whom we have gossiped from 1865 to 1870, that they are still " Lovers of Nature," and that we continue to pro- vide for them " an Illustrated Medium of Interchange and Gossip.
)>
As we spread open our six volumes before us, shall we say with their million of facts ? — perhaps so — with their fifteen hundred illustrations, with their fifteen hundred and upwards of pages of information, we cannot but think that there are many who also congratulate us, and who feel that we deserve their congratula- tions for our successes rather than condemnation for our failures. It can hardly be supposed that nobody condemns us — we never dreamt such a pleasant dream as that of pleasing everybody — and we have never flattered ourselves on having attained perfection ; all we lay claim to is — that we have honestly endeavoured to do our best to achieve success and merit approval, so that, failing, we might fail with a clear conscience.
It would be base ingratitude in us to forget, at such a time as this, how much we are indebted to others, and how highly we esteem all the
AVANT-PEOPOS.
help so freely given. The contributors who from time to time fill the sixteen pages devoted to " Articles/' the correspondents who supply- monthly little facts in Zoology, Botany, or Microscopy ; those who ask questions and those who answer them in our Notes and Queries ; and last, not least, those good friends and true who identify and name the specimens sent to us for that purpose, and perform labours sometimes calling for the sacrifice of much valuable time with scarce any recogni- tion but the initials following the names of mosses, lichens, ferns, seaweeds, beetles, flies, bees, bugs, mites, spiders, &c. &c, in our "Answers to Correspondents/' — these, and all of these, have our heartiest thanks, and for them especially we desire " a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year/'
There are doubtless many others who deserve our thanks ; those who praise, and those who condemn us ; those who recommend us, or help to make our journal known ; those who cheer and encourage us ; and those who point out our faults. To each and all of these we proffer thanks ; it is all we have to give, but we give it freely, with the hope that for many years they may continue to enjoy health and strength to persevere in the same good work.
Thus much for the past, but what of the future ? Hitherto we have always abstained from promises, knowing how dangerous it is to make promise for the future. All we can venture to write on this subject is to express a hope that we shall not be found wanting at the close of the Seventh Volume in any of the merits, but deficient in all the failings of the sixth. If all those who have for six years done so much to help us continue their efforts, and exert their influence with others, we cannot doubt for the future. Under such conditions, our seventh will be our most successful year, and, with faith in such a prospect, we shall
Not come for one, but come for many, Many and many a happy year.
Dec. 1, 1S70.
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
vu
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Abnormal Plantain, 37.
Abraxas grossulariuta, Egg of, 253.
Ackelia, &c, 26-30.
Achnunthes inflata, 62.
Anas crecca, 36.
Anceus maxillaris, Head of, 200.
Anomalina coronata, 11.
Anomodon attenuatus, 83.
Ant-lion, the Larva of, 87.
Arum maculatum, spathe, pistils, &c, 74,
75, 76. Astrophyton verrucosum, 1 50. Aulacodiscus Kittoni, 55. Auliscus, 55. Australian Crane, Parasite's Egg, 132.
Bee, Abdomen ok, with Stylops, 4. Bee Louse, 2. Beetle Larva, 5. Biddulphia, sp., 55. Biloculina sphoera, 10.
ringens, 10.
Birds of Paradise, Feather of, 246.
Bleak, Scale of, 18;.
Boarmla rhomboidaria, Egg of, 253.
Br aula casca, 2.
Brown hair streak, Egg of, 252.
Bulimina obtusa, 156.
obliqua, 156.
variabilis, 156.
variabilis, var., 156.
■ brevis, 156.
Murchisoniana, 156.
Buff-tip Moth, Egg of, 253. Butterflies' Eggs, 252, 253.
Cabbage Butterfly, Eogs of, 252.
Cabbage-moth, Egg of the, 253.
Cabera pusaria, Egg of, 254.
Calabar Bean Starch, 68.
Canary Thorn, Egg of the, 253.
Carabus nemoralis, Nervous System of.
256. Carp, Scale of the Crucian, 235.
Prussian, 279.
Chalina oculata and spicules, 172, 173. Charadrius pluvialis, 60. Chimney-sweeper Moth, Egg of the, 254. Chub, Scale of, 92. Climacodium Frauenfeldianum, 6l. Caeno?iympha Pamphilus, Egg of, 252. Copper, Egg of the Small, 252. Cristellaria Gaudryana, 107.
navicula, 107.
recta, 107.
rotulata, 106.
, var., 106.
triangularis, 107.
Crowned Crane, Parasite's Egg, 132.
Cuckoo, the, 109.
Cuculus canorus, 109.
Curlew, the, 181.
Cuttle-fish Bone, 177, 178.
Cydippe pileus, 201.
Cyprinus earassius, 235.
cephalus, Scale of, 92.
Gibelio, Scale of, 279.
Daisy Flower-head and Florets, 31,
32. Dtntalina aculeata, 81.
Dentalina communis, SI.
gracilis, 81.
Lomeiana, 81.
multicostata, 81.
nodosa, 81.
sulcata, 81.
Diatom from Guano, 56. Drosera rotundifolia, 111.
Echinus, Buccal Apparatus of, 152.
Echinus, Climbing, 151.
Echinus mamillatus, 151.
Eel, Scales of the Snig, 280.
Eggs of Bird Parasites, 132.
Eggs of Butterflies and Moths, 252, 253,
254. Ennomos tiliaria, Egg of, 253.
Feather of Bird of Paradise, 246. Fieldfare, the, 13.
Fish Scales, 92, 140, 187, 235, 279,280. Flabellina Baudouiniana, 106.
pulchra, 106.
rugosa, 106.
Frondicularia angulosa, 83.
Archiaciana, 82.
elegans, 82.
ornata, 82.
radiata, 82.
tricarinata, 83.
Verueuiliana, 82.
Gaudryina pupo'ides, 157.
rugosa, 157.
Globigerina bullu'ides, 12.
cretacea, 108.
elevata, 108.
Golden Plover, the, 60. Goldfinches and Nest, 84. Gomphonitzschia Ungeriana, 62.
details, 62.
Gull, the Herring, 158.
Halichondria panicea, 173.
spicules, 174.
ramosa, 173.
" Hasan-i-Yusaf," 176. Herring Gull, the, 158. Hipparchia Janira, Egg of, 252. Hornbill, Parasite's Egg on, 252.
Jso'etes capsularis, 176. velata, 1/7.
Larus argentatus, 158.
Leuciscus alburnus, Scale of, 187.
Lituola nautilo'idea, 107.
Lotus, Symbolical representations of the,
125.
Macrothrix, 204. Magpie Moth, Egg of the, 253. Mallee Bird, Parasite's Eggs on, 132. Mamestra Brassicm, Egg of, 253. Marginulina compressa, 82.
elongata, 82.
gradata, 82.
trilobata, 82.
varicosta, 82.
I
Matthew's Turn-table, 163.
Maurandya, Hair of, 235.
Meadow Brown, Egg of the, 252.
Melo'e angusticollis, 3.
Melopsittacus undulatus, 85.
Moths, Eggs of, 253, 254.
Mucor mellitophorus, 5.
Muscular Fibrillae in Larva of Beetle, 68.
Mysis Chamaleon, and tail of ditto, 198.
Navicula lyra, 56.
pacifica, 62.
Nepenthes distil latoria, 128, 129. Nirmus, Parasite's Egg on, 132. Nodosaria limbata, 81. Nonionina Uepressula, 12.
stelligera, 12.
turgida, 12.
Numenius arquata, 181. Nymphon gracile, 199.
Oceania turrita, 197.
Odezia cheerophyllata, Egg of, 254.
Pallene pygmea, 27, 28, 29. Parrot, the Waved, 85. Peacock, Parasite's Egg on, 132. Pentacrinus Europaus, 150. Pheasant, Parasite's Eggs on, 132. Phora incrassata, 1 . Pieris Brassier, Egg of, 252. Pitcher-plant, the, 128, 129. Planorbulina Ungeriana, &c, 10. Plantago coronopus, 37. Pleurosigma validum, 6l. Pleurostauron Frauenfeldianum, 62. Plumatella, and Lophophore of ditto, 228,
229, 274. — — , Statoblast of, 274. , Tunic of, filled with Statoblasts,
275. Pluteus paradoxus, Larva of, 152. Podocerus capillatus, Nests of, 198. Polycera Lessonii, 197. PolyommaUis Corydon, Egg of, 253. Praniza, Larva of, 200. Pulvinulina repanda, &c, 11. Pygara bucephala, Egg of, 253. Pyrulina acuminata, 1 57.
Raphides in Cell, 92. Red Admiral, Egg of the, 253. Rosalina Clementiana, 155.
Lomeiana, 155.
Rotalia Beccarii, 1 1 . orbicularis, 1 1 .
crassa, 108.
Cordieriana, 108.
Micheliniana, 107-
umbilicata, I07.
Voltziana, 107.
Sagitta bipunctata, and head of ditto, 201.
Sagrina rugosa, 157.
Sandfly and its Parasite, 99-
Sarsia tubulosa, 196.
Scales of Fish, 92, 140, 187, 235, 279, 280.
Scale of Tillandsia, 116.
Sepiostaire, 177, 1/8.
via
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE- GOSSIP.
[Dzc. 1, 1870.
Sphaeraphides in Cell, 92.
Sponges, Common British, 172, 173, 174.
Starch of Calabar Bean, 68.
Stenosoma linear e, 198.
Stictodiscus CaliJ 'ornicus, 61.
Stylops Childreni, 4.
Sundew, Hairs of, 111.
Sygnanthus Acus, 202
anguineut, 202.
aquoreus, 202.
Typhle, 202.
Trnch, Scale op, 140. Texlularia Baudouiniana, 1S7.
Textularia trochus, 157.
turris, 157.
Thaumantias cymbaldidea, 196.
pilosella, 195.
Thecla Betulte, Egg of, 252.
Tillandsia, Scale of, 1 16.
Towing Net, the Home Made, 194.
Tragopan, Eggs of Parasite of, 132.
Trichodes apiarius, 2, 3.
Triloculina tricarinata, 10.
— — trigonula, 10.
Truncatulina Beaumontiana, 155.
Turdus pilaris, 13.
Turn-table, Dr. J. Matthews', 163.
Turris digitalis, 196.
Uvigerina tricarinata, 157.
Vaginicola , 33,34.
Valvulina gibbosa, 156. Vanessa Atalanta, Egg of, 252. Verneuilina tricarinata, 156. Viburnum Lantana, Hairs and Sphsera- phides of, 187.
White Wave, Egg of the, 354. Willow Beauty, Egg of, 252.
January, 1S70.
Hardwicke's Science-Gossip.
THE PABASITES OF THE HONEY-BEE.
By A. S. PACKARD, Jun., M.D.
H E generality of bee-keepers are unaware how many in- sect parasites infest the Honey-bee. In our own litera- ture we hear almost nothing of this subject, but in Europe much has been written on bee parasites. Erom Dr. Edward Assmuss' little work on "the Parasites of the Honey-bee," we glean many of the facts now presented, and which cannot i'ail to interest the general reader as well as the owner of bees. The study of the habits of animal parasites has of late gained much attention among naturalists, and both the honey and wild bees afford good examples of the singular relation between the host and the parasites which live upon it.
Among insects generally, there are certain species which devour the contents of the egg of the victim. Others, and this is the most common mode of para- sitism, attack the insect in its larva state ; others in the pupa state, and still others in the perfect, or imago state. Dr. Leidy has shown that of the wood- devouring species, a beetle, Passalus cornatus, and some Myriapods, or " thousand legs," are, in some cases, tenanted by myriads of microscopic plants and worms, which luxuriate int he alimentary canals ; while the "caterpillar fungus " attacks sickly cater- pillars, filling out their bodies, and sending out shoots into the air, so that the insect looks as if transformed into a vegetable.
The Ichneumon flies, of which there are undoubt- edly several thousand species in this country, No. 61.
are the most common insect parasites. Next to these are the different species of Tachina and its allied genera. These, like Ichneumons, live in the bodies of their hosts, consuming the fatty parts, and finishing their transformations just as the exhausted host is ready to die, issue from their bodies as flies closely resembling the common house-fly.
An insect, allied to the Tachina, has been found in Europe to be the most formidable foe of the hive- bee, sometimes producing the well-known disease called "foul-brood," which is analogous to the typhus fever of man.
This fly, belonging to the genus P/iora (fig. 1, P/wra incrassata ; fig. 2, pupctrium ; fig. 3, larva), is
ri"-. i.
Pfiora incrassata.
Larva.
a small insect about one line and a half long, and found in Europe during the summer and autumn flying slowly about flowers and windows, and iu the vicinity of bee-hives. Its white, transparent larva is cylindrical, a little pointed before, but broader behind. The head is small and rounded, with short three-jointed autennae, and at the posterior end of the body are several slender spines. The puparium, or pupa-case, inclosing the delicate chrysalis, is oval, consisting of eight segments, flattened above, and with two large spines near the head, and four on the extremity of the body.
When impelled by instinct to provide for the continuance of its species, the Phora enters the bee- hive and gains admission to a cell, where it bores with its ovipositor through the skin of the bee-larva,
B
2
HABDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
[Jan. 1, 1S70.
laying its long oval egg in a horizontal position just under the skin. The embryo of the Phora is al- ready well developed, so that in three hours after the egg is inserted in the body of its unsuspecting and helpless host, the embryo is nearly ready to hatch. In about two hours more it actually breaks off the larger end of the egg-shell, and at once be- gins to eat the fatty tissues of its victim, its pos- terior half still remaining in the shell. In an hour more it leaves the egg entirely and buries itself completely in the fatty portion of the young bee.
The maggot moults three times. In twelve hours after the last moult it turns around with its head towards the posterior end of the body of its host, and in another twelve hours, having become full-fed, it bores through the skin of the young bee, eats its way through the brood-covering of the cell, and falls to the bottom of the hive, where it changes to a pupa in the dust and dirt, or else it creeps out of the door and transforms in the earth. Twelve days after, the fly appears.
The young bee, emaciated and enfeebled by the attacks of its ravenous parasite, dies, and its decaying body fills the bottom of the cell with a slimy foul-smelling mass, called "foul-brood." This gives rise to a miasma which poisons the neigh- bouring brood, until the contagion (for the disease is analogous to typhus, jail, or ship fever) spreads through the whole hive, unless promptly checked by removing the cause and thoroughly cleansing the hive.
Foul-brood sometimes attacks our American hives, and, though the cause may not be known, yet from the hints given above we hope to have the history of our species of Phora cleared up, should our disease be found to be sometimes due to the attacks of such a parasite fly.
We figure the Bee-louse of Europe (fig. 4, Braula
Fig. 4.
Bee-louse {Braula cceca).
emeu, Nitsch), which is a singular wingless spider- like fly, allied to the wingless Sheep-tick (MelopAagm), the wingless Bat-tick (Nycteribia), and the winged Horse-fly (Ilippobosca) . The body is divided into two regions, like the spider. The head is very large, without eyes or ocelli (simple
Fie
eyes), and the ovate hind-body consists of five seg- ments, and is covered with stiff hairs. It is one-half to two-thirds of a line long. This spider-fly is "pupiparous," that is, the young, of which only a very few are produced, are not born until it has, or is just about to, assume the pupa state. The larva (fig. 5) is oval, eleven-jointed, and white in colour. The very day it is hatched it sheds its skin and changes to an oval puparium of a dark-brown colour.
Its habits resemble that of the flea. Indeed, should we compress its body strongly, it would bear a striking resemblance to that insect. It is evidently a connecting link be- tween the flea and the two-winged flies. Like the former it lives and brings forth its young on the body of its host, and draws its food from its host by plunging its stout beak into the skin of the bee.
It has not been noticed in this country, but is liable to be imported on the bodies of Italian bees. Generally, one or two of the Braulas may, on close examination, be detected on the body of the bee ; sometimes the poor bees are loaded down by as many as a hundred of these hungry bloodsuckers. Assnmss recommends rubbing them off with a feather, as the bee goes in and out of the door of its hive.
Among the beetles are a few forms occasionally found in bees' nests and also parasitic on the body of the bee. Trichodes upiarius, Linn. (fig. 6, fig. 6 a, larva; fig. G b, pupa, front view), has long been
vis. <;.
Larva of Bee- louse.
Trichodes apiariui. a. larva, b. pupa.
known in Europe to attack the young bees. In its perfect, or beetle, state it is found on flowers, like our Trichodes Nuttallii, which is commonly found on the Spiraea in August, and which may yet prove to enter our bee-hives. The larva devours the brood, but with the modern hive its ravages may be readily detected.
The Oil-beetle, Meloe angusticollis, Say (fig. 7, male, differing from the female by having the antenna? as if twisted into a knot ; fig. 8, the active larva found on the body of the bee), is a large dark- blue insect found crawling in the grass in the
Jan. 1, 1870.]
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
3
vicinity of the nests of Andrena and Halictus and other wild bees in May, and again in August and September.
The eggs are laid in a mass covered
Fig. s.
Fig. 7.
"Meloe ungusticoltis, male.
Larva of Meloe.
with earth at the root of some plant. During April and early in May, when the willows are in blossom, we have found the young recently hatched larva in considerable abundance creeping briskly over the bees, or with their heads plunged between the seg- ments of the body, greedily sucking in the juices of their host. Those that we saw occurred on the humble-bee, Halictus and Andrena, and various flies (Syrphus and Muscidas), and there is no reason why they should not infest the honey-bee which frequents similar flowers, as they actually are kuown to do in Europe. These larvse are probably hatched out near where the bees hybernate, so as to creep into their bodies before they fly in the spring, as it would be impossible for them to crawl up a willow-tree ten feet high or more, their feet being solely adapted for climbing over the hairy body of the bee, which they do not leave until about to undergo their strange and unusual transformations.
In Europe, Assmuss states that on being brought into the nest by the bee, they leave the bee and devour the eggs in the bee-cells, and then attack the bee-bread. When full-fed and ready to pass through their transformations to attain the bee state, instead of at once assuming the pupa and imago state, as in the Trichodes represented above, they pass through a hyper-metamorphosis, as Eabre, a Erench naturalist, calls it. In other words, the changes in form which are preparatory to assuming the pupa and imago states are here more marked and almost coequal with the larva and pupa states, so that the Meloe, instead of passing through three states (the egg, larva, and pupa), in reality passes through these and two others in addition, which are intermediate. The whole subject of the metamor- phosis of this beetle needs revision, but Fabre states that the larva, soon after entering the nest of its host, changes its skin and assumes a second larva
Second larva
form of
Trichodes.
form (fig. 9), which somewhat resembles the larva of the Goldsmith beetle. Newport, who with Siebold has carefully described the metamorphoses of Meloe, does not mention this stage in its development, which he calls " pseudo-chrysalis." It is motionless ; the head is mask-like, without movable appendages, and the feet are represented by six tubercles. This is more properly speaking the semi-pupa, arid the mature pupa grows beneath its mask-like form, which is finally moulted. This form, however, according to Eabre, changes its skin and turns into a third larva- form (fig. 10, from Newport). After some time it assumes its true pupa form (fig. 11, from Newport)> and finally moults this skin to appear as a beetle (fig. 7).
Pig. 11.
Fig. 10.
Third larva form of Trichodes.
Pupa of Trichodes.
Eabre has also, in a lively and well-written ac- count, given a history of Sitaris, a European beetle, somewhat resembling Meloe. He states that Sitaris lays its eggs near the entrance of bees' nests, and at the very moment that the bee lays her egg in the honey-cell the flattened ovate Sitaris-larva drops from the body of the bee upon which it has been living, and feeds upon the contents of the freshly- laid egg. After eating this delicate morsel it devours the honey in the cell of the bee, and changes into a white cylindrical, nearly footless grub ; and after it is full-fed, and has assumed a supposed " pupa " state, the skin, without bursting, incloses a kind of hard "pupa" skin, which is very similar in outline to the former larva, within whose skin is found a whitish larva, which directly changes into the true pupa. In a succeeding state this pupa in the ordinary way changes to a beetle which belongs to the same group of Coleoptera as Meloe. We cannot but think, from observations made on the humble-bee, the wasp, two species of moths, and several other insects, that this "hyper-metamor- phosis" is the normal mode of insect metamor- phosis, and that the changes of these insects, made beneath the skin of the mature larva before assuming the pupa state, are almost as remarkable, though
B 2
1
HAPDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
[Jan. 1, 1S70.
less easily observed, as those of Meloe' and Sitaris. Several other beetles allied to Meloe are known to be parasitic on wild bees, though the accounts of them are fragmentary.
The history of Styloids, a beetle allied to Meloe, is no less strange than that of Meloe, and is in some respects still more interesting. On June 18th I captured an Andrena vicini which had been " stylopized." On looking at my capture I saw a pale reddish-brown triangular mark on the bee's abdomen ; this was the flattened head and thorax of a female Stylops (fig. 12, position of the female of
Fig. 13
Fig. 13.
Stylops seen from above.
Abdomen of Bee, with Stylops at a.
Stylops, seen in profile in the abdomen of the bee ; fig. 13, the female seen from above. The head and thorax is soldered into a single flattened mass, — the baggy hind body being greatly enlarged like that of the gravid female of the white ant (Termes), and consisting of nine segments.
On carefully drawing out the whole body, which is very extensi- ble, soft, and baggy, and examining it under a high power of the micro- scope, we saw multitudes— at least several hundreds — of very minute larvae, like particles of dust to the naked eye, issuing in every direc- tion from the body of the parent now torn open in places, though most of them made their exit through an opening on the under side of the head-thorax. The Stylops, being hatched out while still in the body of the parent, is therefore viviparous. She probably never lays eggs.
On the last of April, when the Mezereon was in blossom, I caught the singular-looking male, Stylops Childreni, Gray (Sg. 14 ; a, side view ; it is about one-fourth of an inch long), which was as unlike its partner as possible. I laid it under a tumbler, when the delicate insect flew and tumbled about till it died of exhaustion in a few hours.
It appears, then, that the larvse are hatched during the middle or last of June from eggs fertilized in April. The larva; then crawl out on to the body of the bee, on which they are transported to the nest, where they enter, according to Peck's observations, the body of the larva, on whose fatty parts they feed. Previous to changing to a pupa, the larva lives with its head turned towards that of
its host, but before assuming the perfect state (which they do in the late summer or autumn) they must reverse their position. The female protrudes
Stylops Childreni
a. side view.
the front part of its body between the segments of the abdomen of her host, as represented in our figure. This change, Newport thinks, takes place after the bee-host has undergone its metamorphoses, though the bee does not leave her earthen cells until the lollowing spring. While the male Stylops deserts its host, his wingless partner is imprisoned during her whole life within her host, and dies im- mediately after giving birth to her myriad (for Newport thinks she produces over two thousand young) offspring.
Xenos Pec/di, an allied insect, was discovered by Dr. Peck to be parasitic in the body of wasps, and there are now known to be several species of this small but curious family, Stylopidee, which are known to live parasitically on the bodies of our wild bees and wasps. The presence of these parasites, which live on the fatty parts, finally exhausts the host, so that the sterile female bee dies pre- maturely.
As in the higher animals, bees are afflicted with parasitic worms which induce disease and sometimes death. The well-known hair-worm (Gordhis) is an insect-parasite. The adult form is about the size of a thick horse-hair, and is seen in moist soil and in pools. It lays, according to Dr. Leidy, " millions of eggs connected together in long cords." The micro- scopic, tadpole-shaped young penetrate into the bodies of insects frequenting damp localities. Fairly ensconced within the body of their unsuspecting host, they luxuriate on its fatty tissues, and pass through their metamorphoses into the adult form, when they desert their living house and take to the water to lay their eggs.
In Europe, Siebold has described Gordius subbi-
furcus which infests the drones of the honey-bee,
and also other insects. Professor Siebold has also
Jan. 1, 1S70.]
HAKDWICKE'S S CIEN CE- GOSSI P.
describedpfsmw albicans, which is a similar kind of hair-worm, from two to five inches long, and whitish in colour. This worm is also found, strangely enough, only in the drones, though it is the workers which frequent watery places to appease their thirst.
Thousands of insects are carried off yearly by parasitic fungi. The ravages of the Muscardine, caused by a minute fungus (Botrytis Bassiana, Balsamo), has threatened the extinction of silk cul- ture in Europe. Dr. Leidy mentions a fungus which must annually carry off myriads of the seventeen- year locust. A somewhat similar fungus, Miccor mellitophorus (fig. 15), infests bees, filling the sto-
Fig. 15.
Fig. 10.
Mucor mellituphorus.
Beetle larva.
mach with microscopic colourless spores, so as to greatly weaken the insect.
As there is a probability that many insects, para- sitic on the wild bees, may sooner or later afflict the honey-bee, and also to farther illustrate the complex nature of insect parasitism, we will for a moment look at some other bee-parasites.
Among the numerous insects preying iu some way upon the humble-bee are to be found other species of bees and moths, flies and beetles. Insect parasites often imitate their host : Apathus can scarcely be distinguished from its host, and yet it lives cuckoo-like in the cells of the humble-bee, though we know not yet how injurious it really is. Then there is the Conops and Volucella, the former of which lives like Tachina and Phora within the bee's body, while the latter devours the brood. The young of another fly allied to Anthomyia, of which the onion-fly is an example, is also not uufrequently met with. A small beetle {Antherophagus ochraceus) is a common inmate of humble-bees' nests, and probably feeds upon the wax and pollen. We have also found several larvae (fig. 16) of a beetle of which we do not know the adult form. Of similar habits is probably a small moth {Nephopteryx Edmundsii)
which undoubtedly feeds upon the waxen walls of the bee-cells, and thus, like the attacks of the com- mon bee-moth {Galleria cereana), whose habits are so well known as not to detain us, must prove very prejudicial to the wellbeing of the colony. This moth is in turn infested by an Ichneumon-fly {Microgaster Nephoptericis), which must destroy many of them.
A minute Ichneumon (Anthophorabia Megachilis) which is parasitic on Megachile, the leaf-cutter bee, illustrates the transformations of the Ichneumon- flies, the smallest species of which yet known (and we believe the smallest insect known at all) is the Pteratomus Putnami, or " winged-atom," which is only one-ninetieth of an inch in length, and is parasitic on Anthophorabia, itself a parasite. A species of mite is always to be found in humble-bees' nests, but it is not thought to be specially obnoxious to the bees themselves, though several species of mites (Gamasus, &c.) are known to be parasitic on insects.
Por a proper study of our bees and wasps, we should collect their nests from the end of May until late in the Autumn. We should watch for the different broods and collect the larva, pupa, and adult of both sexes, as well as the workers. The cells containing the young, with whatever parasites may be found on them, may be placed in alcohol, while the mature bees may be pinned. The simplest method of collecting the nests of humble-bees is to visit them before sunrise or after sunset, when the bees are in the nest, and we can secure the whole colony. The bees can be picked up with forceps as they emerge from the nest, or caught with the net and then pinned. Refractory colonies may be easily quelled by pouring in ether or chloroform, or burning sulphur at the aperture, as is the best method of procedure with wasps' nests.
The solitary species, besides boring in the earth like Andrena and Halictus, also bore in the stems of different plants, such as the elder, syringa, raspberry, and blackberry. Nearly fifty species of insects, mostly Hymenoptera, are known in Prance to burrow in the stems of the blackberry alone ! Now is the time to look for their burrows in the dead branches. Their presence is usually detected by an old hole at the end of a broken branch. The writer would be greatly obliged for material to aid him in the study of our bees and wasps, and would take pleasure in corre- sponding with those interested in the study of their habits, and would be very grateful for specimens of the young in alcohol, their parasites and nests. — The American Naturalist, for June, 1868.
We never can surprise Nature in a corner ; never find the end of a thread ; never tell where to set the first stone.— Emerson's Essays.
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
[Jan. 1, 1S70.
FLORAL FINDINGS.
" 'Tis Summer, 'tis Summer, the wild birds are singing, The woods and the glens with their sweet notes are ringing, The skies are all glowing with crimson and gold, And the trees their bright blossoms begin to unfold."
" Who has not dreamed a world of bliss, On a bright sunny day like this ? »'
OITTING under the shade of a large Elm-tree, ^ listening to the clear music of the skylark, arranging a basket full of flowers which I had gathered in the course of my walk yesterday morn- ing, it occurred to me that I would jot down a short account of my floral findings for the perusal of those lovers of country life who are obliged to remain in town at this enjoyable season.
"Praise the bridge that carries you over" is a very old and homely saying : let me take a hint from it, and give the place of honour to the Ulmiis campestris, whose protecting branches shielded me from the sun.
This tree is in full beauty now ; foliage and fruit are perfection ; one scarcely wonders that the Saxons worshipped it. The first woman, according to Teutonic mythology, was madeout of the Elm. "What "wooden dolls" those ancient barbarians must have thought us ; for it is more than probable that they were equally ignorant of the virtues it possessed, though they evidently perceived its loveliness. Our poets, however, assign to it rank amongst the lords of the creation. Milton and Shakespeare, for in- stance, wed it to the vine, and I thiuk the Moun- tain Bard has a like passage in his works.
A whole page might be filled with its uses; they are numerous. Its bark is highly astringent, and affords a substance called by chemists ulmin ; it is also valuable to dyers, produces a pretty yellowish- brown colour; and silkworms eat its leaves,— so do many other creatures, for most animals are fond of its foliage ; and as to insects, the Elm-tree is a fine hunting-ground for the collector. You have seen the leaves curl up occasionally? Well, the Aphis ulmi rolls them into that form, to make a shelter for himself. He is partial to the juice, but, being rather fragile, requires protection from the weather. Some animals are supposed to eat their old cast- off clothes, but here is an insect that drinks his home.
Let me see, what did I find first ? Oh ! those yellow flags by the water side— " Seggs" as a friend of mine from the north calls them. The yellow flag belongs to the Iris family,— a large family it is too ; there are over a hundred species of Iris, I believe ! and some of them are very lovely. One can easily credit old Plutarch's version that the generic name was bestowed on them by the Egyptians on account of their various hues. It resembles a word in their tongue signifying "Eye of Heaven." This especial flag is perhaps one of the least attractive, yet in its
natural element, water, it looks exceedingly charm- ing. Yesterday, its large showy flowers and deep green leaves were seen to advantage there, but in vase or stand it seems out of place.
Leaving the stream and going out into the field, I found some Foxgloves growing luxuriantly by the hedgeside— Gants de Notre Dame is a far more ap- propriate name. When did reynard ever wear gloves, and such gloves as these ? But a fanciful imagination might encase the Virgin's fingers in its elegant pendulous flowers. I like the word stately as applied to this plant : it has a regal look, and I often wonder why our old English poets never noticed it. Its poisonous properties most certainly could not have shut it out from mention, for Shakespeare alludes to several of our most deadly herbs and flowers. Painters have been more alive to its charms ; it has been introduced into many- landscapes. Wre are indebted to the Foxglove for one of the most valuable medicines, Digitalis, and the Italian proverb "Aralda chi tuttc piaghe salda;" or, "Foxglove cures all wounds," shows that its vulnery powers were fully recognized in Italy.
Close to the foxglove's purple flowers grew two of our most beautiful British ferns, Hart's-tongue and Athyrmm Filixfcemiua.
" If you would see the lady fern, In all her graceful power, Go look for her where the woodlarks learn,
&c.
sings, or rather sang, "Calder Campbell." And there, in just such a spot as he so well describes, stood her ladyship surrounded by her friends ; her pale green fronds towering proudly above them all, while the Scolopendrium evidently liked its quarters quite as well as if it had been in the society of the Brakens.
The Water Crowfoot {Ranunculus aquatilis), with its white petals, its relative, the "butter-flower," as the Meadow Crowfoot is often termed, close by. Really, as cows make a rule of declining this plant, I cannot see why country folks should insist on as- serting that the rich yellow colour of the butter in spring and summer is produced by it. Popular errors are difficult to correct : there is not an old dairywomau in the parish who would not deem me insane if I told her that the Butter-&ower, on which she so depends for golden-coloured produce, blisters the mouth of any one who is silly enough to taste it. The "Cuckoo-buds of yellow hue" in Shake- speare's immortal verse, are thought to have been this blossom, not the Cardamine pratensis, now known as "Cuckoo-flower." The French Bouton d'or is a double variety of our Crowfoot. It is often grown in gardens ; so, indeed arc many handsome members of the genus Ranunculus, but they are all more or less suspicious characters, and I should not like to partake of a salad into which either
Jan. 1, 1570.]
HAHDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
leaves, or bulbs, or roots had been introduced, though some German writers say the peasantry boil the herb now under notice, and eat it with impunity. Perhaps boiling destroys it poisonous properties: heat does in many instances dissipate the acridity of plants.
And here is a branch of the Elder. What a very grand botanical name it has, Sambuciis, derived from, so the sages say, Sambuca, a musical instru- ment which'was always made of its wood. Were the Sambuca and the Sackbut identical ? Many botani- cal works say that the berries are injurious to fowls ; all I know is, that my hens and chickens de- light in the ripe fruit, and none of them seem one penny the worse (there is a fine Elder-tree in the poultry-yard) ; they perch on the branches, and offer a living actual denial to the assertion that " al- though small birds eat the elder-berries, fowls are poisoned by them."
Few plants or trees excel this in economical uses, as books have it ; but I am not going to enumerate them here. Elder-flower water makes a very nice wash for the face, and I dare say Madame Rachel is well acquainted with its virtues in this particular way.
The Elder is found in Arabia and Syria at the present day ; the Uktl Khaman is known and valued there, so I think it exceedingly probable that some highly-lauded skin lotion with an unpronounceable Arabic name may only be a simple extract of flowers of Elder after all. My "findings" are arranged, and as I sit thinking of Mary Howitt's lines, —
" How pleasant the life of a bird must be, Flitting about in each leafy tree, In the leafy trees so broad and full, Like a green and beautiful palace hall ! "
and wondering whether flowers do suffer pain when rudely torn from their kindred friends to fade and die between leaves of blotting-paper, — the sound of a gun startles me, and a beautiful woodpigeon falls wounded in the lane (some little tyrant of a village boy, having borrowed without leave his father's gun, is out killing small birds), while my own son, who had been, I fondly thought, safe with his copybook at home, runs up shouting, "Here is a beautiful nest, mamma, and four lovely blackbirds in it; the old mother bird did make such a noise when I took them!" Helen E. Watney.
The Lodge, Hambledon.
A NEW ERA IN MICROSCOPY.
ryiHE progress of microscopical iuquiry during -*- the past twelve months, especially as it displays itself in the labours of the Royal Micro- scopical Society of London, * suggests many serious reflections as to the future of Histology. Un- questionably, the facts and observations which have recently been brought forward lead us to be ex-
* See the Monthly Microscopical Journal, Nos. 1 to 11, 186g.
tremely sceptical as to the reliability of the con- clusions of what are called practical microscopists. So many of our old landmarks have been swept away that we feel as though we were commencing the study of Histology de novo ; for if, as it seems- not unlikely to prove, our dry object-glasses are- subject to grave aberrations, and our methods of illumination are calculated to give rise to delusive impressions, on what fixed conditions shall we base our researches ? If our object-glasses of high amplifying power give distorted and unnatural optical images, and if, in addition, our methods of illumination — or, at least, those in use prior to 1869 —are calculated to deceive us as to structure and arrangement, what dependence can we place on researches made under such objectionable circum- stances ? Yet we can gather nothing else from the able and lucid papers which, during the past session, have been read before the Microscopical Society. The Rev. J. B. Reade has demonstrated beyond question that the old notion of the diatom valve marked with linear stria; is absolutely erroneous, and due to defective illumination ; for by the em- ployment of a natural method of lighting up the structure he has shown us that these stria? are merely the lines of shadow thrown by a multitude of little hemispherical elevations which stud the surface of the valve. Here, then, is the demolition of one of the most elementary dicta of microscopists. What shall we say of the men who passed their lives in counting and fighting over those shadows which are now proved to be a false expression of structure ! But this is not all. At the very last meeting of the Microscopical Society a paper was read by Dr. Royston Pigott, in which another of the elementary axioms of the microscopist was assailed, and we may almost say annihilated. Dr. Pigott has been studying that favourite of the microscopists the Podura scale, and he has arrived at the conclusion that its structure as hitherto repre- sented is another of the illusions of imperfect optical apparatus. He alleges that the wedge-shaped markings are a mockery and a snare, and that the real constitution of the scale is that of a number of bead-like corpuscles placed end to end, there being separate rows for each side of the scale, and these rows crossing each other obliquely. Here, then, if Dr. Pigott's elaborate mathematical arguments be correct, is another of our landmarks swept away.
To the outsider it will seem perhaps that micro- scopy is no longer worthy of respect or reliance. We should be very sorry indeed to countenance so incorrect an] idea. That there are errors is un- doubted ; but that those who make them should themselves point them out is one of the happiest of omens for the future of Science ; for it tells us that those men who are working with the microscope have for their highest aim the discovery of that which is right and true. The discovery of error is
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GO SSIP.
LJan. 1, 1S70.
often more valuable, when properly applied, than the discovery of truth. The whole aspect of the present phase of microscopical progress, however, suggests the importance of revising our labours, especially in general microscopic anatomy, of taking stock, so to speak, of our facts. And here the very important query presents itself : In how far are we justified in reasoning to living structures from the examination of tissues post modem ? It is only a few months since Mr. W. S. Savory showed that the blood corpuscle of the frog in its living state contains no trace whatever of a nucleus. Yet if any one twelve months ago had ventured to dissent from the general doctrine that all coldblooded vertebrates have nucleated blood disks, he would at once have been pronounced either rash or ignorant. Yet, here again is a microscopical landmark — one of inference it is true — overturned. The microscopist, seeing a nucleus in the dead corpuscle, inferred its existence in the living one, and, as we see, made a serious mistake. May it not, we ask, prove equally true that our nuclei in cartilage, our fibrillae and striae in muscle, and our connective-tissue-corpuscle in tendon are equally post-mortem fallacies ? Do we not, then, commence a new era ? and is it not neces- sary, with the aid of immersion objectives, Reade's prisms, and living tissues, to travel once more over the histological field, and try to discover the extent of the darkness in which our microscopists have for centuries been groping ?— Scientific Opinion.
PLANTS ATTRACTIVE TO INSECTS.
TN this paper it is my intention briefly to notice -*- a portion of the flowers and shrubs which prove an attraction to insects, more especially to our Lepidoptera, thinking it may be a good hint to those who read this valuable periodical, and who possess a garden, which, by the bye, is a great desideratum to an entomologist ; and it would be advantageous to set apart a portion of the same for the cultivation of such plants, &c, as would prove an attraction to, and bring within his reach, some of the objects of his favourite study. By cultivating such plants, a great many insects may be brought from surrounding parts, which might, perhaps, not otherwise be obtained. The plants, shrubs, &c, which I shall allude to in this paper, may with little trouble be cultivated, and would answer the twofold purpose of a kind of trap or decoy for insects, besides being ornaments to the garden.
The first, and one of the plants which prove most attractive to Lepidoptera, is the Red Valerian {Valeriana rubra) ; many of the nocturnal Lepi- doptera—
" Soft moths that kiss The sweet lips of the flowers and harm not " —
may at dusk be seen quietly hovering over the flowers of this plant and rifling them of their
sweets; amongst the "silent revellers" the Small Elephant Hawk-moth [Chcerocampa porcelhis), may sometimes be seen hovering round the flowers, and now and then stopping to sip the sweet nectar which they afford. The Red Valerian is also a favourite flower with the Golden Y {Plusia iota), the Burnished Brass {P. elirysitis), and the Silver Y (P. gamma), the latter of which may sometimes be seen in great numbers hovering over the flowers, and darting away at the least sound, again to revisit them when silence "reigns supreme." The Currant Clearwing (Sesia tipidiformis), the Bright-line Brown-eye {Hadena oleracca), and the Small Ranunculus {Hecatera dysodea), have also been taken from this flower as well as many others.
The Jessamine and Larkspur are amongst the flowers most loved by the Humming-bird Hawk- moth {Macroglossa stellatarum), from the latter of which 1 have myself taken several specimens this season. This elegant moth feeds by day as well as in the evening, and may be observed pursuing its bird-like flight in the hottest sunshine ; scarcely ever alighting, it thrusts its long spiral trunk into the flowers to sip the sweet nectar, and darts off at thel east sound, again to return to, perhaps, the very identical flower soon afterwards. The flight of a Sphinx, described by Mr. Douglas in the following elegant language, is a true representation of the flight of this moth, and is exactly a propos. He says : —
" Did you ever see a Sphinx fly ? There is nothing to compare its motion to except a flash of lightning. While you are looking at a flower in the twilight, between you and it glides a motion, a moving haziness, which is before you and yet conveys to your eye no definite image. Before you have half thought what it can be, you see the flower again distinctly, and rub your eyes, thinking there must have been an illusion, or possibly an unsteadi- ness of vision caused by the irritation of that gnat that was buzzing about your head ; when, lo ! the flower just beyond seems to shiver,— you move to see what is there, but there is a move before you, and a dim shadow flits away like a thought. Can it be anything real ? Stand awhile : and now, in the increasing gloom, as you bend over the Petunias, holding your breath, you see a darkness visible drop down before you, but its presence is better made known by the humming sound caused by the rapid vibration of wings. Stir not, or this aerial body will float away. Now you see it deigns not to alight or touch the margin of the chalice, but poising itself in air, stretches out its long tubular tongue and quaffs the nectar at the bottom."
The Bladder Campion (Silene injlata) is, among wild flowers, one of the chief, and possesses great power of attraction to many of the Noctucc. Amongst those that have been taken from this common wild flower, I may mention the Turnip-
Jan. 1, 1870.]
HARDWICKE'S SC IENCE-GOSSIP.
moth (Agrotis segetuni), the Double-spotted Square- spot (Noctua triangulum), the Flame (Axylia putris), and the Netted Pug (Eupithecia venosata), the larvae of which feed inside the seed-capsules of this plant ; also the Sandy Carpet (Emmelesia decolorata), Scorched Carpet (Ligdia adust at a), Lychnis (Dian- tlitecia capsicola), Burnished Brass (P. chrysitis), and the Silver Y moth (P. gamma), the latter of which I have seen, not by dozens, but even by scores, flying over the flowers of this plant.
The Honeysuckle, or Woodbine (Lonicera Peri- clymenum), that sweet shrub which is the ornament of many a cottage door, and perfumes the very air with its sweetness, is, too, a favourite with many of our moths, —
" By rustic seat and garden bower There's not a leaf, or shrub, or flower, Blossom, or bush, so sweet as thee, Lowly, but fragrant Hcney-tree. By stately halls we see thee not, But find thee near the lowly cot, Or latticed porch ; by humble door Thou leanest, with thy honeyed store, Dropping, from thy bee-bosomed flowers, Sweetness through evening's dewy hours. Tree of the cottage and the poor! Can palace of the rich have more ? No ! Sweet content as seldom dwells^ In palaces as lowly cells."
This plant is also one of the chief which afford a delicate repast for the Humming-bird Sphinx (31. stellatarum) , and its near relation the very rare Silver-striped Hawk-moth (Chwrocampa celerio), also the Gold Spangle (Plusia bractea), and many other species of moths.
A great quantity of moths are also to be taken from the blossoms of the Reed (Arundo plirag- mites) ; amongst those found flying around this plant are the Bed and Yellow-line Quaker (Orthosia lota and 0. macilenta) and the Angle Shades (Phlo- gophora meticulosa) ; also, but very rarely, the Reed- moth (Macrogaster Arundinis), which deposits its eggs on the stem of this plant.
Amongst wall-plants the Ivy, when in bloom, is one of the most productive ; and the sweet odour given out by its flowers when in full bloom, is a great attraction to many of the day as well as the night-flying Lepidoptera, as well as a multitude of bees, which swarm around it collecting honey from the blossoms. By day many of the individuals of the family of the Vanessidte may be seen stopping to alight on its flowers ; the Bed Admiral [Vanessa Atalanta), and the Painted Lady (Cynthia cardui), may often be seen expanding and closing their wings, displaying, as if proud of their beauty, their gorgeous tints in the autumn sunshine. Towards evening many of the moths begin to crowd around its blossoms, to sip the sweet nectar so bountifully prepared for them. Foremost among them is the Silver Y (P. gamma), and perchance the Yellow and
Bed-line Quaker (0. macilenta and 0. lota), the Tawny Pinion (Xylina semibmnnea) and the rare Dotted Chestnut (Basycampa rubiginea). Plusia gamma is also very fond of the flowers of the Verbena and Candytuft.
Lucerne and Clover fields are the haunts of many of our butterflies; the beautiful Clouded Yellow (Colias Edusa) and the Pale Clouded (C. Hyale) love to revel amongst the flowers of these plants, accompanied by their "yellow friend," the Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni), also the Peacock (Vanessa To), the Red Admiral (V. Atalanta), and the Painted Lady (C. cardui), with many of the Blues (Polyommati). These butterflies are also very fond of alighting on the various kinds of thistles. The Swallow-tailed (Papilio Machaon) is also a lover of clover-fields.
And now, after having given a few, and only a few, of the flowers which possess an attractive power to our " winged friends," nothing remains but to fold up and despatch my MS., hoping, at some future time, to see a continuation of this in these pages by some entomologist more competent than myself.
Norwich. R. Laddiman.
RECENT FORAMINIFERA.
TF we were called upon to declare what we ■*- considered the most difficult class of objects for the amateur microscopist to name satisfactorily, we should hesitate very little before declaring for Foraminifera ; because classification and nomencla- ture have, until very recently (if not still), been in a most chaotic and unsatisfactory condition, and because handy text-books, with characteristic figures, and at a moderate price, are things which may be wished for, but most decidedly are not to be obtained. Figures there are, it is true, and learned papers, not a few, worthy of all respect ; but they are beyond the reach of many, probably of most, of those who resort to the microscope as a recreation at the close of a day of monotonous toil.
Several times have we been urged to help our readers to figures which might, in ever so small a degree, contribute to lessen their labour with the Foraminifera. Time after time the pressure of other matter and other subjects has driven the Foramini- fera, if not out of mind, at least so far back into the land of dreams, that it is only by dint of a firm resolve that we commence our sixth volume by the redemption of a sort of half-promise, iu furnishing a series of figures of a few recent species, associated with the hope that they may really prove useful, and if so, that more will follow.
We do not purpose now, or in futurity, to give technical descriptions, nor to elaborate a scheme of classification — that task we leave in more competent
10
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
[Jan. 1, 1S70.
hands ; all we design is to supply figures, since these appear to be the first want, and the only want that we have been called upon to satisfy. Hereafter some of the fossil forms may come in for a share of illustration ; but all we intend to promise, for the present, concerns living species.
run along from end to end of the shell, and its length is about ^ inch (fig. 19).
Fig. 17- Biloculina sphcera.
Biloculina spluera (D'Orb.) is one of the rarer forms of the British coast. Mr. Brady says of it, that "in its fully-developed condition it is suffi- ciently distinguished from its allies by its spherical shape, and the large rounded outer chamber, which almost entirely embraces the inner ones" (fig. 17).
Fig:. 18. Biloculina rlngens.
Biloculina ringens (D'Orb.) is more common, and is found in the South, whereas the Shetlands is the only recorded locality for the last-named. In fact this species is found almost all around our coast, and is also recorded from the coast of Norway. Two or more of its varieties, which have ranked as distinct species, are almost equally common (fig. 18).
Fig. 19. Triloculina tricarinata.
Triloculina tricarinata (D'Orb.) is a common form, in many seas, and is also found in a fossil state in tertiary deposits. Three keels or ridges
Fig. 20. Trilneuliwi trignnulu.
Triloculina trigonula (Lam.) is the Miliolina of Williamson's monograph, and is found not only on the coast of the Shetlands, but also at Scarborough and several recorded stations on the South coast- It is about the same size as the last, and, like it, it is opaque, and of a porcelain-like appearance (fig. 20).
Fig. 21. Plrmorbulina Mediterrancnsis.
Planorbulina Mediterranensis (D'Orb.) may be regarded as the most common of its genus on our coast, and is the Planorbulina vulgaris of William- son. It is very widely diffused, not only in the Mediterranean and around our own coasts, but also occurring in the Gulf of Mexico, Cuba, Teneriffe, the Antilles, and probably elsewhere (fig. 21).
Fig. 22. Plunorbulina Ungeric.na.
Planorbulina Ungeriana (D'Orb.), from the Shet- land seas, is a rarer species, and very delicate. " It has a deep central umbilicus, and the chambers arc
Jan. 1, 1870.J
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
11
extended at their outer edge into a sharp keel, giving the appearance of a narrow border running round the shell " (fig. 22).
Another species (P. Haidengerii) is known on these shores, but the foregoing will represent the genus.
Fig. 23. Anomallna coronata.
Aiiomalina coronata (Parker & Jones), from the Shetland diedgings, seems also to be common all along the coast of Norway, and plentiful in the Mediterranean Sea at ninety fathoms. "This shell has the general aspect and bearing of the common Truncatulina, but it is not depressed, and affects a bilateral symmetry, the two surfaces being often nearly equal. The umbilici are deeply and broadly sunken, forming an almost ridge-like crown on each face of the shell. The aperture is a transverse chink at the base of the chamber."— (Parker & Jones.)
It has also been found fossil in the Tertiaries of Prance (fig. 23).
Fig. 24. Puloinulina rcpunda.
Pulvinulina repanda (P. & M.) is the species called Rotalina concamerata by Williamson. This is certainly a beautiful form, and Mr. Parfitt states in his catalogue of the Protozoa of Devonshire that he has found it on oysters dredged off the^South coast. It is probably not uncommon (fig. 24).
form, found in a starved condition about the Shet. lands, but apparently common in the chalk of Meck- lenburg, where it was first detected by Professor lleuss (fig. 25).
Fig. 26. Rotalia Becnarii.
Rotalia Beccarii (Linn.) is affirmed to be the most common of British Poraminifera, occurring in varying degrees of abundance on every part of the coast. The species has a very wide geographical range, but each locality appears to be characterized by the pre- valence of some one variety. This also appears to be readily obtained from oyster-shells by carefully washing them, a plan which Mr. Parfitt has certainly adopted with considerable success (fig. 26).
Fig. 25. Pulvinulina Karsteni.
Pulvinulina Karsteni (Reuss) certainly is a rare
V
Fig. 27. Eotalia orbicularis.
Rotalia orbicularis (D'Orb.) is considered by some authors as only a deep-sea variety of the last- named species. Although common in deep water in the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, it seems to be as rare on our coasts as the other species is com- mon, since it is only recorded from the Shetlands and the Irish Sea. " It is a thickened rotaline form5 presenting in profile a trochoid appearance, rising to a point on the upper, and very convex on the lower surface. The septal face is narrow, and shows few or no perforations." — (Brady.) The diameter is r^oth of an inch (fig. 27).
Nonionina turgida (Will.), the Rotalina turgida of Williamson's monograph, is probably a very common northern species, abundant around the Shetlands.
12
HARDWICKE'S SCIEN CE-GO S SIP.
[Jan. 1, 1870.
but not found on the English coast, or but very rarely at Whitehaven (fig. 28).
Fig. 28. Nonionina turgida.
Nonionina depressida (W. & J.) is the N. crassula of Williamson, and " one of the smallest, as well as the most common, of the equilateral nautiloid Pora- minifera," being found almost everywhere on the coast, and in some stations abundant. This also Mr. Parfitt obtained from washings of oysters ; and he observes, "It is the most common of all the species I have met with " (fig. 29).
Fig. 29. Nonionina depressula.
Nonionina stelligera (D'Orb.), on the other hand, is very rare in the Shetlands' dredgings, but seems to be tolerably abundant in the Mediterranean, on
Fig. 30. Nonionina stelligera.
the Norwegian coast, and in the Arctic seas. Some regard it as a variety of another species, not recorded in the British seas (fig. 30).
Globigerina bulloides (D'Orb.) must not be for- gotten ; and with that our present list and figures terminate. Of course it is a very common species, and one recently invested with considerable interest, since it is completely cosmopolitan in the deep, deep sea-bed of the Atlantic, almost here, there, and
everywhere ; fossil in the Vienna basin and the Suffolk crag. Indeed, it is probably identical with
Fig. 31. Globigerina bulloides.
the common Globigerina cretacea of the chalk (fig. 31).
THE PIELDPARE.
{Tardus pilaris.)
/^VUR, earliest recollection of the Fieldfare is ^-^ always associated with the time when, first intrusted with a gun, we crept stealthily over the crisp snow at Christmas-time, and, under cover of a straggling hedge, took a " pot shot " at every " Pelt " we could get near.
In this kind of shooting—" hedge-popping," call it what you will — there is at one period of our lives something wonderfully exciting. The charm of the newly-acquired gun; our intense desire to make a bag; our diffidence in firing at anything on the wing, for fear of missing it ; and the attractive size of the Pieldfare and Redwing, which " sit up well," and offer a good mark, all combine to render such an amusement, at such an age, particularly enjoyable. Indeed, we are almost inclined to doubt whether, at any after-period of life, so much real enjoyment is ever derived from any other kind of shooting. Those who have not tried it must not suppose that the sport is tame, — that the Pieldfare is easily approached, and sits quietly upon his perch until the shot brings him down. No such thing ; he is uncommonly wary and suspicious, and after he has once caught sight of you, it is by no means an easy matter to get within shot of him. We used to think at one time that it could scarcely be more difficult to stalk a deer than to stalk a "Pelt " ; and many a time have we crawled until our back ached, and followed a noisy flock from tree to tree, and from hedgerow to hedgerow, until we had well-nigh despaired of a shot. But when perchance a strag- gler remained behind, and his chatteriug note be- trayed his whereabouts, wc had our triumph and our reward; for we took a steady aim at him from behind a tree, and he came toppling down amid a shower of twigs and leaves.
When walking home in the twilight with a pocket
Jan. 1, 1870. j HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
13
full of such "game," we had leisure to speculate upon the extraordinary distance which the Fieldfare must travel to reach this country, and upon the causes which could lead to such a wonderful journey.
With us the bird is but a winter visitant, arriving in October and departing in April. Its summer haunts are in Sweden, Norway, Lapland, Poland, Prussia, Russia, and Siberia,* where, unlike our familiar resident thrushes, it is gregarious, and breeds in colonies.
similar to those of the Blackbird, and even more so to those of the Ring Ouzel."
Mr. Hewetson states (/. c.) that the Fieldfare is the most abundant bird in Norway ;* and the late Mr. Wheelwright has remarked that in Lapland, next to the Brambling (Fringilla moniifringilla), it is the commonest bird in the forest.
Strange to say, in the latter country it appears to depart somewhat from its usual habit in nesting, for Mr. Wheelwright says : " They did not breed here in colonies ; for although the nests are seldom
Fig. 32. The Fieldfare {Tardus pilaris).
Mr. Hewetson, writing of its habits in Norway, says,t " The nests, often two hundred or more within a small space, were at various heights from the ground, from four feet to thirty or forty feet or upwards ; they were for the most part placed against the trunk of the spruce fir; some were however, at a considerable distance from it, upon the upper surface, and towards the smaller end of the thicker branches ; they resembled most nearly those of the Ring Ouzel ; the outside is composed of sticks, and coarse grass and weeds, gathered wet, matted with a small quantity of clay, and lined with a thick bed of fine dry grass."
The eggs, usually five or six in number, are " very
* The Fieldfare, it appears, is not found in Iceland, although the Redwing is a regular migrant there. — Prof. A. Newton, in Baring-Gould's "Iceland; its Scenes and Sagas," Append., pp. 408 and 421.
t "Eggs of British Birds," i. p. 58.
far apart, we never found two in the same tree."f
Some few instances are on record of the Fieldfare having remained to breed in Great Britain ; but such instances are very rare, and must be looked upon as purely accidental. The counties in which nests are reported to have been found are Sutherland (St. John), Yorkshire (Yarrett), Kent (Yarrell), Surrey (Bhjth), and Hants (Bree).
In Orkney and Shetland the Fieldfare is a regular winter visitant, and in the former island it has occasionally been known to stay during the whole year, although never found nesting there. J
As a rule the Fieldfare arrives in England during the third week [of October, and generally later than
* See also Mr. Norman's " Nat. Hist. Notes in Norway," Zoologist, lb64, p. 8865. t " A Spring and Summer in Lapland," p. 282. % Baikie and Heddle, " Hist. Nat. Orcadensis," 1848, p. 3 4.
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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
[Jan. 1, 1870.
the Redwing. Instances are recorded of Fieldfares having been seen in August and September ; but in several cases, it was found, on inquiry, that the observers had mistaken a flock of Mistletoe Thrushes for the species under consideration, and doubtless this mistake has been oftentimes committed. We lately received a letter from a friend near London, informing us that a flock of Rock Thrushes (Petrocincla saxatilis) had been seen in his neigh- bourhood by two gentlemen of his acquaintance, one of whom was stated to be " well up in English birds and very observant." Such an interesting and at the same time startling piece of news, was enough to put any ornithologist on the alert, and, notwithstanding our impression that the Rock Thrush is not gregarious, and is so extremely rare in England that only one instance of its occurrence here is recorded, we determined from curiosity to ascertain if possible what species had been mis- taken for it. Accordingly, armed with our friend's letter, and furnished with the names and addresses of the observers, we called upon them in turn with a skin of the Rock Thrush in our pocket. From the descriptions which we then received of the appearance, actions, flight, and note of the birds which had been seen, there could be no sort of doubt but that the species was that of our old friend the Fieldfare, and the production of the skin of the Rock Thrush proved conclusively to the observers that they had been mistaken. Now, had we rested content with the assurance that a gentle- man " well up in English birds " had seen the Rock Thrush, or a flock of Rock Thrushes, at such and such a place, and had wc on the strength of this assurance published the fact in one or other of the natural history journals, it is difficult to say what amount of mischief might not have resulted from supplying such data for future ornithologists to found conclusions on. Those who interest them- selves in collecting and publishing accounts of rare birds, cannot be too careful in first ascertaining that the evidence upon which their statements are founded is incontestable.
But to return to the Fieldfare : few birds seem to attract so much attention at the season of their arrival in this country. During the month of November we see every year numberless short paragraphs in the Field, the Zoologist, and other natural history journals, in which the " first appear- ance " of this species in various localities is duly chronicled and commented on. For six months in the year the Fieldfare is generally dispersed, and tolerably common in most parts of the country. Towards the end of April it disappears, retiring northwards to its summer haunts.
During its stay with us it frequents the open country, feeding on the small meadow slug (Limax agrestis), of which it seems particularly fond, varying its diet with worms and beetles. As the weather
becomes colder, and the ground harder, it resorts to the hedgerows to devour the fruits of the dog-rose and white-thorn, commonly known as " heps and haws," and in such situations, traces of its visits are always to be found in the bright red droppings which are noticeable on the ground hard by. The berries of the Ivy and Rowan-tree are also eagerly devoured and in the absence or scarcity of such food, Fieldfares have been observed to attack turnips, digging at the exposed portion of the roots, aud chip- ping off small pieces, which they swallowed with avidity. Several birds which were shot while thus engaged, were found to have the stomach completely filled with such chips. It is probably not often that the Fieldfare is driven to such extremities, and com- pelled to steal turnips like a hungry vagabond. The practice no doubt is a mischievous one, as the farmers will tell us ; for the water lodging in the holes which are pecked by the birds, the roots are rotted, and the crop is seriously impoverished.
We can make allowances, however, for such damage, when we consider what our own feelings would be under such hungry circumstances.
J. E. Hakting.
STUDIES FROM THE ANTIQUE.
THERE is sometimes a good deal of amusement afforded, if not much instruction, by turning over the pages of those old books which professed to treat upon Natural History a centuryor so ago. It is possible that we shall occasionally come across facts and observations worthy to be placed side by side with more recent records, but in the great majority of the works sold as "Natural Histories " at the time to which we refer, the worthy authors, who we would fain respect if we could, really appear to have put to very little service the powers of observation or reflection which they possessed. We are irresistibly tempted to laugh at many of the statements they made with all due gravity, and the conclusions deduced from the facts (or supposed facts) which they have noted, are often, too, fully as comical. We are accustomed to make apologies for our predecessors in the study of Nature, yet really, after all that can be said in extenuation of their various errors, we cannot help thinking that they ought to have done better. The discoveries of more recent times were within their reach as much as they are within ours, and the strange way in which some of these so-called fathers of science missed things which are palpable to the merest tyro of a naturalist now furnishes an illustra- tion of the homely proverb that "You may take a horse to the water, but you cannot make him drink." A curious old book lies before me which sug- gested these remarks. It bears date 1763, rather more than a hundred years since,— published, too, let it be noted, "in St. Paul's Churchyard, at the
Jan. 1, 1870.1
HARBWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
15
Bible and San." This work consists of several volumes, and calls itself, pretentiously enough, a "Natural History." Whatever else may be said against the author, he can hardly be accused of egotism ; the writer is carefully, perhaps too care- fully, kept out of sight within the leaves of it, though the title-page informs us that its compiler is a certain R. Brookes, M.D., also the author of a book on the Practice of Physic. One of these volumes is devoted to the natural (or rather un- natural) history of insects, and we discover on inspection that it is indeed comprehensive, for it professes to treat of the insects occurring in all parts of the globe, in which division the writer includes spiders, centipedes, and scorpions. After an intro- duction, wherein he treats of insects generally, their structure and habits as far as he knew them, which introduction closes with the reflections so usually indulged in by eighteenth-century naturalists, about insects filling up " chasms in the scale of being," be- " ing allowed to seize as great a quantity of happiness from the universal stock as was consistent with the universal plan," and " yet in some measure they were formed for the use of man." After these speculations, Dr. Brookes plunges in mediasres, by discussing insects in general. His first rude at- tempt at classification is the division of all insects into three sorts, the least honourable being put first, viz., caterpillars, which he ranks by the mselves as a humble race of trotters, less agile and more legged than his third division, choosing here to disregard the fact he afterwards notices, that caterpillars do not remain such, but proceed to a liigher form of life. "Caterpillars have feet before and behind, which enable them to move forward by a sort of steps made by their fore and hinder parts, and also to climb up vegetables. Behind, their broad palms are beset almost round with sharp small nails, to hold and grasp whatever they are upon." Then the second sort is comprehensive in its grasp, includ- ing every insect which has wings. These, says our author, " lead a more luxurious life, and transfer themselves from place to place with rapidity." His third sort are ants, spiders, and others, with bodies divided into two or three portions. " Of all the race of reptiles these seem to be endowed with the greatest share of sagacity."
The comments on the habits and structure of insects are original and curious. Insects— or at least most — have antennas or feelers, to keep then- eyes clean ! A remarkable piece of dexterity it would be in the majority to touch or brush the eye with this organ. "Some, however," says Dr. Brookes, " are of opinion that they clean their eyes with their fore-legs," which is probable. About galls and the insects they contain, his ideas are very cloudy. Little " gems " or " buds " appear on oak- trees at certain times. Into the heart of these the parent insect thrusts an egg. This produces a
maggot
which eats a small cell in the centre of the bud. " Other trees have knobs thus formed, which generally grow in or near the rib of the leaf." He believes the flies which are produced from these galls are allied to what are called blue-bottle flies! Many insects, he supposes, are at first a " sort of worms," with or without feet; for the luckless individuals Gf the latter character he sees a pro- vision made, they are " under the care of their dams, who supply them with food." Those provided with feet, needing no guardian, go " of their own accord," to the leaves of the tree most suited to them. Yet, he notes, all caterpillars do not feed on leaves. There are some, he finds, that feed only upon wood. Nay, more strange still, " it is now generally be- lieved that there is another sort nourished in stones themselves," a belief which turns out to be a blunder ! Dr. Brookes supposes there are (in 1763) about three hundred kinds of caterpillars known ; this seems a good number, but he is using the word caterpillar in the broad sense, as of the second stage of any insect. " The curious are still making new discoveries," he reports with satisfac- tion ; and another hundred years added to those now past since his day will not exhaust the field of dis- covery of its treasures. Are modern naturalists sufficiently curious, in the old sense of the word ? It may reasonably be doubted.
Having thus paved the way for his further inves- tigations by these preliminary remarks on insects, he proceeds to discuss them in a series of chapters, beginning with the beetles, and closing with the ants. The lists given in each are marked by the singular absence of method which is so conspicuous in the older naturalists. In speaking of any species, too, Dr. Brookes troubles not to distinguish par- ticularly as to their locality. Some he notes as being foreign, others as being English, but the bulk are left in doubt. Eor fear, however, lest a portion of the foreigners should think themselves neglected, he devotes a chapter especially to the enumeration of North American and West Indian insects. Here ants, beetles, butterflies, caterpillars, locusts, spiders, and worms march after each other in alphabetical order, the descriptions of some being particularly short, as in the following specimen : — " The great broicn moth has wings three inches and a half long and one and a half broad."
Beetles the author of this work believes to be provided with wing-cases to preserve the wings from hard bodies which might damage them when the insects are delving the ground, or gnawing wood, or making themselves houses and nests, — this latter function of beetle-life having apparently ceased in the nineteenth century ! Also, " Beetles have a great aversion to roses, whose smell they cannot bear, and some affirm it will kill them. They are naturally fond of ivy, and delight to get under its leaves." Amongst the beetles, and indeed through all the
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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
[Jan. 1, 1870.
orders, we have a singular mixture of Latin and English names. His "brass-beetle" appears to be the well-known Rose-beetle, or Rose-chafer. The children's favourite, the Ladybird, figures as the Lady-cow, and three species are described. Of Crysomelas he describes thirty-two kinds, distinguish- ing one from another mostly by size and colouring. Of weevils he records thirty-three. The economy of the Cockchafer he illustrates at some length, call- ing it the May-bug or Dorr. "It is thought that the females make holes in the earth with their tails, but it is uncertain whether they lay eggs or small worms." Dr. Brookes describes the larva very particularly. He also knew that they passed three years in that state. In Ireland, he observes, they have sometimes done much damage, and in one case the inhabitants set fire to a wood some miles in extent, to prevent their proceeding to others at a distance. A thoroughly Irish remedy ! The doctor, in treating of the other species of beetles, alludes to some kinds which he calls " bum-cows," or " burst- cows." It would appear that he has in this part of the chapter a reference to the rapacious Carabi, which he believes to be very venomous to cattle. After the Staphylini he links on to the beetles the cockroach, the mole-cricket, and other species of this family, closing with grasshoppers and locusts. Perhaps the most amusing part of this chapter is a description and accompanying figure, obviously re- ferring to the larva of a dragon-fly ; this the author calls a " water-cricket." The wings, he safely re- marks, seem to be useless for flying, still " they help to raise the insect up. It is commonly seen sitting upon water-plants, and is said to sing like the land-crickets."
Cicadas, bugs, aphides, and cocci have a chapter to themselves.
The NotonecUe are water-bugs. Of what he calls the true Cimices he enumerates forty. Much of this is devoted to the consideration of the insects pro- ducing kernes and cochineal.
Getting amongst theLepidoptera,this well-meaning naturalist is thoroughly beclouded. Mealy-winged insects, under which he classes what he calls the diurnal and nocturnal butterflies, have a chapter to themselves, at the commencement of which it is stated that some of them proceed from worms, some from caterpillars ; yet further on we find a heading, "Of caterpillars," where certain species of Lepido- ptera are arranged, the transformations being noted as chiefly important, and the perfect insects appear quite subordinated to them. It would naturally occur to us that this isolation was most unjustifiable, but Dr. Brookes seems to have acted on the principle that if the caterpillar was known then the species was to be treated under that heading. Other but- terflies and moths, whose changes had not been noticed, take rank by themselves. Here we find the doctor again gives utterances to some rather sin-
gular notions. "Butterflies," says he, " when they design to fly a considerable distance ascend and de- scend alternately, but their flying is not very grace- ful." Subsequent generations of butterflies have improved in this respect if this statement be true, for we consider now that many species are graceful fliers. The antenna; puzzle him much. "Some butterflies carry their feelers like the ears of hares ; some of them lie down on the body ; others bear them sometimes upright and at other times lie them down." The use of them he is doubtful about ; reverting to a former idea, he; thinks perhaps they may serve to clean the eyes or to guard them ; but some think that, " like the staffs of blind people, they give notice when they are going to strike their heads against any object ! " lu dividing the butterflies and moths, he breaks them up first of all into sections, accord- ing as they are large, middle size, or small ; then a few species are described under each, by the markings and colours principally, no name being given, but a number attached.
In the part devoted to caterpillars the writer brings out clearly the distinction between a cater- pillar and a palmer-worm, still somewhat obscure to many. " Caterpillars," says Brookes, " are of two principal kinds, shelly and membraneous," these he again subdivides into classes, according to their show of legs ; the fourteen-legged individuals are he believes, particularly industrious ! With smooth caterpillars he associates the thorny or spiny ; but the hairy Dr. Brookes ranks apart : these he deno- minates palmer-worms — a name not yet obsolete in some parts of the country, and applied loosely to any destructive insect. " They wander (the latter) from place to place, like palmers or pilgrims : some call them bear-worms (woolly bears iu modern phrase), because they are all over hair, and others millers, for what reason is uncertain." The state- ment is probably correct, that hairy catepillars, with some exceptions, move about more fearlessly than smooth-bodied ones.
Prom chapter 12, which treats of scorpions, jelly- worms, hog-lice, and Centepus, we find that modem usage has altered slightly the name of the last species— by "jelly-worm " a millepede is intended. Other singularities might be quoted, but I forbear ; enough has been written to show that it may be profitable, and it is not very tedious, to examine, in the light of the nineteenth century, the would-be scientific work of an old naturalist.
J. R. S. Clifford.
Cat and Pigs. — In some of the back numbers of Science-Gossip instances are given of the peculiar tastes of some cats. We had one some ten years ago which had a strong penchant for figs, the presence of which she would detect even if wrapped up iu paper in a person's pocket. She ate them with evident gusto.— A'. T. M. A.
Jan. 1, 1S70.J
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
ZOOLOGY.
Cats. — In your Notes and Queries of last month you gave some curious instances of sagacity in cats. I can add a few which may amuse as well as in- struct some of your readers. I give cats credit for more power of thought than is usually believed in. Eor instance, a friend of mine, in this neighbourhood, has a young dog and a cat. Puss was left totally without education, but the puppy, I suppose, because he was considered a more promising pupil, received careful instruction in the art of begging. Now, the fact I wish to record is this, that the cat, without any teaching, and simply from observation, discovered that that was a means of obtaining food, and took to sitting up too. Another case seems so improbable that I suppose many will doubt its truth. Indeed, I would not believe it myself until I had seen the performance with my own eyes. Several months ago I was dining with a relative at Wandsworth Common, and the dining-room door being open I heard a single knock at the garden- door. This was repeated several times, and one of the family remarked, " there is Tib." My relatives were used to this knocking, and they thought no more of it than that it was an amusing habit ; but it seemed to me so remarkable that I made inquiries about the animal. She was a young thing just arrived at cat-hood, had never been taught, and no one can say how she first acquired the habit ; but when she wants to come in from the garden, and finds the door closed, she always knocks once, and repeats the knock more and more rapidly until answered. The door has glass in the upper part, so the knocker is low, and she just reaches it by stand- ing on her hind feet ; she leans one fore-paw against the door, and uses the knocker with the other (as the maids say) like a " Christian." She continues the habit to the present time, having grown up and become the mother of some promising kittens. If not trespassing too much on your space, I might mention a singular accident which befel a cat of mine a few weeks ago. At my premises, in London, my foreman has a fine cat which was noticed to be in a very miserable condition one day, evidently in great pain, and having what the men thought to be a worm protruding from one nostril. She was caught, and after a good deal of pulling, as you may imagine, this was got out, and proved to be a rat's tail, minus the skin, but otherwise intact. She must have bolted this, big end first, and her stomach rejecting it, it passed up the throat, but was " shunted " on to the wrong line, and so passed into the nostril, where it became fixed. It just strikes me that some of your sceptical readers may designate this a still greater proof of feline sagacity, inasmuch as the cat rejected a tail she could not swallow. — James Yogan.
Richard's Pipit in Norfolk. — Through the kindness of Mr. Gunn, a bird-stuffer in this city, I had the opportunity, a few days since, of ex amiuing a beautiful adult male Richard's Pipit in the flesh. It was killed on, or a day or two before, the 3rd December, near Yarmouth, whence so many rare birds have been obtained, and is, I believe, the fifth Norfolk example on record, all of which oc- curred about the same locality on the following dates: -22nd November, 1841; April, 1842; 21th April, 1843; 28th December, 1866, and 3rd Decem- ber, 1869. Its stomach (like the 1842 and 1S43 birds) contained the remains of Coleoptera, one small species of ladybird being entire ; it weighed 200 grains (19 grains less than half an ounce). As the measurements of this species, given by various authorities, differ so considerably,— Macgillivray stating the total length, from bill to tail, to be 6| ; Yarrell, 6| ; Morris, 6|, 7i, Th, and 8 inches ; and Mr. Fisher (Zool. O.S., p. ISP), Ik and 7f — the last two measurements being those of the 1842-3 birds mentioned above,— I append the principal measurements of the two most recent Norfolk specimens, taken in the flesh (and not from skins or stuffed specimens, as I fear some of the others were), adding for comparison the corresponding measurements of the other three species of pipit as taken by Mr. Gunn, also from birds in the flesh.— J. Southwell, Norwich, December, 1869.
[As we never insert tables or lists under any circumstances, the table alluded to is omitted-.— Ed. S. <?.]
Longtailed Titmouse (Pants caudatus, Linn.).— This species is widely distributed in Turkey in Asia Minor and Europe. They are scarce in numbers, and not many of them have yet been taken. This bird is much lighter on the crown of the head and front than the bird found generally in South-western Europe ; the , young are also lighter in colour. They are similar in habit and are found in the same localities as the South-western bird, and are constant residents in Turkey.— The Levant Times.
Laurel-berries for Destroying Thrips.— Two years ago, when discussing with a clever prac- tical man the merits of the various known and sug- gested remedies for the destruction of the thrips, he said that once he had bruised a quantity of laurel-leaves in a house occupied with specimen Azaleas, and the action of the poison disengaged in the process of bruising had such an effect upon him as to produce stupefaction, and render him incapa- ble of getting out of the house without assistance. The effect upon the Azaleas was even more disas- trous, for they lost all their leaves, and several plants were a long time in recovering from the injury received. The thrips were killed certainly,
JS
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
[Jan. 1, 1S70.
but at too great a cost. Whether or not the berries will produce the same effect, I am not able to say ; but I would certainly advise extreme cau- tiou in their use, notwithstanding Mr. Bowlby saying they can do no harm. If we can learn the exact quantity required to destroy the thrips with- out injury to the vines in a house of a given capa- city, the receipt would be valuable, because of the cheapness of the berries. After all, no system of keeping the vinery free from insect pests can equal a thorough cleansing of the vines when they are at rest with soap and water, and burning sulphur iu the house. It is scarcely necessary to say that. the house must be cleared of every- thing except the Tines.— M. Buttery, in "Gardener's Magazine."
Marsh Titmouse (Partes palustris, Linn.). — This 'species is generally distributed in Turkey in Asia Minor and Europe, but, although it is not unfrequently met with, it is not nearly so numerous as the blue or great titmouse. It is partial to old woods in damp situations, where it mostly continues the year round, and it makes its nest principally in holes of decayed branches of trees. In the spring- time it, is seen busily engaged on a trunk or branch of a decayed tree, decayed fence or gate, or gate- post, or decayed wood, labouring away tor hours with its bill, detaching the decayed wood, and making room enough in the interior to securely hold its little nest. The entrance is just made large enough to admit the old birds, and the interior is scooped out more roomy for their habitation. Their nests are found mostly in decayed branches of alder, whose interior is soft and easily removed. They are partial to feeding on the alder, are rarely seen in the open country or on bare mountain districts, except in the winter, when they scatter and travel far and wide in search of insect food. They are constant residents in Turkey. — The Levant Times.
Yama-mai Silk-Moth.— The editors of the American Entomologist announce that their own ex- perience with this Japanese silkworm during the past summer was very unsatisfactory, and, they add, "we learn from Dr. Wallace that experimenters met with but poor success in England in 18G9, though an Austrian Baron succeeded in rearing twenty thousand cocoons."
New Food for Silkworms. — The Illustrated Sydney News says that " a native shrub has just been discovered both on Port Philip Island, and the shores of the Western Port Bay, which has proved far better for feeding silkworms than the mulberry." It is a great pity that the name of the plant was not given, or some particulars or description of the plant, so that it might be identified. Surely the
subject is of sufficient importance to have warranted a little extra trouble.
Petrified Maoris. — The Southern Cross has been furnished with the following by an occasional correspondent : — " The annexed particulars I have had sent to me from Raglan, and being rather a wonder (though I believe there are subterranean passages extending for a long distance at the Three Kings) I consider you might deem it worth inser- tion. About six or seven years ago Mr. Richard Todd, Government surveyor at Raglan, while walk- ing on the shore at the south head, and being close under the mountain called Karuni, discovered, amongst a large number of immense boulders, one that was very beautifully carved. 1 have been in- formed Mr. Todd took a drawing of it. It had the appearance, said Mr. Todd, of having been executed a very great number of years. Two stone chisels and an axe-head were found close to it. Owing to the encroachment of the sea, and action of the tide, this immense boulder had been displaced from its original position, and disclosed the entrance to a most wonderful cavern, running a very great distance under the mountain. On this discovery being made known to the settlers by the natives, a party of Raglan people, having provided themselves with lamps and torches, penetrated the cavern for at least half a mile, and were obliged to turn back, they having commenced their research too late in the day. The cavern has been described as a most wonderful one. very lofty, apparently in places two hundred feet high, with immense stalactites which seemed to be forty or fifty feet in length, and which had a very grand appearance, from the reflection of the lights. The party were completely wet through from the dripping of water from the roof. At about half the distance they traversed a very large, curiously- shaped rock, it having the appearance of a large altar, seven steps about two feet six inches high forming the approach to the table or altar. From the foot of this rock a very powerful stream of water wells up with great force— it apparently having a subterranean passage. The cavern at this spot is described as being thirty feet wide. At this spot were discovered the bodies of eighty-seven Maoris, all being in a perfect state of preservation, in fact, petrified into stone, even their mats having under- gone the same process. The parties who placed these bodies there must have evidently been aware of the properties of the dripping water. There is a native settlement close by the spot, and some very old natives live there, but they have no knowledge of the existence of the cavern, but said they have a tradition of a very powerful king having his head- quarters at their settlement, viz., Karuni. Mr. Todd, when he discovered the stone, had an idea that it had reference to the burial-place of some great chief. — Communicated by Dr. L. Lindsay.
Jan. 1, 1870.]
HABDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
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BOTANY.
Trees.— Amongst the trees of the wood there is a vast variety ; the sturdy oak, the flexile willow, the solid maple, the graceful ash, the terraced cedar, with cones upraising through each grassy-looking lawn of tender leafery ; the larch, in lieu of bells hanging its scarlet blossoms from every pointed arch of its green pagoda ; the stiff stout holly, disdainful of the breeze ; the fidgety aspen, all in a flutter at the faintest sigh ; the spacious chestnut, enclasping the glebe in its bountiful branches ; the strict, solemn cypress, with every oppressed twiglet point- ing straight up to heaven. As with the form, so with the bark or the timber : the ebony sinking like stone, the cork on the crest of the billow ; the elder so soft and spongy, the box in its firm structure retentive of the finest engraving; the homely deal, the thyme-veneer emulating the spots of the panther, or the plumes of the peacock, — beautiful some, but useful all, and not to be interchanged with advan- tage. An aspen bow would be no better than a yew-tree lance ; you do not choose the fir for the prince's table ; and even England's oak would make a sorry mast for " some great ammiral." — Br. James Hamilton's " Pearl of Parables," p. 154.
" Symphytum tuberosum," p. 13S. — This habitat has been copied into the " additions, &c.," to the admirable Middlesex Mora, p. 425, without com- ment. Now, the plant is well known to occur in the neighbouring county of Herts, and I myself found it (May, 1867) in the narrow strip of Herts which is figured in the Flora map with East Barnet for its centre. Is the vicinity of this spot the one intended by Mr. White ? It would come within his descrip- tion of a few miles north of London.— li. T. M. A.
Saxifraga hyfnoides.— Is it common to find Saxifraga lnjpnoid.es flowering a second time in the same year ? So far as this locality is concerned, I can answer that such second inflorescence is of very rare occurrence. I have never observed it until 1 he present season, when I fouud this species flowering abundantly in November on our Black Mountain. I gathered some specimens ; the flowers were large and fine, but invariably sessile, seated iu the midst of a rosette of three-lobed leaves. Our winter so far has not been unusually mild, but rather the reverse. — S. A. S., Belfast.
Curious Form op the Common Beed. — Southerness is a small headland situated in Kirkcud- brightshire, on the shores of the Solway. As its name imports, it is the most southerly point in that part of North Britain. In its neighbourhood are many objects worthy the attention of the geologist and botanist. The granite, the carboniferous lime- stone, and some of the Silurian beds are strangely intermixed, contorted, and upheaved. Many fossils may be picked up, and whole beds of corals seen.
For the botanist there is the very rare plant, Epimedium alpinum (barren wort), growing most luxuriantly in the grounds of Arbigland, seemingly quite wild, but no doubt planted at some time. But my intention is not to speak of the general botany of the district, but to mention a peculiar state of one particular plant. Walking along the sea-shore one day I came upon several specimens of the common reed (Arundo phragmites) lying quite prostrate or ereeping along the ground. Not expecting that this was ever its natural state, I endeavoured to account for it by supposing that some unusually high tide had overflowed it, and that, breaking it down, it had not regained its upright position. It seems, how- ever that the stems do sometimes grow naturally in this prostrate state. Sowerby, in his "British Grasses," says, "sometimes, though rarely." In the " Phytologist," old series, vol. i., p. 146, it is stated that this form occurs on some of the land- slips in the Isle of Wight. It seems to have been first noticed by Bay, in his " Synopsis," in which he speaks of " Gramen arundinaceum, 30 pedes longuiu." This does seem a monstrosity, but the truth is even stranger than this, for some specimens have since been found at the same place fifty feet long. The Southerness plants were certainly not equal to these— very little longer than the common upright ones, but they had the same peculiarity, though lying along the ground, of not rooting at the joints, and of making no attempt at flowering. Perhaps some of the readers of Science-Gossip may have observed this state of the plant in other localities. I only wish to record Southerness as a place where it may be found. — 11. IF.
A Quaint Name. — Most people who have had anything to do with the Canadian blood-root {Sanguinaria Canadensis) must be aware of the dark red blood-like juice of the bruised or broken roots. On receiving a list of plants the other day, this plant was called " the bleeding nun," which, though very fanciful, is certainly indicative of the peculiarities of the plant, and one where the reason for the name is apparent. Perhaps it is generally known, that this juice, or blood, is highly charged with raphides. — Thomas Williams, Bath Lodge, Ormskirk.
Potentilla eruticosa.— As this plant is con- sidered " rare," perhaps I may be allowed to men- tion an unrecorded station for it. Some years ago, I detected it sparingly on limestone rocks, about one hundred yards due east of Wether Kellet Church, about eight .miles beyond Lancaster, having been acquainted with this plant as a shrubbery plant for many years. It was by the merest chance it was recognized, so great was the disparity between the wild plant and the cultivated one. On the lime- stone crags overlooking the village of Kellet, may be found the beautiful Ophrys muscifera. — Thomas Williams.
20
IIARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
[Jan. 1, 1870.
MICROSCOPY.
Vulcanite Cells. — Your correspondent has omitted to notice the Vulcanite Cells which are now used by many microscopists in preference to any other form of cell. They are fastened to the slide by marine glue, and are perfectly free from leakage. They can be obtained of any thickness from Mr. S. A. Pumphrey, 21, Paradise-street, Birming- ham, who sends 100 assorted to any address for thirteen stamps. — R. H. Moore.
Adaptation of Microscope.— Eor applying the microscope to the examination of objects, contained in aquaria, or too large to be placed upon the stage of the instrument, I have lately adopted a simple piece of apparatus, which was constructed for me by Mr. Crouch, of London Wall, at my suggestion. It merely consists of a metal plug, threaded to screw into the horizontal arm in place of the body, and supporting, at right angles to itself, a tube lined with cloth just large enough for the body to slide in. The coarse adjustment rackwork affords a means of varying the height within certain limits, and the body slides easily enough in the tube for focussing. If the direction of the latter be reversed (i.e., so that the eye-piece end projects over the stage) the instrument may be inclined at any angle over large objects laid on the table. Special forms of microscopes for aquaria have been devised, and any one who can afford to purchase them will scarcely regret the outlay — and in many patterns of students' and educational instruments the hori- zontal bar has been superseded by improved arrangements ; but there may be some persons to whom this hint, how to increase the employment of the microscopes they possess, at a trifling cost, may not prove unacceptable. It is hardly necessary to add that this contrivance answers best with the lower powers. — William C. Atkinson.
" Pseudogonidia."— Some days ago, while ex- amining certain freshwater algae under the micro- scope, I observed a rather curious phenomenon, which I wish to record in the pages of this magazine. I found among the filaments of the Vaucheria ir- regular green granular masses, often (micro- scopically speaking) of large size. The granules of which they were composed exhibited active motion, which may have been merely "molecular," but which, was accompanied by the protrusion of portions of the mass in a manner which I suppose would be called "amoeboid." At first it struck me that it might be amoeba itself, but a closer ex- amination quite dispelled that idea. I soon con- vinced myself that these bodies were portions of the endochrome of the Vaucheria escaped from the cell. It appeared that some of them (doubtless those which had escaped longest) had secreted a mem-
brane around themselves. This seemed to [put a stop to the motion, though I once saw a flowing movement of the granules after its appearance. I several times saw similar round bodies (I think without a membrane) still within the parent cell. I feel no doubt that these bodies are the same as the " pseudogonidia " described by Naegeli ("vegetable cells," Royal Society, '45, '49), and others in Bryopsis, etc. ; but I never remember to have seen any motion in these mentioned. I think it worth recording, as it is singular that the cell-contents should be perfectly motionless in their natural position, but begin to move immediately on be- coming free. — Dukinfield H.Scott, Rooks Nest, God- stone.
Microscopical Manipulation. — We learn with pleasure that Mr. W. T. Suffolk offers to repeat his lectures on this subject to a class, from members of the Quekett Microscopical Club, at the commence- ment of the year. We hope that all who are desirous of joining such a class will at once com- municate with the Secretary of the Club, so that Mr. Suffolk may have a full attendance when he commences.
Monthly Microscopical Journal. — This journal has just completed its second volume of three hundred and forty pages and contains a mass of microscopical information ; lists of new books published at home and abroad ; notes of the most recent observations, improvements, and inventions ; papers on the stirring topics of the day with which the microscope is associated ; reports of the meetings of microscopical societies, and altogether forms a thorough digest of all microscopical matters during the six months, and certainly at a most reasonable price. Those of our readers who may not already have tested its value should do so at once.
Cheap Eoreign Objectives. — It is alleged that a young optician named Gundlach, of Berlin, has succeeded in making object-glasses which are cheaper and more powerful than those of Hartnack and other opticians. His No. 7 is better than Hart- nack's No. 9 or No. 10, at less than half the price of the No. 9. It has higher magnifying power, more light, and greater focal distance. Max Schultze says that Gundlach's No. 8 is better than Hartnack's No. 14, and is only a third of the price.— Monthly Microscopical Journal.
Plumules of Lepidoptera.— Mr. John Watson's " further remarks on the plumules or battledore- scales of some of the lepidoptera " appeared in the Monthly Microscopical Journal for December, illus- trated by three plates with figures of the plumules of seventeen species.
Jan. 1, 1S70.]
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
21
NOTES AND QUERIES.
Admiral or Admirable.— In your answer to your correspondent " M. M. S." on the meaning of the word admiral, I would say that if he refers to the "[Penny Cyclopaedia " he will find that " it is a corruption of the Arabic amir or emir, a lord or chief, the ' aV being only the definite article the. Eutychus, Patriarch of Alexandria in the 10th century, calls the Caliph Omar Amirol Mumenim, which he translates Tmperator Fidelium (Commander of the Faithful). Milton writes—
' The mast Of some great ammiral.'
'The Prench write antral — Italians, ammiraglio- The 'd' seems to have got into the English word from a notion that admiial was an abridgment of admirable. The Latin writers^ of the middle ages sometimes, apparently from this conceit, style the commmander of a fleet admirabilis and admiratus." — C. S. B. Q., Eaglesbush, Neath.
Potatoes. — In Goldsmith's " Citizen of the World," letter cxxiii., the Chinaman, Honan, writes, "Prom Pangrace (Pancras) to Kentish Town, the road lies through afine champaign country, well watered with beautiful drains, and enamelled with flowers of all kinds." Subsequently he says, "Per- ceiving night approach, I made a hasty repast on roasted mutton and a certain dried fruit called pota- toes." Can any of the readers of Science-Gossip furnish additional information respecting the prepa- ration of this dried fruit ? — R. T., M.A.
"Hoddy-doddy" (vol. iv., pp. 140 and 164). — Wright's " Dictionary of Obsolete Provincial Eng- lish " (Bonn's series) gives the following : — Doddy, small, East ; Doddy-pate, blockhead^ hoddy-doddy, hoddy-pette, hoddy-poule, a weak, foolish fellow; and again, hoddy-doddy (1) sub., a revolving light, Devon; (2) adj., disproportionably stout. This is all the information 1 nave been able to extract from dictionaries. Possibly doddy may be connected with dowdy, and hoddy with hode, i.e. hood. There is a good passage in Latimer's Seven Sermons, before Edward VI. (p. 84, Arber's Reprint), " What, ye brainsycke fooles, ye hoddy-peckes, ye doddye- poulles, ye huddes, do ye beleve hym ? are you seduced also ? " I may remark that the epithet I have heard bestowed upon the snail is "Horny dorney," and a similar doggerel to that given with "hoddy-doddy" tacked on, which has escaped my memory.— R. T., M.J.
The Sacrificial StoiNE.— The habit of black- birds and thrushes resorting to a good-sized stone to crack the shells of snails upon, has often appeared to me noteworthy and interesting : a fact, though perhaps well known to naturalists and dwellers in the country, may be new and curious to town-folks. Many a time, by a hedge-side or a retired nook in a green lane, have I heard the tap, tap, of the operators at work, and, on walking up to the anvil of this hammering, have been surprised to see the number of broken pieces of shattered shells that lay scattered about it ! Surely this act of the birds partakes more of reason than instinct, suggesting the question, Could we do more ?— W. B., Fowey.
An Odd Place for a Humble -Bee's Nest. — Our country butcher being for a long time annoyed in his shop with humble-bees, was at a loss to find
out where they all came from. His shop is a wooden erection, having a broad running beam at the top of the wall to support the roof. The windows are open in summer and the aperture covered with hexagon wire netting. On carefully searching the premises, he discovered on the top of this beam, at the foot of a rafter, a thriving colony of humble-bees, snugly ensconced among the wool in a sheep's tail which he had cut off and thrown there some time in the spring. At my request the butcher promised to preserve it, but Unfortunately when I next went to see it, I learned that some rats had found it out and destroyed \t.—R. D. Cruden.
Otter in Oxfordshire.— I again copy a para- graph from the Oxford Chronicle of to-day : — " A fine male otter was captured on Tuesday night in the stream at the bottom of the Earl of Abingdon's wood, near Wytham. Length from tip of nose to extremity of tail, four feet two inches, and weighed nearly twenty-three pounds. Otters are now very rare in this neighbourhood." — Henry Ward.
"Bees Deserting." — In answer to your corre- spondent, Mr. William Balchin, I wish to state that I have had this year a second swarm of bees that returned to the old stock after having had posses- sion of a hive twenty-one days, and making four nice combs, six or eight inches diameter. I may also add that the second swarm appeared sixteen days after the first one, which is very unusual, as they generally leave about the ninth day. — E. Seville.
Ligurian Bees.— In reference to the interesting may state (as an old bee-keeper), that if the remarks of " W. A. E." in your December number, I Ligurian bees "provide themselves better," it follows as a matter of course that they produce more honey for the bee-master. It has been well said that " the Ligurian bees collect four times as much honey as they require for their winter's consumption, thus giving as it were three-fourths of their labour to their landlord for the rent of their habitation." It is, I believe, generally admitted that Ligurian bees are more prolific, send out more labourers into the field (which is of great importance, considering the short honey season we enjoy in this country), and they are able to fill supers in much less time than our common black bee. " W. A. E." states his Ligurian swarm was put into the hive on the " 2nd of June," and that they " increased most rapidly," but he does not favour us with the date when he admitted the bees to the five glass supers, or when they were taken away. Neither does he give the date when he " added a box which was filled immediately with bees." Dates are of much importance in such matters. When I resided in Suffolk I found it use- less to allow supers to remain on the hive after the 10th of July, but I find the bees will work a month later in Kent. It should also be taken into con- sideration that the season just past has generally been very unfavourable for honey- getting, — the worst I have ever known since I860, — that even my Ligurian bees (of which I have upwards of twenty stocks) have failed to provide a sufficiency for them- selves without a large amount of artificial feeding. — Kentish Bee-keeper.
To Preserve Crustacea.— I shall feel obliged to any one for information as to the best method of preserving and mounting Crustacea, especially the stalk-eyed, for the cabinet, or where I shall find the necessary instructions. — W. S.
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HARDTVICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
[Jan. 1, 1S70.
"The Animal Would."— We heartily commend the reasons which prompted the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to start this little journal, which they designate "The Animal World." The Illustrations are good, and the matter keeps the main object in view. Any mode of incul- cating better relations between man and the lower animals always enlists our sympathy, and we believe, also, that of our readers.
Diatoms to the Rescue.— A brother "diato- maniac " has called my attention to some strictures copied from Scientific Opinion, and reiterated by " MacLeod, of Skye." Before making any attempt to excuse ourselves for studying these singular forms (relations of his favourite micro-fungi) may I be permitted to ask " MacLeod, of Skye," to explain his second paragraph. I cannot understand how the possession of a rare object can be a miserly or selfish passion ; perhaps he will favour the readers of Science-Gossip with a figure of a selfish passion. If any reader of this possesses a rave object— be it a picture by Raphael, a book by Caxton, a silver penny of Alfred, a British specimen of Lycoena dispar, or, still worse, one of Dr. Greville's rare forms of Diatomacefe, let him at once destroy it — it is unworthy the lowest intellect. I am also at a loss to understand how the second sentence in the same paragraph, viz., "Nature works for the benefit of the whole human race (? only"), and showers her benefits upon all." How then is a rare object a selfish passion ? or how is a selfish passion a benefit ? But perhaps if I give up diatoms and study micro- fungi, or, better still, read " my paper " on " Vacci- nation versus Nature," I shall be able to compre- hend these mysteries. " MacLeod, of Skye," leads us to infer that the micro-fungi are the causes of disease. This is more than doubtful. Fungoid growths are much more likely to be the effects rather than the causes of disease ; whenever de- comoosition takes place the lower forms of vegetable life soon appear, thus utilizing what would other- wise be waste and noxious matter. There is a universal tendency to decay in all organized matter, that is to say, constant endeavour of the component atoms to assume new forms ; this is only prevented by vital force, and when vitality is weakened by age, sickness, or want of nourishment, decay gets the mastery, and a favourable soil is developed for the growth of parasitic fungi. I saw a few years since, I think in a paper by a German physician, a state- ment that Talmella cruenta was the cause of ague, and that where it was plentiful ague was prevalent. The writer seems to have forgotten that P. cruenta only grew in damp situations, and the conditions favourable to its growth were also favourable to the development of ague ; therefore, with all due respect to "MacLeod, of Skye," I do not think that the study of micro-fungi in place of diatomacese will much alleviate the pangs of " suffering humanity." Tiie mere collector of diatoms or any other objects of natural history is not much more worthy the name of naturalist than a postage-stamp collector is, but surely those singular forms of plant- life known as Diatomacese are as much worthy of study as any other class of minute animal or vege- table life. 1 can assure "MacLeod, of Skye" and others that the life-history of a diatom is as full of interest and as marvellous as that of a fungus or the hair of a plant. If they imagine that the student of diatoms occupies all his time in the resolution of striae they are much mistaken; it is desirable 1o be able to ascertain the character of the markings,
as they sometimes indicate the affinities of species, but when once understood he does not think it necessary to make a show object of them. One word in conclusion, — by all means let " MacLeod, of Skye" pursue his favourite studies, and give the readers of Science-Gossip the benefit of them, and leave off abusing others who may pursue a different, branch of natural history, is the humble advice of Kitton, of Norwich.
Butterflies at Sap. — I have often noticed the great attraction that any exuding of sap has for Atalanta, very especially on oaks. I have seen no the most unattractive slime of decaying wood a thick cluster of Atalanta eagerly sucking the juice, and so forgetful of danger that I could easily take them, off by hand. Flies aud earwigs accompany them and moths at night, but I do not remember ever to have seen any other butterfly attracted, not even of the Vanessidce. — W. D. R.
Cranesbills. — I am afraid Mrs." Watney has been exercising her imagination again, when she says that the styles of Geranium "act like a screw in fixinsr the seed into some chink or crevice where it may happen to rest." My own experience shows that in the genus Geranium, when the seed is ripe, the pericarp splits along its inner ed°:e, and presently the style (becoming dry and hard by the action of the sun) is suddenly recurved with a force sufficient to jerk the seed out of its pericarp ; but the style itself, with the empty pericarp, remains, attached by its apex to the top of the central column ; consequently Mrs. Watney's idea must be incorrect. In Erodium and Pelargonium the case is very different. In these genera, the carpel becomes whollv detached from the axis, and also becomes spirally twisted, the seed being still closely retained by the pericarp; the style, too, is beautifully bearded on its inner side with long silky hairs; these are at first closely adpressed, but when the style is spirally twisted, they (as a natural conse- quence) stand out in all directions. I believe (though I cannot say for certain) that these hairs serve the same purpose as the pappus of Composites, causing the seeds to be dispersed by the wind. This I conceive to be the real object for which the styles are so curiously twisted, namely to make the said hairs available for the useful purpose for which they are intended. The idea is made more probable by the fact that in Geraniuml(wherethe seeds are sown in a very different manner, as already explained) the hairs are absent, the styles being glabrous internally. Your correspondent, T. Williams, has given another reason for the twisting of the carpels, affirming that they "twist themselves into the soil." I have no reason to doubt this statement, but cannot confirm it, as I have carefully watched seeds laid on earth for several days wiihout any result; but perlnps a longer time would be necessary. I mean, however, to renew my experiments next season in hopes of arriving at the truth. — F. Eoershed, Shere, near Guildford.
Dean Buckland's Geology. — Whether or not we believe that the Bridgewater Treatises have done their work, and should be allowed to rest, is beyond the question in this instance, and wc accept the publication of a fourth edition of the Dean's Geological Treatise with gratitude and respect These two volumes of Bohn's Scientific Library, now published by Bell & Daldy, are edited by that energetic and irrepressible naturalist, the Dean's son, Mr. Frank Buckland, and wc doubt not will
Jan. 1, 1870.]
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
23
find in their present form many new readers. The first volume contains the letter-press, and the second the atlas of plates. Enough has already been written of the respective merits ot these 'treatises, and we doubt whether any one ot them deserves to be better known than that which we now commend to the notice of our readers. The full title is—" Geology and Mineralogy, as exhibiting the Power, Wisdom, and Goodness of God, by the Very Rev. W. Buckland, D.D., E.R.S. ; with addi- tions bv Professor Owen, Professor Phillips, and Robert Hunt. Fourth edition, edited by Francis 1. Buckland, M.A. In 2 vols. London : Bell & Daldy. 1869."
Ribs of the Dun Cow. — It would be interesting to ascertain how many of these so-called ribs exist, and also what led to their being placed in churches. There is one in the fine old church of Chesterfield, in this county, so famous for its crooked or leaning spire : there' is I believe one or more at Warwick. It is singular that these, as well as St. Mary's, Bristol, are all connected by tradition with the fabulous story of Guy of Warwick. The rib above named is in the Eoljambe chapel, and is placed near to the effigy of an unknown knight, whose marble figure is represented in a suit of armour in the attitude of prayer; he is kneeling on a richly em- broidered cushion, and resting on the altar tomb on which he is placed is the large bone ; it measures on the outside 7 feet 4 inches, and is from 12 to 13 inches iu circumference. Local tradition has given the name of Guy, Earl of Warwick, to the knight. The man who took me through the church said, this is Guy who slew the Dun Cow, it was during a period of great scarcity, and the flesh ot the cow was eaten by the people who would otherwise have perished iu the famine. Another legend is, that the cow had been driven mad by the over- milking of a witch, and was killed by Guy, and its bones sent to various places as a memento of his victory. These bones are thought by some to be those of small or young whales, or of some other marine animal ; and this idea is favoured by that at Chesterfield having the name of Thomas Fletcher deeply cut into it in old English characters, from which it is inferred that he placed it in the church. This would be about the year 1G50, when the in- fluential family of Eoljambe having all passed away, they were succeeded by one having the above name; and being wealthy, one of them would no doubt have travelled, and he may have brought this bone as one of his trophies, perhaps the others may be accounted for in the same way. I have no doubt a satisfactory solution will be found for the difficulty by some of your readers, who may also be able to state how it was that the story of Guy of Warwick came to be associated with the bones. Whales' bones were formerly much thought of in country places, and are very often seen set up in gardens or forming an entrance arch to some well-to-do village-house or farmyard.— 67. B.
St. Mart's Redcliff, Bristol. — Your corre- spondent, " H. N.," describes a large bone which he saw placed on the capital of one of the pillars of this grand old church, and he mentions a tradition which be was informed was attached to it, viz., that the bone was said to be the rib of a dun cow which supplied the city of Bristol with milk. I never heard this account of the relic, but in 1834, when I offi- ciated as organist at Redcliff church, I of course often saw this " old bone," and very near it was
suspended a dirty-looking picture, representing a fierce-looking dun cow. The tradition which at that time was narrated to visitors by the sexton of the church, stated the bone to have been " one of the ribs of the famous dun cow which was slain by Guy, Earl of Wawick, and that the picture close by it represented the terrible animal." I had not been inside the time-honoured pile from the year 1836 until about three years ago, when, in passing through Bristol I paid a brief visit to the scene of my first agreeable labours as organist, and there I found the "old bone" just where I first saw it in 1834. I have been informed that a similar bone is preserved in Warwick Castle, and the same tradition is attached to it. Visitors there are also shown a wonderful cup which holds several gallons, the custodian gravely informing the public that "Guy, Earl of Warwick, emptied this cup every morning at his breakfast."— W. II. Grattcam, Exmouth.
Preserving Fossils.— Will any of your readers inform me what is the best process to employ for preserving fossils ? I procured many very good specimens of leaves from the cliffs at Bournemouth a few months ago, and I wish to preserve them, as they are in such very good condition. — S. J. B., Moseley, Birmingham.
The Cat.— The interesting papers that appeared lately referring to the cat have led me to send you a few remarks on this animal. The most interesting of my experiments are those connected with elec- tricity. When I have taken the usual means of ascertaining its presence I have frequently not at- tained to the desired result, while on other occasions a result which may be classed among modifications of the 2nd class of ordinary disruptive discharges has beenreached. The first owing to the cats being old ; the second, because members of the family Felidce are, like all electric bodies, much influenced by the weather— a sharp frosty day finding them highly productive, while in wet or damp the reverse is the case, which of course would influence the first instance also. No animal is capable of distin- guishing with greater acuteness between friends and foes than a cat. I say this advisedly, not even excepting dogs. A cat will often understand words alone with marked keenness. The principal com- plaints from which puss suffers manifest themselves by 1st, listlessuess, a rough coat, and sometimes sullemiess ; 2nd, holding one ear depressed (which, however, is common to the first and third classes), thirst, want of appetite, and increased roughness of coat ; 3rd, sickness, running at the eyes and nose. These are among the most common complaints, all of which puss and nature can better remedy than we can. The extreme shyness of this little creature's disposition, for it often appears more at home than it is, makes it difficult to teach it such tricks as many dogs learn, though many cats will " shake hands " at pleasure. One of mine is in the habit of leaping on to my shoulder at dinner, and at first used to waylay morsels on their transit to my mouth, but as even I, although she met with great indul- gence as a rule, objected to this, puss now waits serenely in this position for her turn. — W. H. S. Beaufort, B.A.
Aciiyla prolifera. — It will take some little time to prepare a bibliography of this plant and its allies, but we will endeavour to furnish our querist with one shortly. The most complete recent con- tribul ion on the subject appeared in Pringsheim's Jahruiicher—we think by Dr. de Bary.
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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
[Jan. 1, 1S70.
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 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 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 of our readers, besides the querist, are likely to he 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 scientificnames, 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. Address No. 192, Piccadilly, London, W.
J. M. — Entirely foreign to our " Exchange" column, and can only be inserted as an advertisement.
R. T. A. — Probably there has been some mistake, and " Hereford " may have been read for " Hertford"— illegible writing therefore incurs the blame. This would exonerate " R. T. A." from any wilful attempt to mislead us or our corre- spondents ; still, if we insert " exchanges " gratuitously, we claim the right to exercise supervision. In the conviction that carelessness on the part of some one led to the insertion of the notice in our last issue, we exonerate " R. T. A." from any charge of unfairness, and can only hope that he will accept our expression of regret that any suspicion should have attached to him.
B. T.— We cannot, under any circumstances, insert books or requisitions for books in the "Exchange" column. Apply to Mr. Wheldon, Bookseller, Great Queen Street, W.C.
A. I. — It was probably the young of the black variety of the adder. We could not determine from rough description.
J. W. — One is the " Mealy Guelder Rose," and the other the common " Cornel," but no numbers were attached.
F. G. might generally obtain what he wants in that line by sending a stamped envelope to the Editor of Science- Gossip.
Caligraphv. — If our correspondents will not take the trouble to write their " Exchange" notices distinctly and legibly, especially names and addresses, we cannot insert them.
F. Wr. Marrat, 32, Empire Street, West Derby Road, Liverpool, and not Kensington, as previously given in Ex- change column.
W. E. P. — We do not see that your note adds any informa- tion on either word, and is merely curious.
J. H. M. — Only by exchange. Consult our Exchange notices, as " sections of wood " were lately offered.
A. J. — Too long to insert entire, as you will see by a refer- ence to past numbers and notices.
R. L.— Every entomologist knows that Ganepteryx rhamni appears erratically in all sorts of wintry weather.
Name Labels, W. F. H. — Our readers will observe the advertisement in the December number of your printed name labels for slides.
C. B. R. will find an advertisement of the " Birds of Somer- setshire " in the last number of Science-Gossip, at p. cliii. " The Birds of Sherwood Forest," by W. J. Sterland (Reeve).
W. G. M. — For mounting crystals see Science-Gossip for 1SG6, pp. 19, 33, 135. For cutting Echinus spines see " Davies on Mounting," pp. 99.
G. B. — We insert no notices of exchanges in which books are included.
Erratum. — At page 273 of our last number, top of second column ; 600 is printed instead of 60.
R. D. may obtain " Ligurian Bees " from Mr. Pettitt of Dover.
E. M. H. is too late, being a " day after the fair."
J. C. G. — We know of no such a book.
A. P. — Eighteen-pence (Van Voorst).
J. C. D. — The fern is Asplenium adiantum-nigrum.
W. L. W. E. — At present uncertain. The Hepaticce are in preparation, and will follow the flowering plants. It depends very much on the success of this, whether the mosses are also published.
EXCHANGES.
British Birds' Eccs, and Land and Fresh-water Shells, in exchange for others.— W. S. Willes, 31, Charlotte Street, Aberdeen.
Cyclas ovalis. — Send box and postage, or other shells to F. R. Stephenson, Salterheble, Halifax.
Rare British Mosses.— Exchange lists with A. Jerdon, Highfield, Melrose, N.B.
L. Dispar. — Eggs by sending box and postage stamps to J. Purdue, Ridgeway, Plympton, Devon.
Birds' Feathers, Sections of Vegetable Ivory (mounted) for other good mounted objects.— Capt. Cox, 152, Holland Road, Kensington, W.
Hairs of Mole.— Fiji, native cloth, leaves of Araucaria imbricata. Send stamp and directed envelope to Isaac Wheatley, Mailing Street, Lewes (any microscopic object ac- ceptable).
Injections, for Coleoptera, or other good mounted objects of interest.— G. C. Gowan, 20, Beauchamp Square, Lea- mington.
Erythr.^a pulchella, tittoralis, latifolia, and Scirpus holoschwnus, for other rare British Plants. — H. S. Fisher, 17, Hemans Street, Toxteth Park, Liverpool.
Fossils from the Coal, Mountain Limestone, Muschelkalk, and Lithographic Slate, for Devonian, Permian, Gault, or Greensand Fossils.— F. T. Mott, 1, De Monttord Street, Leicester.
Rhopalocera offered for other Butterflies or Moths.— A. T. Michell, Magdalen Hall, Oxford.
Twbnty-eive Species of British Birds' Eggs, two speci- mens each, for good British Shells.— H. J. Palethorpe, 32, Milton Place, Halifax.
BOOKS RECEIVED.
" The Development of the Idea of Chemical Composition," by Alexander Crum Brown, M.D., D.Sc. Edinburgh. Ed- monston & Douglas.
"Scientific Opinion." Part XIII. December, 1 869. London: WTyman & Sons.
" Geology and Mineralogy, asexhibitingthe Power, Wisdom, and Goodness of God," by the Very Rev. W. Buckland, D.D., F.R.S. 4th edition, edited by Francis T. Buckland, M. A. In two vols. London : Bell & Daldy.
"The Chemical News." Nos. 520, 521.
" The Academy." No. 2, November 13, I869.
" Land and Water." Nos. 201, 202, 203, 204, 205.
"The Monthly Microscopical Journal." No. 11. December, I8G9. London: Robert Hard wicke.
"Le Naturaliste Canadien." No. 12. November, I869.
" The Canadian Entomologist." Vol. II. No. 3.
"The American Entomologist." Vol.11. No. 2. Novem- ber, 1869.
"The Dental Register." November, I869. Cincinnati: Wrightson & Co.
"The American Naturalist." December, I869. Salem: Pe abody Academy of Science.
Communications Received.— A. I.— Dr. P.— F. W. M. — A h — W. S. W.— T. G— F. E.— B. T.— H. E. W— W. H. G. —J H. M.— A. J.— R. W.— W. W. S. B.— W. H— J. R. S. C — R L.— W. E. P.— W. P.— J. A.— R. H. M.— W. G. M.— C B. R.— D.H.S.-S. A. S.-W. S.— W. H. S.— W. F. H.— W C. A.-E. S.-C. S. B. G.— R. T.-H. W.— E. H.-S. J. B. — W A V — R. D. C.-G. B.— G. C. G.— R. T. M. A.-J.M. —J 'c D.— J. C. G.— J. V.— T. W.— J. S— T. S.-G. B.— W L L.— E. M. H.-F. J. W.— W. J. P.— I. W.— W. B. F.— H ' W. C— J. P.-E. H.— W. L. W. E.— W. F. H.— H. 8. F.— A. T. M.-R. H. M.-J. M.-H. J. P.-F. T. M.-J. S.
Peb. 1, 1870.1
HARDWICKE'S SCIEN C E-GOSSIP.
25
THE VOLCANO-FISH.
By the Rev. W. W. SPICER, M.A.
jRGES is the name given to a genus of fishes be- longing to the family of the iSih/roids, nearly related to Pimelodes of Lacepede, but se- parated on account of the structure of the teeth. Of this genus but two species are known, — one found in the fresh waters of the Mission of Santa Anna, in Upper Peru, where it lives the ordinary piscine life under the name of Sabalo ; the other, known as Pregnadilla, is the subject of the present notice.
Iu the year 1S03, A. von Humboldt was fortunate enough to witness an eruption of Monte Cotopaxi, a well-known peak in the Northern Andes ; during which, among other products, a large quantity of fish was ejected. The inquiries immediately instituted, and the investigations of more recent travellers, have brought to light the astounding fact, that from time to time, though at irregular periods, fishes are cast up from the interior of the mountain during volcanic eruptions. This phe- nomenon is not confined to Cotopaxi ; it has been observed also in other centres of volcanic action— to wit, Tungurahua, Sungay, Imbaburu, Cargueirago, &c, all of them in the same range. Prom the craters of these volcanoes, or from fissures in their sides, it is an ascertained fact that fish are vomited forth at an height of some 16,000 feet above the level of the sea, and about half that height above the surrounding plains. The animals all belong to a single species, the Arges Cyclopum, as it has been well named. Nor is it a mere chance fish or two that finds its way to the outer world through this No. 62.
strange opening. They are ejected in such count- less shoals that, on more than one occasion, the fetid exhalations proceeding from their putrid bodies have spread disease and death over the neighbouring regions. Such was the case in 1691, when the volcano of Imbaburu vomited myriads of these fish over the town of Ibara and its environs : on this occasion pestilential fevers desolated the neighbourhood. The same occurred when the sum- mit of the volcano of Cargueirago fell in (June 10, 1698), and millions of Pregnadillas were thrown out of the sides of the mountain, mingled with mud and clay. At a later period the lands of a certain Mar- quis de Salvalegoe were completely covered with these fish, the infectious odour from whose decaying bodies poisoned the surrounding country.
As far as the external world is concerned, Arges Cyclopum is known to exist in some lakes on the sides of these mountains 8,000 to 10,000 feet above the sea-level. It is presumable that these lakes communicate with reservoirs in the interior, where the Pregnadillas are generated, and thus find their way through the crater. But this is mere con- jecture. Nor, after all, does it help much towards removing the difficulties by which the phenomenon is surrounded. If these supposed lakes do exist in the interior of the mountain, how strange must be their situation, which allows of fish living in them at an ordinary temperature, and yet places these same fish exactly " in the line of fire " when the contents of this huge earth-stomach are discharged by the crater's mouth !
If the internal lakes do not exist, whence come the myriads of fish which are ever and anon ejected ?
Not the least curious part of the affair is, that though some of the fish reach terra firma in a half- boiled condition, most of them are perfectly raw, and not a few are even alive, in spite of the fiery ordeal through which they have had to pass..
Havre.
26
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
[Feb. 1, 1S70.
PIGMY CRUSTACEANS.
THERE are two small species of the curious family of Pycnogonidse, which I find iu toler- able abundance on this coast, and as they belong to a class of creatures to which very little attention appears to be paid by microscopists generally, I pro- pose to jot down a few particulars which I have been able to glean respecting them, in the hope that they may interest some of the readers of Science- Gossip, and possibly induce some other seaside naturalists to look up the anatomy and life-history of this obscure but very singular group of crusta- ceans.
The information to be obtained from books re- specting the natural history of the Pycnogonida; is, so far as my experience goes, very limited. Most popular writers either pass them over without notice, or are content with a very casual mention of them, and I have not yet been able to learn that there is any full and exhaustive account of them extant. The best account of their anatomy which I know of is that contained in Dr. Carpenter's " Microscope and its Revelations," 4th edit., pp. 636-638.
Cuvier classed the Pycnogons among the Tra- chearian arachniclce , the order to which the mites, ticks, and chelifers belong — a classification which is, I believe, now admitted by the best authorities to be erroneous. They are considered to be true crustaceans, but exhibit a singular degradation of type, the digestive and circulatory organs being re- duced to a very rudimentary form.
The two species which are the subject of the present paper are the Achelia Mspidata and Pallene pygmcea of Hodge. They both inhabit rock-pools, between tide-marks, and seem espe- cially to affect the bushy tufts of Corallina officinalis, which are the favourite haunts of so many forms of microscopic life. A pickle-bottle full of this weed brought home for examination at leisure, has generally rewarded me, on careful search, with a score or more of specimens, which, on being placed in a tumbler of sea-water, with a few fronds of coralline, soon make themselves' at home, and may be kept alive and healthy for months with very little trouble. Eor microscopic purposes I find them improve by keeping, as they get rid of the coating of diatoms and other extraneous matters which, when freshly caught, frequently obscures the satisfactory view of their internal arrangements.
I have before me, in the zoophyte trough, while writing, a group of some half-dozen individuals cf the two species named. With a two-inch objective and the dark-field illumination, a very good idea of their general form and structure may be obtained. At first sight they might almost be taken for dimi- nutive specimens of some of the long-legged spider- crabs, Inachus or Stenorhynchus, to which genera,
in 'their" sprawling' gait and gaunt skeleton-like aspect, they bear not a Little resemblance. They sprawl leisurely over the weed, to which they cling very tenaciously by means of their powerful hooked claws; and when, as is often the case, two or three individuals come into contact, the long legs get mixed up into a state of most admirable confusion. Two or three of the specimens before me have attached to the under side of the thorax one or two roundish masses of spawn. These are carried in a sort of loop formed by a pair of false feet, with which the females are provided, but which are entirely wanting in the males. The spawn is carried until hatched, after which the larvse appear to reside on the body of the parent for some time, probably until washed off, and compelled to shift for themselves. The newly-hatched young (fig. 33)
Fig. 33. Larva of Achelia at birth, x 160.
are curious, active little creatures ; they are fur- nished with four bristle feet and a very formidable- looking pair of chela?, which they use with consider- able energy.
It is not uncommon to find females loaded with spawn and young at the same time, and a very curious sight it is, reminding one of the prostrate Gulliver with the citizens of Lilliput climbing over his body. I have not yet been able to trace the development of the larvse beyond the next stage of their career, I presume after undergoing their first moult. In this state they present the appearance shown in fig. 34. They have increased greatly in size, and though their general form continues the same, show a marked advance towards the perfect state. The pulsations of the stomach can be plainly seen, and the rudiments of the csecse of the limbs, to be described presently, also make their appear- ance. Beneath the thorax is seen the projecting mouth, from which a short gullet passes backwards to the gizzard, and a dark spot on the upper sur- face of the thorax shows the position of the eyes. In this stage I find them grubbing about among the refuse of decaying weed, excrement of Polyzoa, &c, at the bottom of the vessel in which they are kept'; and, from their appearance, they do not starve. There does not appear to be any marked difference between the larva of Pallene and Achelia : the spe - cimens figured are of the latter.
Let us now glance at the anatomy of the adult Pyc- nogon, selecting for that purpose a fine specimen of
Feb. 1, 1870.]
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
27
Pallenepygmaa (fig. 35), as exhibiting some peculiar points in a marked degree. Placing it in a shallow cell, so as to keep its limbs extended, a power of 40 or 50 diameters, illuminated by the spot lens or Wenham's paraboloid, will be sufficient to bring out
thorax, the two terminal joints forming a powerful sickle-shaped claw. Projecting upwards from the posterior extremity of the thorax is what looks like a little tail : this is the rudimentary abdomen. At the anterior extremity of the thorax is seen .the
Fig. 34. Larva of Achelia after first moult, x 200.
Fig. 35. Pallenepygmaa, x 16.
the most prominent points of its structure. The tho- rax (figs. 37 and 38) is narrow, and'eomposed of four segments, or probably five, the two anterior being fused into one. Into each segment is articulated a pair of long and stout legs, each composed of nine or ten joints, and about four times the length of the
head, which is about half its lengtb, somewhat cylindrical in form, and terminated by a triradiate mouth (fig. 41 a), which, according to Dr. Carpen- ter, is provided with cilia. Viewed from beneath, the head appears to be traversed throughout its length by a sort of suture dividing it into two parallel
C 2
28
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
|Eeb. 1, 1870.
portions, and ]on its upper aspect is a pair of feet. [ ing one of the four faces of a turret clock. These jaws, which are I articulated into the front of the \ ocelli may be well made out with a power of 80 or thorax. They are armed with chelae and usually I 90, and are perhaps best seen when viewed in pro-
Fig. 36. Achelia hispidata, x 16.
laid parallel on the head, the chelae being bent down at right angles, so as to cover the orifice of the mouth when in a state of rest. The antenna; are in this species entirely absent.
Fig. 37. Pallene pygma-a, ventral aspect, showing false feet for attachment of ova, x 30.
On'the front of the thorax, immediately behind the head, is a little tubercle carrying four simple eyes, set at right angles to each other, and remind-
file by reflected light, under which they gleam like points of burnished silver. The trefoil-shaped mouth opens into a narrow
Fig. 38. Pallene ■pygmaa, dorsal aspect, x 30.
oesophagus, by which the food is conducted to the gizzard, situate in the posterior 'part of the head, near its junction with the thorax. This organ
Feb. 1, 1870.]
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
29
appears to consist of a series of curved plates, over- lapping one another and forming a triturating ap- paratus sufficiently powerful for the soft decaying substances on which the animal subsists. It cannot be well made out in the living subject ; maceration in caustic potash, and pressure, being necessary for its exhibition. It opens into the central stomach, which extends the whole length of the thorax, till it terminates in the rudimentary abdomen. In the species before us, it shows as a dark-greenish- coloured sac, occupying the whole median line of the body, with five pairs of branch stomachs or cajcre proceeding from it into the two feet-jaws, and eight limbs, which latter they traverse as far as the last joint but three. The stomach is an important organ in all creatures from man to monad, but in the pycnogons it assumes a paramount importance, from its performing the functions of a heart in addition to its own proper sphere of usefulness. Both the stomach and its prolongations are seen to contract and expand at somewhat irregular intervals, by which means a periodical ebb and flow of their fluid contents is kept up from the stomach to the caeca? and back again. The perivisceral spaces be- tween the various stomachs and the walls of the body and limbs are occupied by a colourless fluid with corpuscles, representing the blood ; and by the pulsations of the stomachs above described an im- perfect system of circulation of this fluid is kept up between the various cavities of the body and limbs. By the expansion of the central stomach, a portion of the fluid occupying the thoracic cavity is propelled into one or more of the limbs, whilst by the corresponding expansion of the csecse of the limbs a reflex movement is produced.
There are no branchiae or special organs of re- spiration, and the oxygenation of the vital fluid appears to take place through the general surface of the body. The surface of the integument is studded in every part with small warty excrescences, each of which, on careful focussing with a l-4th objective, is seen to have a central orifice. These are doubtless a sort of simple spiracles, or rather breathing-pores, by means of which the circulatory fluid is sufficiently aerated for the support of the creature's low vitality. The articulations of the body and limbs are pro- vided with powerful muscles, the action of which in the creature's movements can be well seen, owing to the great transparency of the integument.
Most of the foregoing remarks apply equally to Achelia hispidata (fig. 36), which, however, exhibits some well-marked differences in external form. It is smaller and somewhat more compact than Pallene, and the limbs are shorter in proportion to the body. The thorax is rounder and more robust, and the head (fig. 41), or, as it would I think be more properly called, the proboscis, is tapered towards its base and apex, giving it a less clumsy appearance than the truncated cylinder of Pallene. There are
also a pair of well-developed join ted antennae, whilst the feet-jaws are very short and terminated by a sort of knob instead of pincers. The large claws have two smaller ones attached to their upper sides
Fig. 39. Claw of Pallene pygmceu, x 40.
(compare figs. 39 and 40), and the surface of the body and limbs is covered with stiff bristles. In confine- ment it is somewhat more active than its companion. The female carries her spawn in two masses attached to the false feet beneath the thorax, whilst as far as
Fig-. 40. Claw of Achelia hispidata, x 40.
my observations go, Pallene pygmcea carries it in a single mass. I frequently observe, both in this species and the last, an enlargement of the fourth joints of the legs, between the caecae of which and the walls of the limbs are a number of spherical granular bodies resembling ova in different stages. — Query : Have they any connection with the repro- ductive functions ? Possibly some readers of Science-Gossip maybe able to elucidate this point.
They do not seem to be peculiar to the females, as I have noticed them in specimens in which the false feet are wanting, and which I therefore pre- sume to be males. They certainly have very much the appearance of ovaries, and I have never ob- served anything resembling such organs in any other part of the creature.
The nervous system of the Pycnogonidee, accord- ing to Dr. Carpenter, " consists of a single ganglion in the head (formed by the coalescence of a pair), and of another in the thorax (formed by the coales- cence of four pairs), with which the cephalic ganglion is connected in the usual mode, namely, by two nervous cords, which diverge from each other to embrace the oesophagus." — Microscope, p. 638.
As regards food, the two species under considera- tion must, I think, be classed under the head of " scavengers." I have kept twenty or thirty in a tumbler for some three months past, with a few frouds of Corallina officinalis, on which are Bower-
30
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
[Feb. 1, 1870.
bankia, Pedicellina, Coryne, &c. ; the polyps are mostly still healthy, and the Pycnogons do not seem to interfere with them. They are constantly crawl- ing over the weed and about the bottom of the glass,
|
/
Fig. 41. Head of Achelia hispiilata, showing position of gizzard, x 70. A, triradiate mouth, further magnified.
and I have no doubt they subsist upon the decaying portions of weed— dead polyps, &c. At all events, to judge from the contents of their numerous stomachs, they cannot be classed with the " starving poor."
In conclusion I would commend this very curious class of animals to the attention of students of marine life. There are many points of their organiza- tion which require patient investigation, and re- specting their propagation and development very little appears to be known. The foregoing, or allied species, are, I have no doubt, common on every shore, and many others inhabit deep water, while the great transparency of their bodies, and their hardiness in confinement, render them eminently suitable for prolonged microscopic research.*
Dover. Edward Horsnaill.
* I have to express my obligations to the Editor of Science-Gossip for his kindness in placing specimens of the subjects of the foregoing paper in the hands of Mr. Spence Bate for identification.
CROSS FERTILIZATION OP THE DAISY AND COMPOSITE GENERALLY.
/""iOMPOSPLE is the largest natural order in the *-' vegetable kingdom, and is therefore of vast scientific importance. It comprehends nearly 10,000 species of plants, and yet an easily-detected family likeness pervades the whole of that unwieldy number. I believe that no one in England before now has pointed out why the anthers are syngene- sious, or traced the relation between the chief con- trivances with which composites are furnished for aiding in, if not securing, cross fertilization, and, as the doing of these things is likely to impart a new interest to a subject generally considered dull, I ven- ture to lay before the readers of Science-Gossip the leading principles of the whole matter, as illustrated by the Daisy, leaving details and what few exceptions there are to be treated of on another occasion.
For the sake of those who are not botanists it will be necessary to explain the meauing of the technical terms to be made use of in this paper.
Every complete flower consists of four perfectly distinct organs. Starting at the outside and pro- ceeding towards the centre the first of these organs is called the calyx ; the second, the corolla ; the third consists of stamens, and the fourth is called the pistil. In the generality of flowers, such as that of the Primrose for example, the calyx looks like a green socket surrounding the base of the corolla, but, in Composite, the calyx is represented by nothing more prominent than long hairs, which aid in the dispersion of the seed. As a rule, the corolla is the gayest and most conspicuous of all the organs ; but. compared with those which it surrounds and helps to protect, it is unimportant. Each stamen consists of a filament or little stalk, and an anther for con- taining pollen. Passing from the stamens the pistil is next reached, and it occupies the centre of the flower. It consists of an ovary for inclosing ovules ; of a style, generally about the thickness of a thread, which surmounts the ovary ; and of an enlargement at the top of the style, designated the stigma, which becomes sticky, and receives the pollen to im- pregnate the ovules. The stamens and pistil are consequently all-important ; the former being the male, and the latter the female portions of the flower, and, of course, both are necessary for the production of perfect seed.
The preceding description of a flower, and of the offices which its organs discharge, should enable any one of ordinary intelligence to understand the account which follows of the curious designs with which the Daisy is furnished for securing a given end, and I now proceed to relate what those designs are, and as much as 1 know of their action.
A magnifying-glass of moderate power shows that what is by most people considered the " flower " of
Feb. 1, 1870.]
HARD WICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
31
the Daisy is in reality 'a head of very small distinct flowers arranged on a hollow cone-shaped receptacle or seat.
The flower-head of the Daisy is called a capituluni, and the handsome conspicuous florets round the edge of the head are called florets of the ray, whilst all the little yellow florets inside of the ligulate, or ray florets, are termed florets of the disk. The florets of the ray expand, or are in blossom first, and are very different in several respects from those] of the disk. In the first place the ray-florets, owing to the large one-sided corolla with which each is provided, make the capituluni look like a single flower. In the second place they have no stamens,
Fig. 42 shows the half of a daisy flower-head. The dotted u.a, line from A runs into the disk-florets, that from B into .«- the ray .florets, and that from C into the receptacle.
and are, in consequence, named unisexual ; but this suppression, instead of being an unmitigated defect, is a most admirable piece of economy, as will presently appear. In the third place the upper part of the pistil is without bristles or roughness of any kind, because neither bristles nor similar appendages
Fig. 43 shows a ligulate floret magnified. The line from D runs into the style, where it forks, and that from E into the ovary. On the stigmatic surface of each division of the fork are some pollen- grains.
are required. And, lastly, the arms or divisions of the style are comparatively long, and, when fully ready for performing their function, are spread out as much as possible, and even twisted, as if de- termined to lay siege to every direction in order to catch pollen. Figures 42 and 43 illustrate these remarks ; but the utility of the various parts, and the movements they go through, cannot be understood
before the action of a tubular hermaphrodite floret is considered, and to such a floret the attention may now be directed.
Its smallness need hardly be more than alluded to. Nearly all the organs require to be looked at through a lens in order to be seen satisfactorily. The corolla at the bottom might admit the point of a small pin, but would do no more. A slight en- largement commences just where the filaments cease to adhere, and is continued, with a gradual increase^ to the apex. The anthers, as is well known, are what is called syngenesious, that is, joined by their edges, and so form a tube, which fits tightly round the upper part of the style; and their adjustment in this way is exceedingly important, for, were they placed otherwise, one can hardly conceive how the scattering of the pollen could take place, because, owing to the very reduced scale on which everything is constructed, even the most determined efforts o1" insects to render aid would be unavailing. But this cohesion of the anthers, if looked at alone, and not as part of a device, is robbed of the greater portion of its beauty, and, as the style alone is needed to give finish and completeness to this design, an investigation of that organ will be proceeded with at once. There is a striking difference between the style of this tubular floret and that of a ligulate floret already described. Here the upper part of the style is very rough, being well furnished with distinct protuberances, or bristles> which are of great moment, inasmuch as the style in its present position would not be of any use
Fig. 44 shows a tubular hermaphrodite floret cut open for the purpose of showing the internal arrangement. Oppo- site the line running from F are the syngenesious anthers, with the poUen undischarged^ and the bristly thickened extremity of the style.
without them, because no farina would be forth- coming. As it is, however, there stands the bristly - headed style, surrounded and embraced by the anthers, and patiently waiting for these to shed their pollen, in order that it may move on im . mediately afterwards. In short, the conclusion of that event, which almost seems to be steadily waited
32
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP,
[Feb. 1, 1870.
for, is the signal for a growth to set in, which growth, on the part of the style, has the effect of elevating pollen a considerable distance above the outstretched stigmas of previously expanded flowers.
These last stigmas are alone receptive or ready for receiving and using the pollen-grains, and on them the said grains very naturally descend. Shortly after the apex of the style emerges from the summit of the anther-formed tube, its two arms are beginning to separate, and by this movement the falling of the pollen is accelerated. By the time the style has reached its full stature, its two arms are as wide apart as they can go, and each arm has its smooth side looking up and its rough down, so that the young styles, which might be compared to the instrument used for sweeping chimneys with, act so as to help the viscid stigmas of more fully developed ones to pollen ; and this co-operation, or whatever else one may call it, goes on until all are served, or at least until all the pollen is raised out of the anthers.
43. 46.
Fig. 45 shows a tubular hermaphroidte floret magnified. The line from G runs into the thickened upper part of the style, after it has emerged from the anther-tube, laden with pollen.
Fig. 46. The line from H runs into one of the outstretched arms of a style ; that from I runs into the syngenesious anthers ; that from J into the filaments ; and that from K into the style, just before it joins the top of the ovary.
Figures 44, 45, and 46 illustrate everything con- nected with a tubular floret, and I may here state that the drawings are by Mr. Burbidge.
As insects are generally present where cross fertilization is going on, one might expect to find them actively engaged in preventing the Daisy from degenerating; but it so happens that this prolific little plant does not require their services, for what its own beautiful contrivances leave unperformed the wind performs. It is pretty clear, too, that insects are not such a disinterested lot of beings as to pay systematic visits without deriving any benefit therefrom themselves. It is also certain that instinct never struggles so much against one set of
creatures as to make them blunder continually for the good of another set. And as the Daisy has nothing better than a very miserable pittance of pollen to part with, it follows that it is left alone in its glory.
John Duncan.
THE DARK ARCHES MOTH.
(Xylophasia pohjodon.)
rflHIS is one of the very common moths at "sugar" -*- in our London suburbs ; and holds its own after other species, more interesting to the collector, have been " startled from their propriety " by the bricks and scaffolding of the builder. Not much appears to be known about the caterpillar, for New- man, in his recent work on British Moths, quotes from Hubner, not having had it brought under his own notice. I reared, in the spring of last year, some larva which produced this species. They were discovered feeding ou the Chrysanthemum, being then very small, on the 4th of August, 1868, and were supposed, at the time, to belong to the ubiquitous 31. Brassier. They were placed in a breeding-cage, and continued to eat, but grew very slowly. During the day they retired to the surface of the earth, not however burying themselves, but hiding under the dead leaves and stalks, usually stretcbing themselves out side by side with great regularity. Night appeared to be their feeding-time, though they would occasionally be found upon the food-plant in early morning. They did not entirely cease to eat until the 15th of November, when they hybernated until the beginning of April. Of the adult caterpillar, I had a description, unfortunately mislaid ; I observed no traces of the warts delineated by Hubner ; the ground colour was a dull brown, with faint stripes running from the head to the anus; head small and very glabrous. The moths appeared rather later than usual.
The Gipsy-moth (Liparis dispar). — I see, from time to time, offers of the eggs of this species in scientific journals. As far as I know, all these produce what is called the northern, or dwarf type, which has been bred " in and in " for some years past by collectors. It would be interesting to ascertain whether the normal form does at all occur now in the British islands ; or could the diminutive form be brought up to the full size again by any mode of treatment. On one occasion, I liberated, by way of experiment, a largish number of these caterpillars near London, placing them on sallow, which seems most congenial to their taste. How- ever, subsequently, I was unable to discover either cocoons or moths. The species is an interesting one to rear in confinement.
J. R. S. Clifford.
Feb. 1, 1870.]
HAEDWICKE'S SCIENCE- GOSSIP.
33
ERESH-WATER VALVED VAGINICOLA.
I HAVE recently observed a Vaginicola which is new to me, and which I do not remember to have seen anywhere described or figured. Its dis- tinguishing characteristic is the possession of a valve, somewhat similar in shape and structure to, but apparently much more delicate than, that in Vaginicola valvata, figured in Plate 28 of the 4th edition of Pritchard's " Infusoria."
The only valved Vaginicola; with which I have been previously acquainted are V. valvata, which is a marine species, and in which, according to the figure before referred to, the lorica is cylindrical,
differs materially from the species I have recently observed, in which the lorica is urceolate or vase- shaped, hyaline, and terminating at the foot nearly in a point. The valve, which is very delicate, and in some instances requires careful illumination in order to distinguish it, is attached to the side of the lorica about one third of its length from the top, and moves freely on its point of attachment, moving up on the protrusion of the animal, and immediately closing again on its withdrawing itself, which it does very rapidly on being alarmed, as for instance, by a tap on the glass trough or stage. The body, when expanded, is about ^ inch in length and gradually tapers from the head, which is crowned
Fig. 47. Vaginicola. a, extended ;
b, withdrawn.
Fig. 48. Vaginicola, after fission.
with a flat base ; and Vaginicola valvata, figured and described under that name by Mr. Slack in vol. ix. of the Intellectual Observer, p. 205. In this species the lorica is irregular but approximately cylindrical, and the valve has a peculiar structure, being bent back upon itself when the animal is protruded, and closing by its own elasticity on the animal retract- ing itself: see fig. 49, which is a copy of Mr. Slack's diagram representing this structure, A closing on P> when the animal protrudes.
This, the only fresh-water valved Vaginicola which, so far as I am aware, has hitherto been described,
with cilia, to the oot ; when retracted, it is pear- shaped, a slight tuft of cilia being generally apparent at the broader end.
Several well-marked vacuoles are observable, and in all the specimens I have examined the body is nearly filled with green granules. There are often two animals inhabiting the same lorica, the result of longitudinal fission. Fig. 47« shows the animal extended; fig. ¥lb the same withdrawn, in each case the letter v pointing out the valve : figs. 48« and 485 represent the same specimen about seventeen hours after the preceding figures were drawn, the animal
34
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
[Feb. 1, 1870.
Fig. 49. Vaginicola
having in the mean time undergone fission, aud de- veloped a perfect ciliated head on each part of the duplicated body. The specimens observed by me were found in the latter part of October last, attached to Char a vulgaris in a stagnant pool of fresh water formed from the over- flow of a canal near Winchester. If this species has not hitherto been described, the following description may suffice : —
— (?) ; tube or lorica crystalline, urceolate about t^ iuch in length, with a valve ap- parently formed of the same substance, affixed to the side about i of its length from the top, and moving freely on its point of attachment, closing in an inclined position over the animal on its with- drawing itself into the lorica. Body about ■+> inch in length, with many vacuoles, and nearly filled with bright green granules. Hab. freshwater on Chara, &c. Winchester. F. I. Warner.
LIGURIAN v. BLACK BEES.
I~N my last communication I ventured, on the -'- strength of the law of Parthenogenesis and my own experience, to state that there were no hybrid drones, — that in the commingling of the Ligurian (or Alpine) and black races of bees, the drones were, in respect of colour, either all Ligu- rian or all black, according as the female was the one or the other ; the evidence for this is, I think, incontestable. From a semi-Ligurian or mongrel queen, the drone offspring would of course be mon- grel, following, by the same law, the mother as re- gards complexion, but still, to the best of my belief, not hybrids. I say to the best of my belief because the case is not absolutely proven.*
On this matter I would offer some further remarks, but as I have another subject to dwell upon, I feel I should be encroaching on valuable space.
I am glad to find that the question I sceptically proposed, "Are these bees distinct species at all?" is likely to get well ventilated. For my own part, I have no hesitation whatever in answering — no. The bees before us correspond in nature and habits so closely — there is no structural difference, their operations are the same, and their cell-construction is identical — that I cannot believe them other than varieties. If a difference exists, it does not seem to me suffi- cient to involve the term specific, and if the Ligu- rians are superior in quality, it must be remembered
* I use the term hylrid in the sense implied by" D. D. B." in his query, and as given by Professor Huxley : " Male hybrids are those which, although possessing all the external appear- ance of perfect animals, are physiologically imperfect in the structural parts of the reproductive elements necessary to generation."
that they are a mountain variety, hardier, bolder, more vigorous.
It surely is not at all remarkable that the hive- bee, which has been in a state of domestication, like the horse and the dog, and with them has un- doubtedly accompanied man in his migrations for thousands of years, should also, like them and him, have succumbed in a measure to local influences, and have been subject to variation in physical characteristics more or less marked. That some of these varieties should have remained locally perma- nent and prolific, yet actually merging under certain circumstancesjgradually one into the other,* or that they should have beeu brought advisedly together by ancient cultivators, is still less remarkable.f
From careful attention, therefore, to the subject, lam led to believe,— (1) That all the various honey- bees of assured domesticity, the Apis mellifica, which with civilization has extended itself over the princi- pal part of Europe, North Africa, parts of Asia, as well as North America : the Apis Hgustica of North Italy, Greece, the Archipelago, parts of Syria and Palestine ; the aurora-coloured bees from Flanders, described by Delia Rocca, 1790'; A. fasciata of Lower Egypt and Nubia; and even the A. Adansonii of Senegal and Gambia, though differing from one another, and even among themselves, in disposition and certain physical characteristics, are but local varieties of some primitive stock, and no more dis- tinct species than the varieties of the human race that have cultivated them through successive gene- rations. (2) That these varieties would be found to commingle readily and produce males resembling in complexion the female parent alone: and workers and queens partaking more or less of the peculiari- ties of each variety, according to the energy of the respective reproductive elements.
Plymouth. J. W. Stroud.
Symphytum tuberosum. — My specimens of Symphytum tuberosum, L., referred to by "R. T., M.A.," in your current number, were growing in the direction he indicates, but still sufficiently re- moved from Barnet to bring the habitat within the county of Middlesex. I was quite unaware that my communication to Science-Gossip had furnished any data to the compilers of County Flora. — /. W. White.
* Had "D. D. B." seen the remainder of Hermann's ac- count of the Ligurian Bee, which is not given in Neigh- bour's book, this fact would have been obvious, at least in the instance immediately under notice, when he adds, "The farther one goes from the Alps the less handsome these bees are found, as for example in Nice, until they are entirely lost in Lower Italy in the black species." A similar statement is made also by Spinola, who, I think, was the first to notice the peculiarities of this bee, and to name it Apis ligustica in his Insectorum Ligurias Species, novae aut rariores, 1806, p. 133.
t Aristotle, B.C. 330, speaks descriptively of four kinds of bees. Virgil, B.C. 35; Varro, B.C. 50; and Columella, A.D, 5o, give descriptions of two.
Feb. 1, 1S70.]
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
35
THE TEAL. (Anas crecca.)
OE all the prizes with which a wild-fowl shooter could wish to meet, a spring of Teal is amongst the first. Independently of their being by far the best biids of the whole duck tribe for the table, they are generally much easier to get at ; and as they require but a slight blow to bring them down, it matters little what charge of shot is in the barrels.
The quiet rushy pools which lie at a distance from any road, the turf-holes on a peat-bog, and the slug- gish shallow streams with overhanging vegetation, are the favourite haunts of the Teal. In some parts of the country this bird is resident throughout the year, but as a rule, and in the South of England especially, it can only be looked upon as a winter visitant. Of shy and retired habits, it shuns the more public ponds and rivers, and avoids the habi- tation of man. The extended drainage of waste lands and increased cultivation have no doubt con- duced more than anything else to the scarcity of a bird which was once plentifully distributed over the entire country.
On approaching the edge of a pond at a distance from a flock of Teal, they may be seen silently re- posing on the water. Immediately the intruder is perceived, a harsh call is heard, and they spring suddenly into the air, wheeling round and about with amazing rapidity, now looking black now white, according as the upper or under surface of their bodies is presented to the eye. Frequently, as though intending to alight, they fall through the air with a whistling sound, recovering themselves when apparently in the water, and rising again to a height. These manoeuvres are repeated until the eye is strained in following them, and the whole flock at length settle down again in silence and re- pose as before. At such times it requires no small amount of caution to get near enough to them for a shot.
Col. Hawker, whose practical knowledge of wild- fowl has rarely if ever been equalled, has described the habits of the Teal very accurately in his "Instructions to Young Sportsmen."
" If you spring a Teal, he will not soar up and leave the country, like a wild duck, but will most probably keep along the brook, like a sharp-flying woodcock, and then drop suddenly down. But you must keep your eye on the place, as he is very apt to get up again, and fly to another spot before he will quietly settle. He will frequently, too, swim down stream the moment after he drops ; so that if you do not cast your eye quickly that way, instead of continuing to look for him in one spot, he will probably catch sight of you and fly up, while your attention is directed to the wrong place. If the
brook in which you find him is obscured by many trees, you had better direct your follower to make a large circle, and get ahead of, and watch him, in case he should slily skim away down the brook, and, by this means, escape from you altogether."
The female Teal, like the females of all the duck tribe, has little to recommend it in appearance, although the observant naturalist does not fail to notice that its dusky brown and grey plumage is peculiarly well adapted to its concealment during the time it is engaged in nesting. The cock Teal, on the other hand, has scarcely an equal amongst wildfowl for beauty of colouring. The chestnut head, with a patch of glossy green on each side, edged with buff ; the neck, back, and flanks beauti- fully pencilled with black and grey; the bright green speculum on the wing, broadly bordered above and below with velvet black ; and the black and buff under tail-coverts present to the eye a perfect picture of harmonizing colour which defies the imitative pencil of the artist.
In July the old Teal moult, completely losing their quill-feathers, and are then for a time unable to fly. The males at this season undergo that re- markable change of plumage which has been ob- served in other ducks, — losing all the colours which are characteristic of their sex, and presenting a very sorry appearance in contrast with.their spring dress. The young at this time are able to shift for them- selves, for the Teal nests early in the year. We have several times found the eggs during the last week of April. Although usually placed in the vicinity of water, the nest is sometimes at a con- siderable distance from it, and always rests upon dry ground. We have never found a Teal's nest in the swampy situations in which Coots, Moorhens, and Grebes build.
A hollow is generally scraped out at the foot of some overhanging bunch of heather, or tussock of dry waving grass, and lined with fine heath stalks and bents. Here eight or ten creamy-white eggs, are laid, and as the hen covers them, she plucks from her breast and sides the soft brown down which underlies her feathers, and places it entirely round the eggs, filling up all the interstices, thus forming a warm bed for the young as soon as they leave the shell. The overhanging roof of grass or heather conceals from above the clutch of white eggs, which would otherwise be espied by the passing crow and assuredly be carried off by this thievish bird.
The old duck is very attentive to her young, leading them from the nest to the marsh, where they paddle, about on the soft ground and shallow pools, snapping up flies and beetles with their tiny bflls, and varying their meal with the seeds of aquatic plants. They swim and dive well almost as soon as hatched ; but how they contrive to follow their parents through the long heather and the
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HARDWICKE'S SCIE NCE-GOSSIP.
LFeb. 1, 1870.
tangled rank herbage of the marsh without getting lost, has always been to us a matter of wonder and admiration.
A remarkable instance of affection in a Teal came under our observation towards the close of a mild winter. We were shooting over a wild bit of country where Ducks, Teal, and Snipe abound, and remain annually to breed in limited numbers. A rare spot it was for the naturalist, who might there to his heart's content enjoy that varied description of shooting which to our mind is so preferable to every other branch of the sport. Treading on a patch of soft ground, away went three or four Snipe with loud squeaks in different directions. Down came one, and
scampered away through the flags. Having pretty well disturbed that particular spot, we moved on, not without regret at having left the Water-rail behind us. Walking towards the head of a pool where a thick growth of flags seemed to indicate the proba- ble presence of wildfowl, we were barely in sight of the water before a fine old Mallard rose with loud quacks, and with outstretched neck and legs, did his best to get away before a charge could reach him. But alas ! he was doomed to die ; and as he tumbled upon the grass with a thump which made one's heart rejoice, a couple of Teal, alarmed at the report, sprang from the flags within a few yards of him.
Tig. 50. The Teal {Anas crccca).
another was missed ; before we could load two more had gone away. Picking up the product of the first barrel, we almost trod upon a Water-rail which rose close to us, and with long legs dangling down, flitted over the rushes towards the water. But so good a bird for the table could not be allowed to go, and so down it came, an easy shot, and was lost to sight amongst the rank herbage. Un- fortunately it was only winged, and being without a dog that day, we spent ten minutes or a quarter of an hour vainly endeavouring to find it. Meantime, however, we had put up and brought down another Snipe, and caught a hasty view of a Moorhen as it
The duck being the nearest received the contents of the remaining barrel, and fell dead upon the soft mud at the very edge of the water. While specu- lating upon our good luck, and putting in two fresh cartridges, the cock Teal, which had flown up to the other end of the pool when his'mate fell, turned back, and after flying up and down several times with mournful notes, returned to the spot whence he rose, and pitched upon the mud close to the dead duck. Here he remained for some seconds, nodding his head and curtseying, as if about to take wing, — uttering a low note the while as if to entice away the duck, whom he appeared so loth to leave.
Eeb. 1, 1870.]
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
37
We were so struck at this manifestation of affec- tion that we could not find it in our heart to shoot at the poor bird, and as we moved on to pick up his mate, he rose and was soon out of range again.
It is not improbable that the mildness of the season induced these birds to pair earlier than usual, for at the time of year at which the above incident occurred, Teal and other wildfowl are generally found in flocks.
Large numbers of these birds pass southwards for the winter, repassing again in the spring on the way back to their breeding-haunts. In Sep- tember and October they collect in large flocks, and, as they fly a good deal lower and closer together than most other ducks, several may be killed at once by a well-directed shot. This is especially the case if the shooter be in ambush close to the water which they frequent ; but as their flight is exceedingly rapid, care should be taken to hold well in front of the leading bird.
Teal are very sociable in their habits, and during the winter they may often be found in company with the common wild ducks. But although they mingle together when on the water, on being disturbed the species always separate, the Teal going off in one flock, the ducks in another. On rising from the water they do not first swim away from the danger, or flutter over the surface as some fowl do, but jump suddenly into the air without warning, so that if you are approaching them in a punt and do not pull the trigger the moment you find that you are perceived by them, you will in all probability lose your chance of a shot.
During the winter months this species is fre- quently found on the coast in company with Widgeon, and large numbers are often killed at a single shot with a punt- gun.
The Teal, however, appears to prefer the neigh- bourhood of fresh water, and is certainly one of the most beautiful ornaments in the winter scenery of our ponds and brooks. J. E. Harting.
Diatoms. — We have received a rejoinder from Mr. McLeod, in reply to Mr. Kittons letter in our last. It would occupy far too much of our space to permit this and similar controversies on topics which have an evident tendency to become personal. After all, we imagine that Mr. McLeod intended merely to condemn the abuse, which some of us know to exist, of wasting time and money in resolv- ing test-objects with no laudable motive, when so much good service might be done to science by the application of the same time and perseverance in other ways. From this conclusion we are certain that Mr. Kitton would not dissent. Diatoms are as legitimate objects as any other, if legitimately studied.
ABNORMAL PLANTAIN.
Fig. 51. Abnormal Plantain, Plantago corunopus.
The above figure of the curious form of Plantain, noticed in our December issue (p. 280), was unavoid- ably omitted when the [description was inserted. Readers will therefore please to refer to the page indicated for full particulars. It was gathered by Mr. J. C. Melville near Wallasey, in Cheshire, in May, 1868, Though curious and interesting, it is by no means unique, as similar forms have been observed before.
Siliceo-fibrous Sponges. — An excellent mono- graph on this subject, by Dr. Bowerbank, with nine plates, is published in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London for 1869.
3S
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
[Feb. 1, 1870.
POPULAR GEOLOGY*
ALTHOUGH there is no "royal road to science," and a sound naturalist is not born of dressing- gown and slippers, but of bard knocks and long walks, yet mucb help is afforded even to abstruse science by tbe "popular guides" of the present generation. One of tbe first steps towards in- creasing tbe number of students in a particular science seems to be to obtain an audience, to secure interest in the study from some who have never given to it the slightest attention heretofore. If nothing else could be predicated of books on popular science— if they only stir up a desire in the minds of a few individuals to obtain more light, and stimu- late them to a little exertion to obtain it, they will have accomplished good work. It is a very poor "guide" which does not succeed even beyond this, by laying a good foundation, and sketching out the de- sign of the superstructure to be reared thereon. Just those branches of science to which there is no popular introduction or portable handbook, are behind all the rest in the number of students, in tbe interest which they occasion, and in tbe deplorable ignorance of even educated men of tbe most elementary of its facts. We hail with interest every faithful effort to introduce science to the outside world, and can- vass for followers, and we welcome every zealous worker, who by bis influence promises to obtain recruits. Everybody who met with the British Association in Norwich (1868) will remember with pleasure tbe honorary secretary of the local Geolo- gical Society. Having devoted himself, in all the enthusiasm of youth, to this " hobby " of bis, be rides it all over the county, picking up his geolo- gical crumbs, and the result is that be has become — just what be deserves to be — quite an authority on Norfolk geology.
The books before us are not all "just published "; the " Geological Essays," especially, date some four or five years ago ; but they are all characterized by those genial features which are by no means patent to books on popular science. Eor instance, the author is practically well up in bis subject by ex- perience gained in the field. Some people have compiled books at their own fireside, by 'picking other men's brains, and "popular" books too; but tbey have their reward. Mr. Taylor writes also in a plain and agreeable manner. He says what he has to say just as if he meant to have it understood ; and, moreover, he is so poetical at times, so attrac-
* *' Geological Essays and Sketch of the Geology of Man- chester and the Neighbourhood." By John E. Taylor. Lon- don: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co.
"Lithographs, a Series of Four Lectures on Geology, delivered before the Norwich Geological Society." By John E. Taylor, Hon. Sec. London : Hamilton, Adams, & Co.
"On Certain Phenomena in the Drift near Norwich." By Jolm E. Taylor. Reprinted from the Geological Magazine.
tive, and so suggestive, that step by step the reader is compelled to follow him, whether be will or no, on, on, and on to tbe end of the volume. It is sometimes objected to men of science, that their dry-as-dust notions will not accord with any know- ledge or appreciation of polite literature. Here is plenty of evidence to the contrary, in quotations from the poets, Shakespeare down to Tennyson, and in allusion to writings sacred and profane, sufficient to prove that our author has read much, remembered well, and is, consequently, a most agreeable com- panion. Those who complain of the scepticism of modern science— especially geology — should read Mr. Taylor's books and then — be silent.
RIBS OF THE DUN COW.
T AGREE with your correspondent " G. B." that -*- it would be interesting to ascertain tbe number of these ribs at present exhibited. A few days ago I paid a visit to that interesting spot which was once the proud capital and strong citadel of Wales. I allude to Caerleon, at present a small insignificant village, three miles from Newport, but still mucb frequented by those who feel an interest in the ancient bistory of their fatherland ; for this pretty spot is encircled by many ballowed associations, and is connected more deeply than [any other town in Wales with the history of King Arthur, whom none of us would like to regard as a fabulous personage.
Caerleon boasts a museum, containing a very valuable collection of Roman and old British rebcs ; and here also is to be seen a rib of tbe dun cow, this specimen having lain in a neighbouring church for very many years, and had been recently removed to the museum. One fact should be noted in tbe conformation of the rib, viz., its great breadth, measuring from margin to margin full six inches. But the great peculiarity in the structure of this rib evidently is tbe anatomical relations of its margins, whicb must be termed external and inter- nal, the fat of the rib being placed transversely to the body of the animal. Trusting througb the medium of your paper more light may be thrown on the subject, I wisb to remark, in conclusion, that it may be a significant fact in attempting to unravel this mystery, that in the four places already named as possessing one of these curiosities, viz., Chester- field, Warwick, Bristol, and Caerleon, they were all deposited in a church.
Abthub. Llewellyn.
The following extract respecting the "dun cow" is taken from a book called " Facts," by Sir Richard Phillips, published in 1810 :—
"The wild ox, formerly dangerous in British woods, is now only found in the fossil state in recent formations, or in strata with elephants' bones, or in three or four parks as curiosities. It is white,
Feb. 1, 1S70.]
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
39
with a black muzzle, and very vicious. The Dun cow of Dunchurch and Warwick Castle was one."
H. D.
I recollect when travelling through the south of Lincolnshire into Norfolk twenty years ago, staying at an inn, in oue of the rooms of which was an enormous scapula fastened up in a corner near the ceiling. On it was this inscription : " Ye Blade bone of ye Wonderful Dun Cow." I was but a boy then, but I remember thinking what a terrific size the cow must have been. 1 am sorry I cannot recollect the name of the place ; but perhaps it is known to some of your readers.
Hy. Ullyett.
RARE LARV^, ETC.
"V|"R. NEWMAN'S work on British moths, ad- -L"J- mirable as it is, shows that there are still many species of which the caterpillars are either utterly or almost unknown, or strange to us but for descriptions in foreign manuals. Having paid some attention during the past year to the lepidoptera of this district, I am able to supply one or two of the omissions in that work ; and I have no doubt that, if entomology continues to be as popular as it now is, almost every one of these obscure larvse will in a few years be brought to light.
Larvce of Cidaria miata. — Of this caterpillar, so rarely seen as to be unknown to the celebrated Guenee, Newman obtains his very slender informa- tion from " Stainton's Manual." It was common near Richmond last season. With the help of my sons, I found about twenty, almost all on low willow bushes, with which the banks of the Swale abound. On whitethorn we found, I think, only one, and one on poplar. They were all obtained between the middle and end of July, by careful search, not by beating, and appear to be tolerably hardy, as we succeeded in rearing about three-fifths. As might be expected, they closely resemble the larvse of Cidaria psittacata, being almost uniformly cylindri- cal, without humps, and having the two points pro- jecting from the anal segment; but the colour is remarkably uniform, and darker below than above, a peculiarity which, wherever it exists in animals, gives a somewhat singular appearance. The dorsal area is pale yellowish-green, the ventral dull red. As they always feed with their backs downwards, this gives them the exact appearance of the main rib of a willow-leaf, and makes them very difficult to discover, especially as, though long for the size of the moth, they are very slender, even when full fed. The chrysalis, contained in a very slight cocoon, is of a rich warm brown.
Larva of Eunomos tiliaria. — Mr. Battersby has found this caterpillar several times in Ireland, and described it; but no English specimen has, I believe,
yet been made known. The day after I first found Cidaria miata, and within a yard of the same spot, I discovered another strange geometer, which proved to be the larva of the beautiful canary-shouldered Thorn. It also frequents low sallows; the only other specimen we found being a magnificent full- grown one, on a bush scarcely more than a foot high. Treitsche's description is fairly correct as far as it goes :—" Wrinkled, brown, marbled with darker brown, with humps on the sixth and tenth seg- ments, gradually increasing in size." But both he and Mr. Battersby have omitted the most distinctive mark of the species ; at least it was so in both my specimens. In front of the first hump is a large oblong, or, more correctly speaking, trapezoidal spot, of a very dark brown, and another before the last hump, of exactly the same shape, but still larger, corresponding to the increased bulk of the body. It spins a compact web, and the chrysalis must be very handsome, judging from the shell after emergence, which is of a beautiful orange tint.
Folia flavocincta (the large ranunculus) is given by Newman as unknown in the north of England. It was rather common here in] all its stages last summer.
It may interest some of your readers to know that the banks of the Swale seem to be " the happy hunting-grounds " of all who want Puss-moths and kittens. Of the former we found, in July and August, within a range of three or four miles, and close to the water, about two hundred larvaa; in fact, a great many more than we cared to take. It was painful, however, to see a fine kitten larva attacked and stung to death by a wasp. We afterwards found another (a half-grown puss) evidently de- stroyed in the same manner.
Richmond, Yorkshire. G. P. Hakris.
ROSEMARY AND RUE.
" Reverend sirs, For you there's Rosemary and Rue ; these keep Seeming and savour aU the winter long: Grace and remembrance be to you both,"
Says Perdita in the "Winter's Tale"; and, although Rosemary is not, strictly speaking, an herb, I am inclined, on account of its many virtues, old associations, and far-off memories, to place it side by side with the herb of grace in my herb-garden, as the Bard of Avon has, .in the above passage, joined the twain together in his immortal verse.
The names by which this evergreen is known in all foreign languages have reference to'some especial use or property. Herba coronaria, one of its Latin appellations, alludes to its being employed with other plants in the formation of wreaths and chap- lets; whilst the generic name Bos, dew, and Marinas, of the sea, betokens its habitat — the rocks of the southern countries of Europe. Perhaps some
40
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
[Feb. 1, 1870.
reader of Science-Gossip, who is well up in the Chinese tongue, will kindly tell us the meaning of Yong tsao, the name the Celestials know it best by. The Welsh Jthos Mair signifies Mary's Rose ; be- cause, so say some of the village crones, the plant never thrives well in a garden where the mistress is not master. It is the good wife's evidence of authority is a well-to-do rosemary-bnsh, and I am told a like belief is held in some parts of Gloucester- shire respecting it.
The wild Rosemary is larger than the cultivated, and there are two kinds or varieties of the latter- one the silver, from its . white striped leaves ; the other the golden, because it has yellow bars on the
foliage.
Our continental neighbours use Rosemary far more extensively than we do. German house- keepers steep it in a pickle, which they prepare for hams and tongues. I was once induced to try the effect of adding a handful of the flowers to a spiced pickle, which my cook was boiling up for the purpose of curing some beef, aud I found the flavour it imparted to the meat so liked that I always afterwards put a few tops in with both ox- tongues and hams.
As a good cosmetic it has long been much lauded. The famous Hungary water had a very considerable portion of the extract of Rosemary in it. Rimmel in his "Book of Perfumes" (an admirable and most interesting work it is, too) mentions essence of rose- mary as an agent in scenting soap, and notices the remarkable- resemblance it bears in taste to cam- phor, whose medicinal properties I believe it also partakes of. It stimulates, and is highly approved of in nervous diseases. Many persons drink a tea made of the fresh young tops, which are said to possess greater power than the flowers. Then, as a hair-wash, hairdressers recommend it ; but I really believe it tends in some way or other to turn the hair grey. More than one young lady of my acquaintance, who used Rosemary wash when it was so very highly introduced a few years ago, became grey quite early in life, and a medical man assured me then that the cause lay in the strong decoctions of Rosemary they had been applying to their pates. Grey hair in the present day is almost unknown. The herb of remembrance, as the ancients called it, was much in request at funerals and weddings. I never have known it used at marriages ; but the custom of wearing a spray of Rosemary in the coat at a burial, and of taking it out and casting it into the grave, is still kept up by the lower classes in parts of South Wales.
" To show their love, the neighbours far and near Followed with wistful looks the damsel's bier ; Sprigged Rosemary the lads and lasses bore, While dismally the parson walked before. Upon her grave the Rosemary they threw, The Daisy, Buttercup, and Endive blue."
RUE.
" Here did she drop a tear ; here in this place, I'll set a bank of Rue, sour herb of grace."
Rue, despite its strong and disagreeable scent, was doubtless much used in nosegays formerly ; for one rarely takes up an old work but what it is men- tioned. I wonder at the taste of those who used it, for I think [ share in the dislike evinced by toads to it. You know of course that in ancient gardens it was always planted amongst Sage to keep off these reptiles. Insects of all kinds detest it, and shun a Rue plant; and my belief is, that the toads, not finding any provender in their Sage larders when Rue grew near, gave up such beds of Salvia, went to happier hunting-grounds, and so gained credit for the good taste of disliking Rue.
The stamens of the Rue are well worthy the careful notice of the botanist. They exhibit a singular phenomenon. Something similar has been observed in the Barberry, only in the latter case the effect is produced by touching the stamens. In the Rue they rise up spontaneously, and discharge the pollen when it is ripe, and then fall back to their former position on the petals.
Rue is not a native. It came originally from the south of Europe, and has been cultivated by us for ages, the wild Rue possessing all the bad qualities of its educated relative in a still stronger degree.
Even Pythagoras speaks of its power. It was known in the days of the philosopher, who pro- pounded the still wise saying, or maxim, that "Everything was not to be told everybody." I do not mean that such a doctrine should hold good in regard to science, or else good-bye to our charming Science-Gossip, which one looks forward to with such interest monthly ; and I know I shall be taken up for saying that Pythagoras spoke of the Rue, and told that none of his writings exist now. If he did not, some of his friends did— the countryman per- chance who,
" Carnivorous sinner, Had pullets yesterday for dinner." (See Gay.)
Helen E. Watney.
The Brighton Aquarium soon promises to become an established fact ; a company has been formed, a prospectus issued, and the services of our old correspondent, Mr. W. Alford Lloyd, of the Hamburg Aquarium, secured. The site of the pro- posed aquarium, which will be upwards of 700 feet long and 100 feet wide, commences at the toll- houses of the Chain Pier, and extends to within a few yards of that structure. On the south side there will be a sea-wall and approach-road, towards which the Corporation of Brighton have agreed to contribute £7,000. Further particulars of John McMillan, Esq., Secretary, 7, Westminster Cham- bers, London, S.W.
Feb. 1, 1870.]
HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
41
ZOOLOGY.
Cicada.— Captain Hancock informs me that the Brazilian Cicada sing so loud as to be heard at the distance of a mile. This is as if a man of ordinary stature, supposing his powers of voice increased in the ratio of his size, could be heard all over the world. So that Stentor himself becomes a mute when compared [with these insects. — Kirby, Introd.
Fireflies. — If we are to believe Mouffet (and the story is not incredible), the appearance of the tropical Fireflies on one occasion led to a more im- portant result than might have been expected from such a cause. He tells us that when Sir T. Caven- dish and Sir R. Dudley first landed in the West Indies, and saw in the evening an infinite number of moving lights in the woods, which were merely ihese insects, they supposed that the Spaniards were advancing upon them, and immediately betook themselves to their ships ; a result as well entitling the elaters to a commemoration feast as a similar good office of the land crabs of Hispaniola, which, as the Spaniards tell (and the story is confirmed by an anniversary Fiesta de tos Cangrejos), by their clat- tering— mistaken by the enemy for the sound of Spanish cavalry close upon their heels — in like manner scared away a body of English invaders of the city of St. Domingo. — Kirby, Litrod.
Eood of Insects.— Some insects in their perfect state, though furnished with organs of feeding, make no use of them, and consume no food whatever. Of this description are the moths which proceed from the silkworm, and several others of the same order ; the different species of gadflies, and the ephemerae insects, whose history is so well known as to afford a moral or a simile to those most ignorant of natural history. AH these live so short a time in the perfect state as to need no food. Indeed it may be laid down as a general rule, that almost all insects in this state eat much less than in that of larva. The voracious caterpillar/when trans- formed into a butterfly, needs only a small quantity of honey ; and the gluttonous maggot, when become a fly, contents itself with an occasional drop or two of any sweet liquid. — Kirby, Introd.
The Woodlotjse {Armadillo vulgaris) when alarmed rolls itself up into a little ball. In this attitude its legs and the underside of the body, which are soft, are entirely covered and defended by the hard crust that forms the upper