HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



17 



Whatever size your hives are, the covers^should 

 be about two inches in diameter larger, to admit of 

 some dry hay between the cover and hive during 

 winter. Since mentioning them in the November 

 number, I have got a few made for gentlemen in 

 different parts of the United Kingdom ; they have 

 only to be seen to bring them into general use ; they 

 are so much superior to any that have hitherto been 

 tried to cover hives. 



I will send any person particulars about them 

 through the post that does not fairly understand ; 

 but they are so simple in their construction that 

 any tinman could make them. 



Whitburn, Linlithgoicshire . John McLtjre. 



ZOOLOGY. 



Anchovies.— Mr. Frank Buckland, who has re- 

 ceived a sample of fish that had been caught in large 

 quantities on the Devonshire coasts the last two or 

 three weeks, pronounces them to be certainly an- 

 chovies. He adds that they are probably wanderers 

 from the Bay of Biscay. — H. Budge. 



LniNJSA glabra {Mull).— Some time ago I found 

 a locality for this species here. It was a small pond, 

 and was quite dry when I took some of the shells 

 living, on the 12th of June. It was still dry when I 

 collected some more on the 13th of August. The 

 shells taken on the latter occasion revived on being 

 put in the water. As evidence that water had not lain 

 in the pond during the intervening two months, I 

 may add that I found a living chrysalis of a Noctua, 

 and many land beetles, with other insects, under the 

 dead water-plants where the L. glabra had taken 

 refuge. On the 29th of November I found a little 

 water in the pond, and a dip of the net produced L. 

 glabra alive and crawling. I fancy the pond was 

 dry much longer than two months, this summer. At 

 any rate, this drought did not kill L. glabra, which 

 was the only shell in this pond. Another one, a 

 short distance off, contained many Limncea peregra 

 and Spha-riim lacustre, which were all killed by 

 the drying-tip of their pond. — Harry C. Leslie, 

 Erith. ' 



A Shark's Meal. — I copy the following from 

 the West Briton of Nov. 17th. Some of our readers 

 will recollect the loss of the barque Nelson on a 

 ridge of the dangerous Seven Stones, between the 

 Land's End and Scilly. Her stern burst as she 

 foundered, taking down with her a cargo of lead ore 

 and esparto grass, and the captain, his nephew, and 

 the mate. This explosion of the after-part of the 

 barque, and her subsequent breaking-up, must have 

 permitted access to her cargo and stores. A few 

 days afterwards, the Seven Stones light-ship men, 



whose vessel is three miles from the spot where the 

 Nelson went down, hooked a shark about 54 ft. long. 

 On opening the marine pirate, there was found in 

 him a whole rat, a large lump of beef, and a quantity 

 of esparto grass. — H. Budge. 



Leporids.— Until reading Mr. Spicer's communi- 

 cation in the November number of Science-Gossip, 



1 quite thought all naturalists were of opinion that 

 the Leporid was not a hybrid between the rabbit 

 and hare. I think the experiment to make them 

 pair has been tried at the Zoological Gardens without 

 success. It does not appear very likely that ani- 

 mals which in some respects differ so widely from 

 each other should breed, and still more unlikely that 

 their young should be fertile, as is the case with the 

 Leporids. — H. Budge. 



Hair-Tail (Trichiurus Upturns) . — Allow me, 

 through your columns, to make known the capture 

 of a specimen of that rare fish Trichiurus Upturns, 

 or Hair tail. It was brought to me this morning 

 (Dec. 10) by a fisherman, who found it in his herring- 

 net. The dimensions of the fish were :— : Length, 



2 ft. 5 in. ; depth, 2 in. ; length of gill-cover, 4 in. ; of 

 pectoral fin, Hin. My specimen corresponded with 

 the descriptions and figures of Yarreli and Couch, 

 and I have no doubt of its being a veritable Trichi- 

 urus. — Julia C'olson, Swanage, Dorsetshire. 



Otters.— On the 23rd November last, a keeper 

 of the Angling Association captured a fine pair of 

 otters on the river Bollin, a little below Ashley Mill, 

 Cheshire. The male weighed 13f lb., and was 

 41 inches in length; the female weighed 14 lb., 

 length 42 inches.— £. H. II. 



Ants.— Mr. Frederick Smith, the eminent ento- 

 mologist, of the Zoological department, British 

 Museum, has kindly informed me, after having seen 

 a specimen out of my formicary, that the species 

 whose habits I described in the November number 

 of Science-Gossip is not Formica fusca, but F. 

 nigra.— Edward Fentone Elwin, Booton, Norwich. 



Dragon-Flies in the Metropolis.— I have 

 myself observed such occasional instances as that 

 noted by Mr. Harry (Science -Gossip, 1S70, 

 p. 262), but I am doubtful whether the wings 

 of the insects have been the means of bringing 

 them into these unlikely places. When it comes 

 to a distance of several miles from any water where 

 the preparatory stages would be likely to be 

 passed, I must confess that I seek some other expla- 

 nation. Dragon-flies are strong and rapid fliers, it 

 is true, and eager for their prey ; yet I have rarely 

 found them in the country at any considerable dis- 

 tance from their native pond or ditch ; least of all, 

 is it likely that they would fly in a direction which 

 would promise them but little sport. Now it must 



