82 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



October 12th, an immense ivy-tree, which com- 

 pletely smothers one of my buildings, and of which 

 we are not a little proud, was in full flower, and 

 was thronged with various flies, bees, and wasps ; 

 and this tree does not usually flower till November. 

 Also, that on the same date Magnolia purpurea and 

 Weigelia rosea were in flower a second time ; and 

 that a tulip-tree in the neighbourhood produced 

 fruit. This is no uncommon thing near London, 

 but is unusual so far north. 



That same autumn Cuphea platycentra ripened 

 seed out of doors. Every plant in my garden pro- 

 duced a considerable number of apparently ripe 

 seed-vessels ; and I was much struck with their 

 peculiar mode of dehiscence, and I made the ac- 

 companying drawing at the time. 



In ripening, the coloured calyx became persist- 

 ent, but gradually dried up as the seed approached 

 maturity. All this while the capsule within the 

 calyx was swelling, untill the seeds were ready to 

 be shed. Then the free central placenta, with its 

 seeds attached, began to move, and to exhibit the 

 following curious phenomenon. It rose up from a 

 horizontal position, became perpendicular, and 

 finally bent backwards towards the stalk, in the 

 manner shown in the drawing, and in so doing it 

 pushed its way through a dorsal suture in the cap- 

 sule ; and through a corresponding slit in the 

 calyx, the point of the capsule remaining closed, 

 and the upper part of the calyx intact. 



InMasters's "Vegetable Teratology" (p. 210), 

 there are very excellent drawings of a similar ap- 

 pearance that was observed by Morren in Cuphea 

 miniata, and described by him as a monstrous con- 

 dition of the flower, to which he gave the name of 

 " Gymnaxony." 



Erom the fact, however, of my having observed 

 so many similar instances in another species, I 

 should be more inclined to think that this is not a 

 monstrous condition of the flower, but is the nor- 

 mal method of dehiscence in the genus Cuphea. 

 Eurther observations will be acceptable. 



Mobberley, Cheshire. Robert Holland. 



CLEVER TOMTIT. 



"TTTE all know how hard the poor birds have 

 T ' been put to it this cold winter, for some- 

 thing to eat. What I am going to say, however, 

 shows that some of them, at all events, have been 

 fully equal to the emergency. 



Being in the country, in Gloucestershire, at the 

 time when the snow lay four inches deep on the 

 ground, I heard of the strange devices of some 

 tomtits, for keeping themselves from starving. 

 Determined to verify what 1 had heard, I went to 

 see, and here is what I saw. 



The ground was, as 1 have said, covered with 

 snow; it was about ten o'clock in the morning, and 

 the sun was shining. I took up my position in the 

 garden, near some beehives, choosing a place where 

 I should be as little observed as possible. After I 

 bad waited a short time, down came a tomtit, 

 alighted on the hive, and began tapping it with his 

 bill. He stood just over the hole in the bottom 

 rim of the hive, where the bees go out and in. Soon 

 the object of his tapping became apparent ; a bee 

 crawled out, and was immediately snapped up. 

 After devouring the body of his victim, — his delicate 

 palate rejecting the wings, legs, and head, — he began 

 again tap, tap, tap, as before. He was not long- 

 suffered to enjoy his well-earned breakfast in peace; 

 for the gardener, an enemy of course, to all birds, 



| was ready with his gun to murder him. Poor fel- 



J low, he deserved a better fate ! 



"The young rascals comes every mornin' regular, 



, especially if the sun's shinin', because the bees comes 



| out easier then ; but I always takes good care they 

 shan't come a second time," said the gardener. He 

 had shot four already that morning. 



This little story proves the insanity of the whole- 

 sale murder of little birds, as though they did no- 

 thing but harm. It proves it in this, that it shows 

 the insatiable appetite of tomtits for insects ; and, 

 believe me, they are not alone in this respect. Now, 

 although the bees were kept for amusement, still 

 thousands of grubs, wasps, earwigs, and beetles 

 are not ; and these are what tomtit likes when he 

 can get them, and the time when he cannot is but 

 very short. 



I may here add a few words of advice to bee- 

 keepers ; that the hives should be well guarded 

 from any chance rays of sunshine in severe winter 

 weather. The day on which I watched the tom- 

 tit was a very bright one, and as the beehives were 

 rather exposed to the sun, a great many bees came 

 out about 12 o'clock. Though bright, it was 

 severely cold, and the bees becoming numb as soon 

 as they had left their hives, fell on the snow and 

 died. I counted as many as a hundred lying about. 

 I picked up one which was apparently dead, and 

 taking it indoors, placed it on the mantelpiece. 

 The heat soon restored it, and it flew to the window, 

 and buzzed away quite heartily. 



Worcester. Wm. J. Smith. 



The PiXEAPrLE. — Lord Bacon mentions this 

 fruit in his Essay on Plantations or Colonies, but 

 does not notice that it had ever been brought to 

 Europe in his time ; nor do we meet with any 

 mention of its having been seen in this country 

 i prior to 1G57, when Cromwell the Protector 

 received a present of pineapples.— Phillips, " Fruits 

 of Great Britain." 



