112 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Moulting of the Crustacea.— A. E. Murray, 

 in Lis interesting paragraph on the above subject, 

 does not intimate any acquaintance with the fact 

 that crabs, lobsters, and other similar Crustacea, 

 withdraw the fleshy parts of their claws from the 

 old shells by a splitting of the latter, at the narrow 

 parts below, as Reaumur long ago supposed, though 

 often denied since. Not only is this the case, but 

 all the large-clawed crabs have their shelly cover- 

 ings organized for the purpose, the line where the 

 fracture is to take place being always to be 6een. 

 The cast-off shells certainly appear perfect at the 

 narrow part of the claws; but a more careful 

 examination in that of a shore or edible crab, a 

 lobster, or a crawfish, will show that the narrow 

 part has given way, and expanded at the valvular 

 place alluded to, facilitating the withdrawal of the 

 fleshy part of the claws. The writer, several years 

 back, detected this splitting in exuvial claws cast 

 off in the Zoological Gardens, and put on one side 

 as a proof that there is no splitting. A less careful 

 observation will convince any one if he will look out 

 for a moulting crab in about six weeks. — G. 



Longevity of the Goose. — We do not recol- 

 lect having seen any remarks made with reference 

 to the natural life of this bird. A gentleman, 

 however, who resides in this neighbourhood can 

 testify that he has had a male and female of the 

 genus in his possession for the last thirty-three 

 years, and the old goose still continues to deposit 

 her eggs every season, and would incubate regularly 

 were she allowed. She has lived in a state of 

 conjugal happiness with her lord and master during 

 the greater part of that period, and the couple still 

 seem to enjoy a full flow of health and spirits. — 

 Lame {Co. Antrim) Reporter, March, 1S71. 



Barnacles — A Liverpool pilot-boat lately picked 

 up in one of the channels of the port an empty 

 brandy-bottle covered with barnacles (Lepas anutl- 

 fera). This proves that the barnacle can attach 

 itself to glass,— a fact which some have questioned. 

 It also shows, as one of the local papers remarks, 

 that a vitreous covering would not protect ships' 

 bottoms from the attacks of these molluscs. The 

 bottle has been placed in the museum of the town. 

 — A. II. A. 



Preserving Pup;e through the Winter. — 

 The other day I went to purchase some pupae from 

 the lock-keeper at Baitsbite, three miles from Cam- 

 bridge, and I there saw a box in which he keeps 

 those which he had collected. It struck me as an 

 extremely well-planned one, and I will attempt to 

 describe it. The sides and ends of the box (the size 

 of which is of course optional) were of wood, slop- 

 ing outwards from the bottom. The bottom was 

 entirely of perforated zinc, and the top of the same 

 material, except a space in the middle, occupied by 



a wooden lid, by which to take the pupae in and out. 

 This box was kept out of doors in rather a sheltered 

 position, and the pupae well covered up in moss. 

 When there has not been rain for some time the moss 

 should be sprinkled with water occasionally. Let me 

 add that this man at Baitsbite has some good insects 

 for sale, as well as pupae. When I was there he 

 had plenty of Papilla machaon and Algeria api- 

 formls, the former of which I am afraid to say is 

 slowly but surely disappearing from its old home in 

 the fens as draining progresses.—/. R. B. 31., 

 Stone, Staffordshire. 



The Descent of Man.— The early progenitors 

 of man were no doubt once covered with hair, both 

 sexes having beards ; their ears were pointed and 

 capable of movement ; and their bodies were pro- 

 vided with a tail,'having the proper muscles. Their 

 limbs and bodies were also acted on by many 

 muscles which now only occasionally reappear, 

 but are normally present in the Quadrumaua. — 

 Darwin. 



"Duration of the Pupa State" (p. 90). — I 

 have remaining one pupa of the Privet (Sphinx 

 ligustri) and two of the Puss Moth {Cerura vinuld), 

 of 1S69. The others of that year, viz., five of the 

 former and three of the latter, became imagos in 

 1S70. The cocoon of one puss, having been slightly 

 broken, has enabled me to ascertain that the pupa 

 is still alive, but I cannot be certain of the vitality 

 of the other. — R. Egerton, 31, Victoria Road, Ken- 

 sington. 



Gorgonia Flabellum.— Mr. Richmond says, in 

 your last number, that he has seen on the north 

 coast of Cornwall, thrown up by the sea, the axis 

 or horny skeleton of this zoophyte. Is he certain 

 that it was this gorgonia, or the G. verrucosa? They 

 are very unlike ; but my brother, Richard Quiller 

 Couch, who paid close attention to the zoophytes 

 and calcareous corallines of Cornwall, and pub- 

 lished his researches in the third part of the 

 "Cornish Fauna," says that "the only authority 

 for making this species Cornish is Dr. Borlase, who 

 at page 2S0 of his ' Natural History,' states that it 

 was picked up in Mount's Bay after a storm." It 

 was dead when found, and probably foreign. We 

 have few observers, unhappily, on the north coast 

 of Cornwall. The fan-like or reticulated form of 

 G.jtabellum is so unmistakably different from the 

 branched appearance of the common G. verrucosa, 

 that I am interested, as a Cornish naturalist, in 

 knowing whether Mr. Richmond is certain of the 

 species. — Thomas Q. Couch. 



Subterranean Pish. — An American paper, the 

 Montrose Republican, contains the following interest- 

 ing paragraph on subterranean lakes and eyeless 

 fishes, seeming to show that the eyeless fish is a 



