156 



HARD WICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



ticulars given in the Micrograpbic Dictionary are 

 so very wide of the mark as to be likely only to 

 puzzle and mislead. Mr. Aldous is therefore en- 

 titled to our thanks, while it must be contended 

 that his drawing has been, as the florists say, too 

 much " dressed ; " that it is, in short, sensational ; 

 and the French, it is admitted, do love a sensation, 

 and that sometimes of a less innocuous kind. The 

 tongue is set on too high (after the fashion of an 

 elephant's trunk), on a level with the insertion of 

 the palpi, out of the line of the alimentary channel, 

 and too far from the lace-like case provided for it ; 

 this, in the absence of its true tenant, left out in 



Fig. 75. Tongue and Lancets of Flea x 200. 1,1. Lancets" 

 2. Tongue. 3. Tongue-case. 4, 4. Lancet Sheaths. 

 5. Palpi. 



the cold, is appropriated to the lancets, and the 

 proper coverings of these are treated as mere appen- 

 dages to the head, without use assigned ; for there 

 is nothing left for them to cover. Professor Rymer 

 Jones, in his " General Outline of the Animal King- 

 dom," p. 258, gives a reduced copy of this drawing, 

 and thus explains it :— " In this insect the piercing 

 organs are two sharp and razor-like instruments, 

 placed on each side of the elongated tongue, and 



enclosed in a sheath (4, 4)," (this tongue-sheath) 

 ''probably formed by pieces representing the man- 

 dibles of mandibulate insects. Two palpi or feelers, 

 and a pair of triangular plates, complete this re- 

 markable apparatus." 



It. is these triangular plates I would beg to bring 

 in question. It will be observed in the illustration 

 to this paper, that the backs of the lancets are 

 jointed so as to admit their taking the form of curves, 

 the blades from their horny nature being no doubt 

 flexible too, and indeed they are in some speci- 

 mens seen to be so. They can also, it would seem, 

 from the appearance of the arms on which they are 

 fixed, be retracted, like the claws of a cat, and in 

 this form and position would naturally rise into the 

 sheaths placed just above them, and which appear 

 well fitted for tneir reception. I have not hesitated 

 accordingly to name the " triangular plates" lancet- 

 sheaths. The tongue then will occupy the beautiful 

 case provided for it, and which from its position can 

 suit nothing else. It should be noted that only one 

 side of this case is given in the illustration, the other 

 half having been out of focus ; and that the lancet- 

 sheaths are distorted somewhat from their true 

 position by the pressure of the covering glass : they 

 should be exactly parallel. 



i I am curious to see whether Mr. Eurlonge, in his 

 paper read before the Queket Club, takes the same 

 views. To prepare the head of the Plea for this 

 investigation is not difficult : having first caught 

 your flea, immerse it for two or three weeks in 

 spirits of wine, and then, having covered it with a 

 drop of thick gum on a slip of glass, to prevent 

 flying under the knife, sever the head from the 

 body and legs ; press this severely between two 

 slips of glass„while on the stage of the microscope, 

 and when the parts are seen to be fully developed 

 dip in spirits of turpentine and mount at once in 

 balsam under strong pressure ; for the integument 

 is thick and as hard almost as tortoiseshell. A more 

 transparent preparation might be made by using a 

 caustic solution, but this might be at the sacrifice 

 of some delicate parts. S. S. 



Canada Goose. — A very fine specimen of the 

 Canada goose (Anser Canadensis) was shot to- 

 day (the 3rd June), by.George Lamb, a beckwatcher 

 to the Driffield Anglers' Club, at Brighain, a few- 

 miles down this stream. The bird was a male, and 

 weighed thirteen pounds. — George li. Dawson, near 

 Drijfield, Yorkshire. 



New Bkitish Cluster- cur.— Mr. R. Southey 

 Hill has discovered, near Basingstoke, on the leaves 

 of Statice, a species of cluster-cups new to Britain 



and rare on the continent. It is the jEcidiuiu 

 stalices, Desm. 



