HARDWICKE'S SC IE N CE- GOS S I P. 



1S9 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



Otter — On the 30th May a fine do? otter, 

 weighing nearly 25 lb., was killed on the Esk, in 

 the neighbourhood of Longton, Cumberland.— 

 G. H. H. 



The Missel-Thrush versus Squirrel. — I have 

 read with much pleasure and amusement the Rev. 

 R. Blight's graphic account of the battle between 

 the Missel-Thrush and the Squirrel. The cause of 

 the squirrel's visit to the thrush's nest can easily 

 be explained, and the lady's vindictive conduct ac- 

 counted for most legitimately. The squirrel is a 

 most inveterate egg-sucker, and many gentlemen 

 who wish to preserve their game are obliged, like 

 the thrush, to wage war against the squirrel. I 

 first learnt the squirrel's egg-sucking propensities 

 some time ago, when I was visiting with my father 

 at the house of a well-known sporting gentleman, 

 one who is a great lover of animal life, passionately 

 fond of nature in all its aspects, and who would not 

 destroy one living creature unless obliged to do so 

 from sheer necessity. Passing through the lovely 

 woods, which surround one of the most charming 

 country seats in Dorset, and viewing the land- 

 scapes from the most advantageous points, my at- 

 tention was directed to some lovely specimens of 

 American wood ducks, and rare acclimatized aquatic 

 birds, which were flocking towards the banks of a 

 beautiful lakelet, to welcome with the most pecu- 

 liar cries the advent of their master, to whom they 

 were particularly attached ; I noticed on thebranch 

 of a tall oak overhead, a little squirrel playing the 

 most droll antics. I turned from the feathered pets 

 to admire the grace and agility of the exquisite 

 native of our woods. At last I called the attention 

 of our host to the pretty creature. " I am sorry 

 you have shown it to me," he remarked in a voice 

 of pity. " Why," I asked wonderingly. " Simply 

 because I shall have to destroy the pretty little 

 animal you so much admire." He raised his gun 

 and fired. Alas poor Squirrel ! it lay dead at our 

 feet ; and it had been so joyous, so happy a moment 

 previously. I was astonished, and begged for an 

 explanation. "The squirrels have eaten so many 

 of my pheasants' eggs," said our kind host, "that, 

 much as it pains me, I am obliged to wage war with 

 them. Last spring my keepers had great trouble 

 with them, and the eggs suffered very much from 

 their depredations, harmless as they look." Most 

 probably this will account for Mrs. Thrush's pug- 

 nacity. — Barbara Wallace Fyfe. 



Hemp-Agrimony.— I am sorry that I overlooked 

 Mr. Britten's question, until too late I fear, for my 

 reply to find room in Science-Gossip for July. 

 No! I did not mean " Agrimony." I wrote, as it 

 was printed, " Hemp- Agrimony ; " but ground vine 

 is a misprint, — it should have been ground pine, as 

 Mr. Britten opines. The Hemp-Agrimony has 

 medicinal properties as well as Agrimony ; but of a 

 different kind. It is used in intermittent fevers 

 (more perhaps abroad than in this country). The 

 country people make tea of it ; I do not believe that 

 it has any poisonous properties, but I do know that 

 it should" be taken cautiously, as over-doses are apt 

 to produce sickness and other disagreeable effects. 

 Every portion of the plant is exceedingly bitter, but 

 most especially so are the leaves. It is the " Rustico- 

 rum Panacea " of some old writers ; Agrimony is 

 the herb so often called " Liverwort," in allusion to 



the beneficial effect it produces in all affections of 

 that organ : the scent of the flowers is rather agree- 

 able, that of Hemp-Agrimony quite the reverse : few 

 persons can mistake the one for the other. Agri- 

 mony has yellow flowers, Hemp-Agrimony purple ; 

 and the long stiff hairs, hooked at the end, which 

 surround the fruit of the former, are very curious 

 indeed ; they cause the seeds to stick to one's clothes 

 like a clot-bur" does. — Helen E. Watney. 



Pish of the Jordan.— "H. C. S. S." will find 

 some information about the fish of the Jordan in 

 Tristram's "Natural History of the Bible."—/. 



Absinthe. — In the May number of Science- 

 Gossip, Mrs. Watney says she believes that absinthe, 

 which is such a favourite beverage of the Parisians, 

 is made from Artemisia Absinthium. I find, on re- 

 ference to Chambers's " Encyclopaedia," that it is 

 obtained from Artemisia Mutellina, A. glacialis, A. 

 rupestris, A. spicata, &c, which are low-growing 

 species found on the Alps, and known to the inhabi- 

 tants of the Alps by the name of Genipi. — L. S. 



Moths wanted. — I wish to get the following 

 moths: — 1. Death's-head Moth (Acheronta atropos), 

 larva, pupa, and imago ; 2. Goat-moth (Cossus 

 ligniperda), larva; 3. Privet Hawk-moth {Sphinx 

 ligustri), larva. Several specimens of each, pre- 

 served in spirit or otherwise, in order to be fit for 

 dissection. Could you tell me how I can procure 

 them? They are the illustrative preparation given 

 in Rolleston's "Porms of Animal_ Life." I shall 

 be very glad to pny or exchange objects for them. — 

 W. C. Crawford, 24, Gayfield Square, Edinburgh. 



Yellow Rain. — Shortly after my arrival at 

 Yokohama, Japan, in April, 1870, we had two days 

 of strong wind and very heavy and continuous rain, 

 and it was observed that the rain brought down 

 with it quantities of lightish yellow pulverulent-look- 

 ing material, which was thickly deposited in gutters, 

 rain-tubs, surface collections of water, and on the 

 less-exposed portions of the ground, as a lemon- 

 coloured scum. An appearance so unusual excited 

 much surprise and some little alarm, as it was popu- 

 larly believed that the yellow deposit was sulphur, 

 and that it betokened some volcanic outburst in the 

 neighbourhood, especially as earthquakes had been 

 more than usually frequent, and the active volcano 

 of Vries had evinced signs of disturbance. The 

 microscope, however, showed it to be a harmless 

 pollen, but I was unable to determine from what 

 plant until the present spring, when I found that 

 by gently shaking the male catkins of the common 

 firs {Pinus Massoniana and perhaps Pinus clensi- 

 flora), which grow abundantly on alt the little hills 

 and bluffs around Yokohama and were then in 

 flower, I could obtain the colouring matter of the 

 " yellow rain " at pleasure. The form of the pollen 

 so shaken from the tree is quite distinctive; it 

 shows a more or less hemispherical central portion, 

 with two rounded prominences projecting from its 

 flatter side ; its appearance in profile being kidney- 

 shaped, and it forms a pretty opaque object with the 

 binocular. The quantity of it brought down by the 

 rain and wind of last year must have been very 

 great. — H. R., Yokohama. 



Earth-worms.— Instead of the very dangerous 

 and somewhat expensive poison, corrosive sub- 

 limate, allow me to recommend to your readers the 

 use of freshly-prepared lime-water. I have tried 

 both, and in effect give the lime-water the pre- 



