HARDWICKE'S SCI EN C E-GOSSI P. 



191 



flakes were made and used by savage man, but be- 

 fore any firm reliance can be placed on some of the 

 evidence lately put forward ir support of Palaeo- 

 lithic man, we must rn.cn to distinguish between 

 false and true weapons,— between those formed 

 bv natural causes and those made by man. — Nichs. 

 Whitley, C.F., Truro. 



White Varieties.— The other day I gathered on 

 the borders of a wood near here Fchium mdgare and 

 Orchis pyramidalis, with perfectly white flowers ; and, 

 on a down near, a specimen of Thymus chameedrys, 

 also with white flowers, and having the leaves much 

 lighter green and more delicate than usual. As 

 neither of these species is commonly found with 

 white flowers, perhaps you will consider the above 

 instances worth recording. — F. I. W., Winchester. 



Cleansing- Skeletons (page 1G5). — I have 

 heard, but cannot speak from experience, that the 

 larva? of the Dermestes (I think D. nmritms) clean 

 small skeletons, such as rats, birds, &c, in a much 

 neater and better manner than ants. The animal 

 should be skinned, soaked in water to get rid of the 

 blood, then dried and put in a box with the larvae. 

 — & P. P. 



Cleaning Skeletons. — I have never succeeded 

 in getting a skeleton perfectly and neatly cleaned 

 by ants. Unless very hungry, they only care for 

 moist substances; and for this reason I have al- 

 ways found that they will desert a specimen as soon 

 as it has begun to shrivel and dry up, and the bones 

 in consequence are left, covered with hard, black, 

 and unsightly remnants of flesh. The method 

 which I have found the most successful is this : — If 

 the object is very large, I bury it in a box, and 

 there leave it until all the flesh is reduced to a 

 pulp. This I wash and scrub off. and subsequently 

 bleach the preparation in the sun until it is perfectly 

 white. If the object is small, I macerate it in a de- 

 coction of water and blood, by which method you 

 can constantly keep the specimen under observation, 

 so that you can remove it immediately the flesh is 

 properly dissolved, and before the harder ligaments 

 have separated. If you hit the right time, you will 

 have the skeleton naturally joined together without 

 the intervention of wire fastening. It is advisable 

 occasionally to change the mixture of water and 

 blood, and if the water is sometimes added warm 

 instead of cold, it will hasten the process. You 

 should clean off as much flesh as is possible before 

 you commence the maceration. — Edward Fentone 

 Elwin, Booton, Nomich. 



Gnats.— The communication of your correspon- 

 dent "T. T. S." (p. 162) is indeed deeply interest- 

 ing. The statement of an erroneous deduction is 

 the less to be regretted when it elicits such an 

 answer. It is now clear that the Gnat is able to 

 drive its weapon to the hilt when it has the oppor- 

 tunity, and to bend the«scabbard in so doing. The 

 exact observation of the great French philosopher 

 is fully vindicated. Judging, however, from the 

 structure of the proboscis, and the known quiet 

 habits of the sly English gnat, it still seems probable 

 that it often gets all it wants by a slighter incision, 

 and not by the violent method of its fiercer and 

 bolder sisters of the Red River Settlements. — S. S. 



White Strawberry. — A large bed of the Wild 

 Strawberry (F. vesca) on a bank near this, has all 

 the fruit white, with the exception of two or three 

 plants which are red : is this a common occurrence ? 

 — W. D. It., Dalbeattie, N.B. 



Transmission of Natural History Specimens 

 by Post. — On the 1st August, after an interval of 

 ten months, the advantage of cheap transmission of 

 natural history specimens will be restored. The 

 rates for letters and samples will be the same ; and 

 although, as compared with the old sample post, 

 the rates (especially for small packets) will be 

 higher, the increase will be compensated by the 

 advantage of being able to send specimens fully 

 packed and sealed up, and to enclose a letter in 

 the same cover. The new rates will be — under 

 1 oz., Id. ; under 2oz., lfd.; under 4oz., 2d.; and 

 then id. for every additional 2 oz. up to 12 oz., which 

 is the limit —G.'H. H. 



Heartsease. — Mrs. Watney's notice of the 

 above flower on pa<?e 163 of last number furnishes 

 a remarkable coincidence of a common name in 

 countries remote from each other, indicating, no 

 doubt, a common derivation. The plant (Viola tri- 

 color) in Danish stifmoder blomst, or in the Welsh 

 called Mam yn gyfraith, or the Mother-in-law. This- 

 at least is very curious, and it may interest and 

 amuse Mrs. Watney by ascertaining the above facts 

 from her neighbours at Bnyn Hyfrid. The Welsh 

 names for many plants are quaint and often highly 

 poetical. Llys y Drindod, or " Trinity herb," is the 

 " Book " name for the above plant. — T. W. 



Books upon British Coleoptera — " R. G." 

 inquires about works on the above order in the July 

 number of Science-Gossip. He would find Rye's 

 "British Beetles," though modestly called _ by its 

 author only "an Introduction," very helpful indeed, 

 the figures being admirable. Of course, it only con- 

 tains a selection. Janson's "British Beetles "is 

 taken from the noted work of Curtis, revised to the 

 date of publication (1863), and this also has well- 

 executed figures, about 260 in number. Besides 

 Stephens's well-known "Manual," published thirty- 

 three years ago, and therefore not now to be entirely 

 trusted to, there is a work useful for reference, 

 which appeared a year or two after. This is en- 

 titled "Spry & Shuckard's Coleoptera delineated," 

 and has 100 plates, each with many specimens, and 

 gives types of every genus. The authors were, un- 

 fortunately, hardly up to the task they undertook, 

 so their observations must be cautiously received. 

 A curious old book by Thomas Martyn, giving an 

 account of 500 species, with figures (date 1792), 

 mav be picked up occasionally at a book-stall. — « 

 /. R. S. C. 



Luminosity oe Plants. — As I see no further 

 paper on this subject in the July number of Science- 

 Gossif, I venture to express my belief that in the 

 cases of red geraniums, marigolds, and some other 

 plants, the flashes of light seen are optical de- 

 ceptions. The light is not seen in the dark, but 

 only in the dusk, when the fading light is somewhat 

 confusing. The light of the plant, if real, should 

 certainly be brighter in the dark, instead of not 

 being then at all visible. Again, I always find, and 

 should be glad to know if others do, that if the eye 

 is fixed upon a particular flower, the flashes are 

 not seen, while they are very visible the moment 

 the eye is, as it were, loosened and allowed fco wan- 

 der over the flowers. And then, as far as I can 

 make out, — and I am constantly trying, the flashes 

 never come to the eye straight, but always at an 

 angle with the axis of the pupil. Very likely some 

 plants are really phosphorescent, but in that case 

 the appearance would be very different. — F. T. S. 



